How Long Do Duck Eggs Take to Hatch? Duck Egg Incubation Day by Day

Most duck eggs take 28 days to hatch. That covers the common domestic breeds descended from the mallard, such as Pekin, Rouen, Khaki Campbell and Cayuga; Muscovy eggs are the big exception and take about 35 days (Cornell Duck Research Laboratory; Merck Veterinary Manual). So a clutch of Pekin eggs set on the first of the month should be hatching around the 29th, while Muscovy eggs set the same day will not be due until early the following month.

If you are setting eggs now, you can start a private egg clutch on Creatures (free, signed in), pick Duck or Muscovy duck as the species, and get the expected hatch date plus dated reminders for candling and for the day you stop turning. The rest of this guide explains where the 28 and 35 days come from, what happens on each key day, the temperature and humidity numbers Cornell uses, how to candle duck eggs, and what to do when the hatch runs late. It is written for small-flock keepers with a tabletop incubator or a broody bird; the duck species page has the wider picture on breeds and care.

How long do duck eggs take to hatch?

Twenty-eight days is the number to plan around for almost every domestic duck. Cornell University’s Duck Research Laboratory states that eggs from common ducks like Pekins require 28 days to hatch, and Mississippi State University Extension gives 28 days for “turkeys and most ducks” (MSU Extension). The Merck Veterinary Manual’s incubation table lists the duck at 28 days and the Muscovy duck at 35 (Merck).

The Muscovy gap is not a breed quirk. Muscovies are a different species (Cairina moschata) from the mallard-derived ducks, which is why Creatures gives them their own Muscovy duck page rather than listing them as a duck breed. If you keep both, label which eggs are which before they go in the incubator.

• Pekin and most domestic breeds: 28 days (Cornell, MSU Extension, Merck)
• Mallard: about 26.5 to 27 days (UC Cooperative Extension 4-H handout)
• Runner: about 28.5 days (UC Cooperative Extension 4-H handout)
• Muscovy: about 35 days (Cornell, Merck)

The Mallard and Runner figures come from a University of California Cooperative Extension 4-H handout on hatching ducklings, which gives “about 26.5 to 27 days” for Mallards, “about 28.5 days” for Runners and about 28 for the rest (UC Cooperative Extension, Duckling Hatching Basics). Treat those half days as tendencies rather than appointments. If you keep Indian Runners or Mallards, expect the hatch a little either side of day 28, not on a different week.

If you are hatching other waterfowl or poultry at the same time, the timelines differ enough to matter: see our sister guides on how long goose eggs take to hatch, how long turkey eggs take to hatch and how long quail eggs take to hatch.

Why your hatch day can move

Three things push a real hatch off the textbook day.

Egg age at setting. The Cornell lab recommends setting eggs within 1 to 3 days of laying and reports an average hatchability loss of about 3 percent for eggs stored 7 days and about 10 percent for eggs stored 14 days. The UC handout adds that old eggs can take longer to hatch. Fresh eggs give you both a better hatch and a tighter one.

Incubator temperature. According to MSU Extension, the length of incubation varies with egg collection, storage and incubation conditions and can change “drastically” if recommended conditions are not kept. The UC handout puts it simply: a cool incubator means a longer incubation, and a warm one finishes sooner. Running warm is the more dangerous mistake: Mississippi State’s hatchery management guide says high temperature is more harmful than low temperature, because a few hours at 90 F kills few embryos while 30 minutes at 105 F kills many.

How you count. Some keepers call the setting day Day 0; others call it Day 1. Over 28 days that one-day difference is the gap between “right on time” and “a day late”. Pick one convention, write it down and keep it for the whole clutch.

Hybrid eggs. If a Muscovy drake runs with common-duck hens, some eggs may be hybrids (the cross that produces the mulard duck), and their timing will not necessarily match either parent. Do not throw out eggs from a mixed flock just because day 28 has passed; candle them first.

Duck egg incubation day by day

Here is the timeline for a clutch of common duck eggs in an incubator, counting the setting day as Day 0. For Muscovy eggs, shift the late milestones out by about a week.

• Before setting. Run the incubator for a day or two so temperature and humidity settle. Do not set eggs that are cracked, double yolked, misshapen, oversized, undersized or dirty (Cornell’s list), and set them small end down in trays. Eggs stored in a cooler should come out the night before to reach room temperature.
• Day 0. Eggs go in. Check the incubator often on the first day, then at least four times a day after that, per Cornell.
• About Day 7. First candling. The guidance from Cornell is to remove eggs that are infertile (clear) or have a dead germ (cloudy).
• Day 25. Cornell moves Pekin eggs to the hatcher (or hatching trays) on day 25, candles them again and removes eggs with dead embryos. Turning stops here: Cornell notes it is not necessary to turn eggs in the hatcher. Small-flock keepers call this point lockdown.
• Days 26 to 28. Pipping. Ducklings break into the air cell and then through the shell. Keep the lid shut as much as you can so humidity holds.
• Day 28. Hatch day for common ducks. Cornell removes ducklings from the hatcher when 90 to 95 percent of them are dry.

