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Mallard ducks have laid 2 eggs but the female and male both just left them there. What do I do?
Chris
Hi, Chris. I believe that the ducks will lay their eggs one at a time & then when there is about a dozen they will set on them to begin the incubation process, this way they will all hatch at the same time.
I have hand raised mallard chicks a few time, the kids incubated them in school, and then they came to my house. They are great fun, as they will imprint on you, follow you all over the yard, like you are the mama. They would even come down the street with me when I brought the kids to the bus stop in the fall. lol Then in the fall they fly away with the rest of the ducks. I have a female who has been coming back for years to my yard to lay her eggs each spring.
Trish in CT
A duck has laid at least 6 eggs at the base of a boxwood bush that is elevated in a planter. She didn't appear to be sitting on the nest for the last 2 days, but suddenly this morning she is sitting on the nest.
We had a mallard who laid eggs in the front of our house. We noticed her sitting on them for 2 weeks. She is now gone and so are the eggs. There is no sign of cracked eggs anywhere. What happened?
A mallard hen laid eggs in my yard. She seems to be sitting on them and incubating them now. Should I provide anything for her? She already has my little dog trained to stay away :-)
OMG that is super cute!!!!!!!
I have to imagine that what she most wants is to be left alone, because being approached by you (or the dog) for anything will most likely spook her
I also would think that she can take care of herself in regards to food, water, etc and any approach to help her will be misinterpreted
Let nature take its course.
You are a lucky one! Be careful about the dog and make sure he/she does not aggravate the mom or she might abandon her nest and that would be sad.
Here is a site that tells about your duck:
That is what my husband says
Thank you for the site. Our concern is how to get them to the water when they hatch. They are in a block walked fence and a row of houses away from where we believe her water is ( pond on a gulf course) We live in the desert so there are not many options for water around here.
I can understand your concern especially since water may be that far away. If you read from the site that I gave you will find some instructions on maybe how to handle this problem.
If you feel you need more help you can contact someone from the US Department of Agriculture. here is their national web site and also a contact site but you can also contact your local office and ask for help.
I read the ideas in the article. I wasn't sure how long to wait after they hatched to " assasit" in moving if needed. Thanks for the web sites for further assistance if needed. We are putting up a small fence in that area this weekend to make sure Dallas (our dog) doesn't get too interested. Right now she stays away from the nest even when mom has it covered and is gone for a bit.
A female has laid 10 eggs, she returned this morning to see 1 broken out of nest and one moved from nest and then flew away. Will she return to finish nesting?
I think she will return.
she's probably not done laying yet. once she is she will stay on all of the eggs
She will be back
I noticed a mallard duck nesting next to my front door. I went to put up some signs to tell people not to use the front door and she got up and she flew away. She has seven eggs in her nest.
She may come back and sit on them after she has laid her last egg. You will have to wait and see.
A mallard duck and her mate hang out near our boat dock everyday. Yesterday we found 2 eggs, not in a nest and not even near each other. Just laying on the dock in different corners. What should I do?
A wild Mallard has sat on her eggs for 31 days and still is. What does that mean? Are the eggs still viable? How much longer until the ducklings will hatch and how long will she continue brooding?
My mallard hen decided to come into my home; she followed my chicken hen inside. I was running bath water and she jumped in the tub with me after I bathed. She decided to stay and chose my bathroom closet to lay her nest of eggs. She is now brooding her eggs. Is this strange that ducks come into the house to make their nests? Has anyone else had this problem? Please help.
If you move them now, she may not stay broody. If you do, it has to be in a secure area, where she can't get out--and even then she may not sit on them.
But, they only lay 1 per day, and then they don't sit until they are done laying. So, evidently you have been allowing her to do this for quite some time to be in this situation.
She probably likes the warmth of the house. I don't think you can do anything now, unless you don't care if the eggs hatch or not.
A duck built a nest in the bush by my front door. I had someone come over and aerate my lawn. The machine was loud, and scared the duck away. I just found out 10 minutes prior that the duck was in the bush. My intention was not to have her scared from her eggs, will she return?
I hope so.
She probably will. The noise isn't bound to come back and she is probably nearby. Keep us updated.
From a cooperative extension website:
The incubation length on duck eggs is 28 days. At times, ducks will abandon their nests to re-nest in other areas. Other predators will feed on the eggs, so fox & other birds may have already cleaned out the nest. The eggs could be under the mulch, and can survive for 12 hours or more until she returns. I suggest you wait and see what happens.
