Chook Me!

How do I keep a duck egg warm without an incubator?

I found this egg by a pond where ducks live and we are guessing its a duck egg since it looks like a chickens but there are no chickens around. Its a little heavy so it may have a duck in it. I'm not a farmer or anything so ive never done this. I don't have an incubator so how do I keep it warm? please help... Ive tried a lamp but I can't keep it on always and it gets to hot sometimes. Any other suggestions? i like the idea of a heating lamp but where do i get one? I wasn't going to just leave the egg there knowing it would die, I wanted to try and let God's creature live. Please just give me more ideas. I hear a low scratching sound when I put my ear up to the egg. So im going to care for the egg for about 4 weeks, if nothing then i will give up.

Public Comments

1. try using a heat lamp
2. Its no use, its dead already, and has no hope at hatching. Its harder to hatch a egg than it seems. You need it to be a certain temperature, you have to turn the egg multiple times a day, and you have to have a certain level of humidity. Next time you see an egg, leave it. An egg thats already developing cannot live more than an hour TOPS without heat. The egg will start rotting inside if you keep it. It will Bust and have a foul smelling gooey stuff come out everywhere. The heating lamp will not work, you need some humidity. You will also need a Thermometer. If you do not want to have to turn the egg every four hours for the next couple weeks and get no results, hurry and throw it out. I can tell you have Completely no experience with hatching eggs. Try looking up some websites with information about hatching eggs so the next time you will know better than to think you can hatch an egg without a incubator or a mother hen.
3. Do you have male ducks? If not the egg won't be fertile anyway. Its impossible to incubate an egg without an incubator unless you have a broody hen that could do the job but hens don't usually go broody in the winter. Duck eggs especially need a specific humidity and temperature for 28 days until they hatch. Sorry to say you just need to throw it out, unless the mother duck has been sitting on it for a few days there will be no developing embryo so you aren't technically killing it.
4. you shouldve left it will and truely alone. use a lamp and dont have it to close to the egg. turn the egg every 4 hours
5. you should have left it alone.. you just stole the egg from the female duck she probly was scared away fromt he nest by you.. you cant hatch it unless you have a incubator Duck eggs must be kept *moist*..
6. Sorry hon. But, without an incubator, there is no hope. How cold outside was it when you found it? If it was below 60'F then its most likely already dead. That is; if it was alive in the first place. During the winter male ducks are not able to fertilize eggs inside female ducks. I wont get into the grit of it all, but, chances are the egg isn't even fertile. If You REALLY want to go out and try to hatch this egg, which might not even be fertile, then you will NEED an incubator. Heat lamps wont work, they are too unpredictable. You need an EXACT temperature with an EXACT humidity level. Since, you seem really stubborn, I'm assume that you are going to go get an incubator, either from your local Farm Supplies store, or go onto your local classifieds website, and put in an add looking for an incubator. You will need the temperature set at 99.5'F with most of the water rings full. Turn the egg 3 times a day ( if you dont have a Auto-turner you will have to do it by hand ) STOP turning on the 25 day of incubation. And wait. Once you have been incubating it for a week, you can candle it ( google 'Candling Duck Eggs' for more info on candling ) and if you see spiderweb like veins, then you are doing good and the egg is fertile. I hope this helped. -Poms
7. It's too late - by this point, it's already dead. There is a reason why incubators are sold to hatch eggs and not light bulbs. You can use a small watt light bulb in a home-made built incubator, but you still need an INCUBATOR. It won't hatch just by shining a warm light on it. It needs a very specific, CONSTANT, temperature, humidity, and to be rotated multiple times daily.
8. I would suggest a heating pad, but the heating pad on Medium. With the duck egg in a towel. Also u can still use the lamp, just turn it off if the lamp gets to hot.