For Muscovy eggs, the same pattern runs to about day 35, with turning stopped a few days before the hatch.

Temperature, humidity and turning for duck eggs

Cornell publishes exact settings for a forced-air (fan) incubator, and they are the cleanest primary numbers available.

• Setting, day 0 to 25: 99.5 F (37.5 C) and 55 percent relative humidity (84.5 F on a wet bulb thermometer).
• Transfer to the hatcher, day 25: 99 F (37.2 C) and 65 percent (88 F wet bulb).
• Eggs pipping: humidity up to 80 percent (93 F wet bulb), with ventilation openings increased by about 50 percent.
• End of the hatch: temperature and humidity eased down gradually to 97 F (36.1 C) and 70 percent (90 F wet bulb), with vents fully open.

Source: Cornell Duck Research Laboratory.

Turning. Eggs must be turned, by hand or automatically, at least four times a day according to Cornell, and most automatic turners move the eggs hourly. If you turn by hand, an odd number of turns a day means the egg does not sit on the same side every night, and a pencil mark on one side lets you see that every egg has moved.

Still-air incubators run differently. Without a fan, warm air rises and the top of the chamber is warmer than the floor, so the correct thermometer reading depends on where the thermometer sits. University of Illinois Extension’s guide to operating a still-air incubator gives model-specific readings for exactly this reason. Use your incubator manual’s figure for its thermometer position rather than copying a forced-air number.

Checking humidity by the egg, not just the gauge. Cornell gives two ways to tell whether eggs are losing the right amount of water. By day 25, the air cell at the broad end should take up about one third of the egg, and common duck eggs should have lost about 14 percent of their setting weight. Weighing a few marked eggs on a kitchen scale at setting and again around day 25 tells you more than a cheap hygrometer will.

Cooling and misting. Many waterfowl keepers lightly mist or briefly cool duck eggs during incubation, and the UC handout notes that “some breeders suggest” spraying waterfowl eggs daily. Cornell’s own settings do not include misting; they control water loss through humidity and ventilation instead. If you mist, do it as a habit you check against the air cell and egg weight, not as a substitute for a working incubator.

Candling duck eggs

Candling means shining a bright light through the shell in a dark room to see what is happening inside. Duck eggs are larger than chicken eggs and some have tinted shells, so a strong, small LED light pressed against the broad end works far better than a household lamp.

At about day 7, a developing egg shows a dark spot (the embryo) with blood vessels spreading out from it like spokes. A clear egg that glows evenly, with only the shadow of the yolk, was probably infertile. The UC handout suggests candling an unincubated egg alongside so you know what “clear” looks like for your eggs.

At day 25, a live egg is mostly dark, with a defined air cell at the broad end. This is the last check before lockdown, and the point at which Cornell removes eggs with dead embryos.

When you are not sure, put it back. The UC handout’s advice is to return any egg you are unsure about to the incubator. The eggs to remove promptly are the obviously bad ones: dark and blotchy inside, cracked and seeping, or smelling bad, because a rotten egg can burst and contaminate the rest of the clutch. Dark-shelled eggs can be hard to read at all; “uncertain” is an honest answer, and a second look a few days later is better than a guess.

Keep a note of what each check showed. A record of fertile, clear and uncertain counts at day 7 tells you far more about your drake, your egg storage and your incubator than a single “how many hatched” number at the end.

Hatching duck eggs under a broody duck or hen

You do not need an incubator. Cornell notes that duck eggs can be hatched naturally under a broody duck or even a broody chicken hen, and that Muscovy ducks are very good setters, capable of hatching 12 to 15 duck eggs.

The timeline is the same: 28 days for common duck eggs and about 35 for Muscovy eggs, counted from the day the bird starts sitting tight. Cornell’s practical points are a nest box in a clean, dry shelter with suitable litter, and feed and water within reach for the broody bird and later the ducklings. If you use a chicken hen for duck eggs, remember she is signing up for a sit a week longer than her own 21 days (our broody hen guide covers choosing and managing a sitting hen).

Mark the eggs you set under her with a pencil so you can tell them from any she lays later and pull late additions out; otherwise the clutch hatches over many days.

When duck eggs are late, and when to get help

A hatch that starts on day 28 can run into day 29 or 30, especially in a cool incubator or with eggs that were stored for a week. Before you give up on a clutch:

1. Recount from the setting day using the convention you chose (Day 0 or Day 1).
2. Check the temperature with a second thermometer. A thermometer that reads a degree high means the eggs have been running cool all along.
3. Candle before discarding. Look for movement and a dark, full egg with a defined air cell. A single late egg is not proof that the clutch failed.

Let ducklings hatch on their own. Pipping is slow. After the first hole, a duckling often rests for a while before it starts turning and cutting around the shell, and the UC handout explains why helping too early is risky: the blood vessels lining the shell need time to shut down. The Creatures clutch screen itself tells keepers that elapsed time “is not a signal to assist”. If a duckling seems stuck for a long time after pipping, or the shell or membranes show blood, contact an avian veterinarian or an experienced waterfowl keeper for advice rather than peeling the shell yourself.

