My first duck hatch nearly broke me. I had two successful chicken hatches under my belt, so I ran the duck eggs exactly like chicken eggs: same 21-day mental calendar, same humidity, same everything. On day 21 I sat staring at motionless eggs, convinced they were all dead. They were not dead. They were ducks, and ducks take 28 days. The ducklings hatched a week later, perfectly healthy, and I felt like an idiot who had learned something valuable.
Here is the honest comparison, so you do not have to learn it the way I did.
The headline differences
| Chicken | Duck (large breeds) | |
|---|---|---|
| Incubation period | 21 days | 28 days |
| Temperature (forced-air) | 99.5F (37.5C) | 99.5F (37.5C) |
| Humidity, days 1 to lockdown | 50-55% | 55%, often a touch higher |
| Lockdown | Day 18 | Day 25 |
| Lockdown humidity | 65-70% | 65% |
| Misting / cooling | Not needed | Many hatchers mist daily from day 10 |
The temperature is the same, which surprises people. Everything else is slower, wetter, and a little more hands-on.
Why duck eggs want more humidity
It comes down to the shell. Duck eggs have a thicker shell and a heavier waxy coating (the bloom) than chicken eggs, built for a mother duck who gets off the nest, goes for a swim, and climbs back on soaking wet. In an incubator, that thicker shell means the egg loses moisture more slowly, so you run humidity a few points higher to keep the air cell developing at the right pace: about 55% through most of incubation versus 50-55% for chickens, then 65% at lockdown for both.
Watch the air cells when you candle. If they look too small relative to the egg, drop humidity a few points; if they are growing too fast, raise it. The numbers are targets, but the air cell is the truth.
The misting question
You will see duck hatchers misting their eggs with lukewarm water once a day starting around day 10, sometimes with a brief cooling period (lid off for 10 to 15 minutes). This mimics the broody duck leaving the nest. Does it help? Plenty of experienced hatchers swear by it and report better hatches; others hatch fine without it. My take: if your humidity is hard to hold in the mid-50s because you live somewhere dry, misting is a cheap fix. If your incubator holds steady humidity on its own, skip it. Do not mist with cold water, and do not do it during lockdown.
Muscovy ducks are their own special case
Regular duck breeds (Pekin, Rouen, Cayuga, runners) run 28 days. Muscovies run 35 days, a full two weeks longer than a chicken. If you are hatching Muscovy, lockdown lands around day 32 and the whole process needs more patience than most beginners expect. Bantam ducks like Calls run shorter, about 26 days. Know which duck you have before you set a single egg.
Hatching both species in one incubator
This is the question everyone asks, and the answer is yes, with a trick: stagger the set dates. Put the duck eggs in 7 days before the chicken eggs. Then the chickens hit lockdown (day 18) exactly when the ducks hit day 25, and both hatch in the same window. Run humidity around 55% through the shared period, which both species tolerate, then raise it for the joint lockdown. Turn the duck eggs by hand if your turner is sized for chicken eggs, and candle on each species' own schedule: days 7 and 14 for the chickens, days 9 and 19 for the ducks.
What does not change
A lot of the fundamentals are identical. Set eggs large-end up. Turn 3 to 5 times a day (odd numbers, so the overnight position alternates) until lockdown. Candle to remove clears. During lockdown, stop turning, raise humidity, and keep the lid shut. Give late hatchers until about two days past the expected date before you call it. The species change the calendar, not the craft.
Planning a hatch? The Egg Incubation Calculator builds the full timeline, candle days, lockdown, and hatch window, for 15 species from any set date you pick.
The bottom line
Duck eggs are not harder, just longer and wetter: 28 days, a few more points of humidity, and optionally a daily mist. The biggest mistake is treating them like chicken eggs on a chicken calendar. Stagger your sets if you run both, watch the air cells, and give the ducks their extra week. They will reward you with ducklings, which are objectively funnier than chicks.
Next, read the piece on the most dangerous phase of any hatch: Lockdown Day 18: 7 Mistakes That Kill Hatches.