I have 2 ducks; 1 male and 1 female. She laid a total of 16 eggs and then sat on them as well. After a period of 15 to 18 days, 3 of her eggs finally hatched! :) Today is the 3rd day since all 3 eggs hatched, but she won't sit on the rest of her eggs. And if she does sit on them, she doesn't cover all of them like she used to and did before. Some of her eggs stick out from the sides and don't receive an equal amount of warmth. They are fertile and I can see ducklings in some of them as they are extremely dark and a bit heavy too. But she won't sit on them. And I thought once the eggs start hatching, all of them are hatched within 2 days, but it's the 3rd day today. We don't have an incubator either. How can I help the rest of the eggs hatch if she doesn't sit on all of them as much as she did before the 3 eggs hatched?
Let the duck family handle this, if you touch them she may not want them.They always find away to take care there own!
This can be normal and there is actually nothing to worry about. The mother knows when she needs to sit on the eggs and will do so. At times they can just lay the eggs and not worry about them for a few days.
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
I have 2 males ducks and 2 females. One of the females is laying eggs, but not sitting on them. I don't know which one. My question is that how do I make a duck get broody?
I don't have an incubator and here the weather is 44 to 48. What can I do?She will start sitting on them when she lays the last one.
She will sit on her own after the last egg of her clutch is laid. Don't interfer with the process or move the eggs--it will only confuse her and may make her not sit at all.
This is my first time caring for ducks. We have 1 female and 2 males. We were excited when we found our first egg. We wanted to have little ducklings, and are learning the process.
We have now counted 35 eggs in her nest. What do I do?A female can't lay more than an egg at day, and generally an egg takes no more than 30 days to hatch when properly incubated -- so chances are that many if not most of your eggs are not viable. Without more details about her behavior and your setup it's hard to say what's going on, but the general rule of thumb is that ducks like to mind their own business.
Judy is correct.
Just leave the nest alone and see what happens as it appears some of the eggs are too old to hatch but the female will take care of her eggs.
She will stay on the eggs if they are still good for hatching.
If she abandons them it means she does not think they will hatch.
The more you mess around the eggs the less she will take care of them.
If she leaves them then it may be best to throw them away unless you plan to eat them and then you would have to check each egg individually to see if it is still good to eat.
Are your ducks in a pen or free range?
If she leaves the nest then she'll start a new nest if space is available.
I have 3 female pekin ducks and 1 male. The three ladies have all been laying eggs for many weeks, but will only sit at night. They are also using the same nest and up to 25 eggs will be clumped together, but since there are so many a lot will start breaking.
We have another nesting box, but they won't use it. My other main problem is that the girls have gone through multiple clusters and still won't sit on them all day like they should. We let the ducks out each morning to swim in the creek, but whoever's on the nest in the morning gets right up to go swim with the others. Should we keep them locked up all day? We've tried to let half out and keep half in, but the ones inside just call and call for the others.
I read that you shouldn't mess with the eggs too much, but with so many eggs being laid it's hard to keep track of which ones are old, so I began dating the eggs as well as widening the nest so the eggs wouldn't break as easily. I have left things alone as well, but after a while I'll go out and smell rotten eggs and realize that there are many broken and rotting in their nest.
I'm just out of options and don't know what else to do. I would incubate their eggs, but I want the mothers to take care of the babies when they hatch and I don't know if they will if they didn't have them with them. Please let me know anything that might help!
It really sounds to me that this is a mess and you really should try and separate the females when they are laying the eggs. You can move the male around so they can fertilize the eggs in the nest. I would try and just get rid of the eggs that are there right now and try and start over again. Split the pen up into different sections and give each one of the females a nesting box. I think allowing them to go swimming is good but when done you should put them back on their own side of the pen and then they can sit on their own nest.
Pekin ducks are not known for their mothering instincts, it's too much fun to go play in the water for the day instead of sitting on a boring nest of eggs. If you want baby ducklings you are better off dropping them into an incubator. Otherwise, just pick up the eggs daily and enjoy you Pekin's antics.
My Hazel (duck) had 1 egg. Should I leave it here?