Most likely she will come back--our farm equipment scares them and they come back. Keep us posted. (same with geese)
A female mallard delivered an egg on our patio. She got startled and left her egg. She has not returned for her egg. What should I do?
Momma duck had been nesting next to my house for the past few weeks, and I noticed about 10 eggs recently, so I was expecting them to hatch anytime soon. Sure enough, this morning I went out and noticed some cracked eggs, so I figured the babies hatched. Strangely, I didn't see any babies, but Mom and Dad were casually eating grass on my front lawn.
Does anyone have any guesses as to what became of the ducklings? The shells were completely empty and clean, so it doesn't appear that they died. And the nest was neat and didn't appear that a struggle from a predator occurred. So, I'm perplexed as to what became of the little ones? Any ideas? Thanks.
I have ducks all over my neighborhood. We always feed them and one female laid eggs (12 eggs) on my roof. I don't know what to do because we got a ladder and my brother touched one. They are brand new. I just wanted to know if you touch it does the egg rot?
And also she is now away from the eggs, but still on my roof. Do I leave the eggs? Please answer as soon as possible because the eggs are on the roof and I don't know what to do. Also the other ducks including the dad left and are always in my yard and we feed them.
On my roof there are 12 eggs, but my neighbor also has 9 eggs and I don't know if they're hers, but I'm pretty sure they are although she doesn't take care of those, only of the ones on the roof.
We have a pool and last Friday a male and female decided to visit. We found an egg on Saturday on our cement. They continue to come back every morning for a dip and then they sit in the sun for about an hour. Then we do not see them until the next morning, other than the female coming in for a few minutes 1 evening. I had to move the egg about 20 feet for safety. They still go by the egg and have moved it a few times maybe a foot or so. What is everyone thoughts?
My husband was pruning back a bush and uncovered 5 duck eggs. I was too late to stop him. We didn't disturb them, but the bush is gone. Will Mama duck come back?
Last year we had a mallard duck that laid eggs and sat on them for a couple of weeks. After she did not sit on them for a few days, we discovered 2 eggs left in the nest, but the rest were gone. There were no egg shells like something had taken them out of the nest. The two remaining eggs did not hatch.
We do have opossums, raccoons, and fox around so it may have been one of them. She is back again this week (Indiana) which I find strange because something took her eggs last year. 1st question - Why would she make the nest in the same spot if something ate her eggs last year. 2nd question - What can I do protect them this year?
A mallard duck laid her egg on the ledge of my above ground pool, which is 5ft tall with rocks around the base. I find this very odd, what do I do?
Might not hurt to leave it alone? If you move it, the mother might not know where it went, right? If you want to put something around it to protect it from falling, why not consult a local zoo or perhaps a college where they might have experts who can address your concerns?
If a predator got the first eggs in nest (8) will mother return to lay more?
By Barbara
Yes, but the predator remembers where it found the eggs and will return. It is most likely a raccoon or an opossum or possibly a big rat!
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I have been feeding two mallard ducks (male and female) for a long time, and my female (named Peepers) just laid eggs. She has six so far, but I'm worried because she only goes to the nest to lay a new egg every night. She and the male (Beepers) still come to me 3 times a day to be fed. Otherwise, they're swimming in a nearby pond. It's getting cold now, and Peepers still doesn't sit on them at all. What should I do?
Lexi
Not sure about ducks, but turkey eggs can be kept up to 2 weeks before 'setting' and as long as they do not freeze they can be kept in a cool room. So I would just leave Peepers alone. She wants them to hatch at the same time. (08/15/2005)
By Randiann
Mallards hens will lay between 8-12 eggs one a day she will not sit on them until the last egg is laid, this way they all incubate at about the same time smart huh? (09/03/2005)
By duck man.
We found a Mallard duck nest in our front landscaping right outside our front door. I found it by scaring the hen away by accident! She flew away as I was opening the door. As of yesterday morning, there were only 4 eggs. This morning they were all covered up so we couldn't see them. I have learned that mallards will lay 8-12 one day at a time, so my question is, what are we supposed to do when she begins incubating the nest? We can't stop using our front door? I hope she doesn't abandon them, but I'm a little concerned about that happening. Can someone give me some advice please?
(04/02/2006)
By Alyssa
