How to Hatch Duck Eggs for Kids

If your children are interested in learning about the process of development within an egg, give them the opportunity to experience hatching a duck egg firsthand. Fertilized duck eggs are available for sale online. If you live near a farm you can also purchase them locally. Hatching a duck egg takes a month. While investing this time in monitoring and caring for the unhatched egg, kids begin to develop the responsibility needed to care for a hatched duckling later on.

Things You'll Need

  • Towel
  • Incubator
  • Thermometer
  • Hygrometer
  • Heat lamp
  • Fertilized duck egg
  • Calendar
  • Timer
  • Flashlight
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Instructions

    • 1

      Line the inside of the incubator with a folded towel. Set a thermometer inside of the incubator and place the hygrometer beside it.

    • 2

      Position the heat lamp directly above the incubator and set the fertilized duck egg on top of the towel. Close the doors of the incubator. Mark the current date on your calendar "Setting Day." Count forward 25 days and mark this date "Hatching Day."

    • 3

      Set and maintain a consistent temperature of 99.5 degrees Fahrenheit and keep a relative humidity of 55 percent for 24 days. Monitor these readings hourly. Remove the cover of the incubator to lower the humidity level and add water to the incubator when you need to increase the humidity level.

    • 4

      Rotate the egg every hour throughout the first 24 days.

    • 5

      Decrease the temperature and humidity level slowly throughout "Hatching Day" to 97 degrees Fahrenheit and 70 percent humidity.

    • 6

      Increase the amount of air ventilation slowly by opening the air vents throughout "Hatching Day." Start with the vents halfway open, and gradually open the vents until they are fully open by the end of the hatching.