Goose, Duck, Chicken, Game Bird Hatchery | Metzer Farms, California
Please Read and Sign Petition to Fund the USPS!


Continue to Fund the United States Postal Service

×
Because income has dropped substantially to the Post Office because of the Coronavirus, their funding will run out this fall. At this point there is no legislation acceptable to the White House to continue funding the Post Office.

We want to make certain their solution to the current shortfall of the Post Office does not include cutting the mailing of day-old poultry.

The Bird Shippers of America organization has produced a petition I am asking you to sign. This will be sent to Congress, the White House and the US Postmaster.

SIGN PETITION

I am also asking you to write a quick note on the website of your Congressman and Senator so they know how important it is to you that the Post Office continues to carry day-old poultry.

You can go to the link below, click on your state and it will give you the websites of your Senators and Congressman. Just send them a quick note with your feelings and concerns. It is easy and fast.
Some items you could include in your note:
  • The Post Office is the only way day-old poultry can be shipped in the United States
  • If hatcheries cannot ship the birds, no one will have the chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys and other poultry they want and need
  • These birds are important to you because …
  • The Post Office has been delivering day old poultry for over 100 years
  • There are tens of thousands of jobs dependent on day-old poultry in hatcheries, feed stores, feed mills, farmers producing the feed for these birds, farmers growing these birds for eggs and meat, poultry equipment manufacturers, etc.
  • Over 60 million birds are mailed thorough the US Postal Service every year


Contact Your Senators
Contact Your Representatives


Thank you very much for your assistance. Only by hearing from those that elect them will they consider our needs.

John Metzer
Duck, Goose, Chicken & Game Bird Hatchery

Incubation and Hatching

How To Improve Your Duck Egg and Goose Egg Hatch Rate

March 11, 2011

Modern hatcheries are now adopting the ways of Mother Nature. Only one age of eggs are put in an incubator – just like a hen sitting on eggs in a nest is sitting on only one age of eggs. This is a radical change as the tradition for the past 100 years has been to have multiple ages of eggs in one incubator. If you set duck eggs once a week, for example, you will have some eggs less than one week, some less than two weeks, some less than three weeks and some less than four weeks. This was done so the heat generated by the older eggs was helping heat the younger eggs.

Temperature: But it has now been learned that by filling an incubator with only one age of eggs, you can provide a much better environment for their development. Instead of providing a steady temperature of 99.5 degrees for the entire incubation, you can start at a warmer temperature (100.3 for our duck eggs) and gradually drop down to a much lower temperature at hatching (97.0 for duck eggs).

Carbon Dioxide: To me, the most interesting change with Single Stage Incubation is that carbon dioxide levels are considered very important – and the higher the better at certain points! The air you are breathing right now is about 300-500 parts per million (ppm) of carbon dioxide. For single state incubation, all vents are closed the first 14 days and levels of up to 8000 ppm are desirable!

Consequences: With our new Jamesway incubators installed the spring of 2009, we are experiencing improved hatches of 2-15% of fertile eggs! In addition, the birds are slightly heavier at hatch (less weight is lost during incubation) and they hatch within a smaller “hatch window”. This allows us to mail a slightly heavier bird that has hatched more recently.

What does this mean to you? This means you can probably do single stage incubation in your incubator with your duck and goose eggs! Start with a slightly warmer temperature and then gradually drop it during incubation. Close all vents the first 14 days then gradually open them. Toward the end of incubation (days 22-28) you will need the vents more open than if you have multiple ages in the incubator as all the eggs will be generating extra heat.

For more detailed information on Single Stage Incubation and how you might be able to use the concepts for your incubation, please visit our website at www.metzerfarms.com/Articles/SingleStageIncubation.pdf

Blog Categories


Incubation and Hatching


Recent Blog Articles

 
Glossary of Terms | Metzer Farms Catalog | Our Privacy Policy | Contact Us