You should leave it alone unless it is in an unsafe place. The place should be safe from outside predators for Hazel and her egg.
If Hazel is a close pet, you might be able to add some "filler" for her nest - straw or something similar.
If this is an area where your duck feels at home, then best to leave it and create a nest around it.
Funny, I was recently talking to someone whose geese laid eggs in an unsafe place, and, one day of their own volition, the geese rolled the eggs to a place under the house!
Maybe if you create a better nesting place somewhere safe and somehow encourage her to rest there, she will move the egg on her own.
My duck started sitting on the 8 eggs she laid on the 19th of May 2020. Suddenly I found only 7 eggs. I don't know where the 8th one is and today is the first of June.
I had noticed 3 days back that now my duck is not sitting on her eggs again. What may be the cause or are the eggs ready to hatch?Normally it takes 28 to 35 days for the eggs to hatch once the duck starts to sit on the eggs. If you do not see the eggs hatching after 45 days it is time to pick them up and throw them away. You should try and leave the duck alone and allow her to take care of her nest and eggs by herself. Bothering her like this will make her nervous and will cause her to stop sitting on her eggs. Allow nature to take its course and allow her to take care of the eggs. Please do not worry about all of this and she knows what she is dong now.
I bought a brown speckled female Mallard at an auction, and she has laid 12 eggs but does not sit on them all the time. Are they still good, and will she sit on them to hatch them, or should I take them out? There is a male mallard duck with her.
By Charolette A
Usually birds, all kinds, lay an egg a day or say every other day. But they don't usually sit or brood, till they have laid enough, 12 certainly seems like a large enough number. Questions come to mind 1. does she have privacy, somewhere other animals and humans won't disturb her. 2. Are male and female of same age 3. How often is a human checking on things? If they don't feel safe they won't always brood. 4. Was she raised by mother or incubated, sometimes they just don't know how. 5. Do you know how to candle an egg? If she is tame and used to you, discard eggs, see if she starts laying again. If she does take a marker and date eggs as she lays them. If she's pretty tame this shouldn't bother her. After marking date, you can candle the eggs to see if a chick is growing. If you decide to take current eggs from her, crack a few and see if they've actually been fertilized by the male. Have you seen him mount her? Best advice I have is to get a library book, to help with some of these questions.
I am new to duck raising.. I have a male & female Roan's "oversized mallards".. They are laying now but she does not sit on them!! I believe they are fertilized because I see the male mount every day when I clean & fill the pools.. She's had 2 so far today & yesterday.. Yesterday the egg was half the size of today's but Like I said, it was her very first one ever .. I imagine that one is not normal but what if she doesn't sit on this other egg?? They were bought at tractor supply so not sure how she was raised to know if she knows what to do or not ... Please help!!
My duck disappeared about a month ago. I didn't know my duck had about 12 eggs. The father is still around, but idk if he sits on the eggs or what. What should I do with the eggs?
I am sure you don't have an incubator but you need a warm area to keep them. You could try a box with a light but I think you need to keep the temperature around 99 degrees and a bit humid.
We farm, and have chickens and ducks. The males only sit on them for very short periods of time to relieve the female while she eats. If it has been a month, they need to be pitched as they will attract snakes and such
It takes 28-35 days for an egg to hatch. You need to keep them in an incubator or they won't hatch.
It seems you are saying the eggs are at least one month old? If that is the case, since ducks only lay one egg per day, at least one of the eggs is 30 days + 12 days old (or more?).
I do not believe you will be able to hatch these but they may still be safe to eat and use in recipes.
Here is a site that has information about duck eggs:
www.fresheggsdaily.com/
Keep the eggs in an environment that is between 98 an 101 degrees, better too cold than too hot.
Rotate the eggs one half turn one to two times a day. Keep the eggs moist. This can be done by spraying them with a light mist every time you rotate them. When it come time for the eggs to hatch, you will see the beak of the ducklings poke through the shell, at this time be sure you do not assist the hatching process, they will come out on there own time.
After they have fully hatched, let the dry off in the box or incubator they are in. The duckling will not swim on there own but they need food and water. It is best to let them have access to water with lots of duck weed but still be able to walk back on shore if they want. Hope this helps and good luck!
