Mindy
Very Happily Surprised!
We found an egg lying in the middle of the front lawn, with no birds or nests anywhere to be found near by. The only birds that sometimes hang out on our lawns are mallard ducks and chestnut teal ducks. This egg is about the size of a chicken egg, and mallard eggs are much bigger. So we are guessing it may be a chestnut teal duck egg. So we brought it in an candled it. Nothing showing. Ducks are known to not start incubating their clutches until after they are done laying. That way, the entrire brood hatches at once. So even though it was alone and cool to the touch, we decided to give it a go. I bought this incubator because I did not want to invest a lot over one egg. It had no ratings yet, which is always scary, but what the heck. It was $20 cheaper than the next one up, which only were rated 4/5. For our purposes, this has exceeded our expectations. We read all the instructions before beginning, then followed them. It took very little time to test, and came right up to temp in less than 30 minutes, and seemed to hold it's temp (38c) perfectly. So in went the clear egg. Day 3 - we could just see the beginning of faint blood veins forming. Day 4 - more veings Day 5 - more veins and a HEARTBEAT! Now we'll have to just wait to see what our surpise egg yeilds...a duck? or maybe something unexpected! I'll try to update later. NOTES: First off, read ALL the instructions before starting. There were a few things I missed about the days right before hatching that I wish I would have caught (lockdown). Also take time to study up from others that have done what you are doing...some great advice out there from experienced breeders! 1 - VERY IMPORTANT!!!! KEEP the FOAM Packaging that encloses the incubator intact!! You will use it to help insulate the incubator to help maintain the temperature. Keep ALL materials....there were some items that I had no idea what they were for until I read up more from others on the internet. 2 - Check water daily, and only add it to exacty whe