Am I nuts for even thinking about this?

One of the muscovies is laying. It's so cold out I've been bringing the eggs home. Now I'm wondering about firing up the incubator and trying to hatch them. I know ducklings are messy. I know I don't have any place to put them, and will need to make an area. And I know I'm not overly fond of how the drakes look.

But, I've also heard they taste good. And I know they eat a ton of flies. I had thought about it in the past, but had planned on waiting until I got my own place. But, since I'll have more room, I find myself thinking maybe it's not a bad idea. Thoughts? Opinions?

soo it sounds like you want duck, but are concerned about the extra work and taking up some room. IMHO go for it, if you don't like the results or extra chores drop it after trying once.

Heck give it a shot.  You could always SELL the hatchlings.   

I would suggest going to the grocery store, and buying some duck and cook it up. Who knows you may not even like it. I always like to try a critter before I try to raise any.

Already did that and we liked it. Don't know what kind of duck it was, but it was good.

I hoping to get the incubator going next week. Since I've never hatched out ducks, I have some questions. Plus, since I've never raised ducks, I'll have even more questions!

First off, what temp do I need the incubator set to? Is it the same as for the chickens?

What about humidity?

When can I candle them and expect to see anything?

How long does it take for them to hatch? I seem to recall that I heard 35 days, but I'm not sure if this is right.

Do they need to go into lock down as well? And, how soon B4 they hatch?

OK, I think that covers what I need to know for hatching them out. Once they do, I'll have even more questions.

I don't know, never hatched ducks. If I were to try, I would treat them the same as chicken eggs though.

Similar, but not the same.  Duck eggs require much more humidity.  In life the mama duck will get off the nest to eat, drink and bathe each day.  When she returns to the nest her damp feathers raise the humidity level of the eggs. 

Here is the best info I could find. 

Hatching Duck Eggs

Thanks. That answers most of my questions.

How exciting, Dizzy! Let us know when they hatch.

Well, I stuck 14 eggs in the bator on Sunday, so we'll see. I couldn't get the humidity up as high as they said, so I hope it will be OK. I'm having trouble not sticking some chicken eggs in as well, but I'm not ready for more chickens right now.

Cool!! hope you have ducklings soon.

I keep checking them, and the temps are staying steady, so that's good. I'll be candling them probably on Monday morning after hubby leaves for work. I'm also going to try and stick more water in and see if I can get the humidity up more.