We have 11 neighborhood ducks that everyone on our block takes care of, feeds, and looks out for. They have a large pond where they live, but they spend a majority of their time in my yard. A couple weeks ago I found 5-10 eggs around the pond, grouped together.
This morning I went out to feed them, and found 2 eggs next to my porch. And none of the ducks are sitting on them. I am not sure what I should do with them? Any tips or suggestions are welcomed. Thank you in advance.
She has 8 eggs in her nest. I understand what you said about when she will start sitting. My question is when do the eggs start progressing?
From day 1 or when she starts sitting full time?
I have a Mallard duck nesting in my mulch. She laid 11 eggs, but something went wrong with one of them part of the shell was missing, but the thin lining underneath was untouched. The momma got rid of that egg. She has not laid anymore for a week, but she also does not stay on the nest. She would come for an hour or so in morning then take off for hours then come back in afternoon then leave by about 6pm. Then yesterday I'm not sure if she showed up at all.
She hasn't shown up today. I'm waiting to see if she shows up tomorrow. My question is shouldn't she be nesting on them already where she isn't gone most of the day or all day? Also if she doesn't return do I just call a wildlife center to come get them? How long should I wait before calling? I'm uncertain as to why she isn't sitting on nest most of the day and night? Thank you.My magpie duck has laid 16 eggs one every day since January 1st, but she doesn't sit on them. She is only a year old. Will she sit or should I collect them?
I have ducks and they are laying eggs. They do not sit on them all the time just a small part of the day. Will the eggs still hatch?
By rick from Calhoun City, MS
I had ducks a few yrs back (peking ducks) and they didn't sit on them all the time either, and some of the eggs still hatched (guess the fertile ones). Good luck with them.
It is actually a requirement for waterfowl that the eggs' temperature be lowered for a short while each day if you were incubating them. Since she's doing her job instead, that is the time at which the mom would get off her nest to eat, drink, and (more importantly) swim. She brings back moisture in her feathers to the eggs to keep them from a) evaporating too quickly, and b) getting to hard-shelled. Be sure (as always) to provide adequate swimming water so that she can do her job.
Note - if they do hatch and you pick them up to raise them yourself, do not ever let them run short of water. If they do, reintroduce the water to them slowly - a sip or two then a break for a minute, then three sips etc. You'd be surprised how quickly they can spill their water as they play with it.
If you allow her to raise them, expect losses - it's part of nature. They usually have many babies to cover for the loss of a lot, and they're not as good at parenting as geese are.
Here's a website that you might find very helpful. (Ignore the music heheh.)
www.poultryconnection.com/
But they're adorable! So best of luck with them!
We leave near a water basen where are a lot of geese that had babies one duck that had 12 eggs she sat on them only left them as you said to walk to the water to cool off it has been over 105 here a lot as we went to check on her daily the eggs were cracked open not all at once till all 12 are gone now what happen would the geese have done that
Our duck had sat on 8 eggs and they were due to hatch this weekend. She has left them all and they are now cold. Why did she leave them? They have full size ducklings inside.
We have 1 male and 2 female ducks that we got from a friend. One of the females laid a nest of at least 15 eggs.
She doesn't sit on the nest all the time, but she does every few hours.
My mallard hen and Indian runner have mated. My hen has laid 30 eggs so far. When will she start sitting on them?
I have 3 female ducks and 2 males. The males have been mounting the females. The problems is that they lay all their eggs in the pond.
We can see them laying on the bottom. Is there a way to stop this?A couple of days ago I found a duck nesting with one little duckie. Later some of the eggs hatched and I fed the ducks everyday. So there is the mom, the big duckie and the little duckies, but there's still 5 eggs in the nest.
I'm worried did she abandon her eggs? Are they still gonna hatch and how is it possible that she has an older duckie and younger duckies?
A mallard laid two eggs in our flowerbed. The next day she sat under our bird feeder with the male, but did not lay an egg and today we haven't seen her at all. Is there a chance she will return or likely she has abandoned her nest? How long before I know if she is not returning? I was so excited about the prospective brood, now I'm so sad she didn't come back.
By Judy
