Some eggs, especially those of well bred lines of bantam ducks, tend to be difficult to hatch. One way to secure good hatches consistently from such eggs is to use natural incubation methods.
Natural incubation uses a broody female instead of an incubator to incubate the eggs.
The broody can be the female duck which layed the eggs , another female duck or a female chicken. Natural incubation can achieve excellent results but it usually requires some planning and some care during the incubation process. The location in which the broody incubates the eggs must be secure from predators and vermin and isolated from disturbances caused by other members of it's own flock. She must also have a place to exercise and have access to clean water and food whenever she needs it. In addition, the broody must be clean of parasites to begin with and must be kept that way during the 28 day incubation period.