Call a veterinarian now if a hatched duckling cannot stand, is gasping or breathing with an open bill while at rest, has an open or bleeding navel, or is weak and not drying off when its hatchmates are.

After the hatch: the first day

The Cornell lab takes ducklings out of the hatcher once 90 to 95 percent of them are dry. The UC handout notes that newly hatched ducklings live on the absorbed yolk for roughly their first day, so a few hours in the incubator while they dry and fluff up is normal and better than opening the lid repeatedly to pull wet ones.

Move them to a brooder that is already warm, with a heat source they can get under and away from, dry bedding with good footing, and water deep enough to dip the bill but too shallow to swim in. The UC handout is blunt about water: ducklings hatched away from their mother lack waterproofing oil on their down and can chill or drown, so never give them water deeper than their legs without close supervision. For what to feed them as they grow, see what ducks eat.

Handle new ducklings with clean hands and wash afterwards. The CDC advises washing with soap and running water after touching backyard poultry or anything in their area, and says children younger than 5 should not handle chicks or ducklings, because of germs such as Salmonella (CDC, Backyard Poultry).

Once they are on their feet, the planning starts: how many to keep, what the flock will cost to run (how much a duck costs breaks down the budget) and how long they will live (duck lifespan by breed). If you hatched Pekins, their breed page covers adult size and egg production.

Track a duck hatch on Creatures

Creatures has egg clutches built for exactly this job. They are free, private by default, and need you to be signed in. Here is what you enter and what you get back.

Set the clutch. Start a new clutch and say which eggs these are: from one hen, from a flock (you can create the flock right there, with no individual profiles needed), eggs you bought or were given, or “not sure”. Enter how many eggs you set and the set date, and choose the species. Choose Duck for Pekins and other common breeds, and Muscovy duck for Muscovy eggs, because the two carry different schedules. You also choose the day-count convention you use (setting day as Day 0, or set before noon as Day 1), and under More details you can record the drake if you know him and whether the eggs are in an incubator or under a broody hen.

Get the dates. For a Duck clutch, Creatures shows the expected hatch at day 28 and adds dated tasks for the first candling (around days 7 to 10) and, for incubator clutches, for stopping turning at day 25. Muscovy clutches get a later stop-turning task and a later hatch window. The tasks show up with the rest of your animal care, so the candling day does not slip past. The duck schedule is based on the same Cornell guidance this article uses.

Record what you see. At each candling, record the counts you observed, including “uncertain”, plus a photo if you like. When the hatch starts you can note the first pip and the temperature and humidity at the time, then record the outcome as a running total until every egg is accounted for, hatched or not.

Turn ducklings into a flock. From a completed hatch you can keep the ducklings together as a brood group, join them to an existing flock, or create profiles for the ones you are keeping, so their care records start on day one. The general steps for births and offspring groups are in the Help Center guide to recording births and creating a litter, and flock groups are covered in creating and managing animal groups.

Share the result if you want to. A hatch card lets you publish only the facts you choose, such as eggs set and ducklings hatched, with one photo. Publishing the card does not publish the clutch, and you can withdraw it later.

Naming a brood is the fun part: the free duck name generator works without an account. One honest limit: there is no Help Center article for egg clutches yet, so the clutch screens themselves are the guide for now.

Frequently asked questions

How long do Pekin duck eggs take to hatch?
28 days. Cornell’s Duck Research Laboratory, which works with Pekins, uses 28 days, with eggs moved to the hatcher on day 25.

How long do Muscovy duck eggs take to hatch?
About 35 days after setting, per Cornell and the Merck Veterinary Manual. Muscovies are a different species from mallard-derived ducks, so do not judge their eggs on a 28-day clock.

When should I stop turning duck eggs?
At day 25 for common duck eggs. That is when Cornell moves Pekin eggs to the hatcher, where they are no longer turned. For Muscovy eggs, stop a few days before their later hatch date.

Can I hatch duck eggs in a chicken incubator?
Usually, if the trays or turner rails fit the larger eggs. Cornell notes duck eggs need setting trays designed for their larger size. The temperature is the same 99.5 F used for chicken eggs in a forced-air machine, but the schedule runs a week longer; our chicken guide to hatching eggs in an incubator covers the machine basics.

Can a chicken hatch duck eggs?
Yes. Cornell says a broody chicken hen can hatch duck eggs. She has to sit about a week longer than she would for her own eggs.

My duck eggs are on day 29 with no pips. Should I throw them out?
Not yet. Recount from the set date, check your thermometer against a second one, and candle. Cool incubation and older eggs both lengthen the hatch. Remove only eggs that are clearly bad.

How many duck eggs will hatch?
It varies with fertility, egg age, handling and incubator performance, so there is no honest single number. Candling counts at day 7 and day 25 tell you where losses happen, which is what helps you improve the next clutch. Keepers hatching chickens can use our chicken hatch records guide for the same approach.

Do this next on Creatures

Whether this is your first incubator of duck eggs or your tenth, these are the useful next steps. More about ducks in general is on the Creatures duck page.