Duck eggs taken from feral duck, now in my bator, how to tell if they are good?

[GBov]

First, I was NOT the one who caught the duck, moved the eggs and then let the duck get away.

That person was a well intentioned but really REALLY stupid person!

My problem now is, 16 eggs in the bator for two weeks and no signs of life.

I have candled them but all I see is a clear spot at the blunt end and all the rest is black.

They havnt changed for as long as they have been with me. interperit

I floated some of them, one sank and the rest floated just a bit above the water.

Is there ANY way to tell if these eggs are still alive, short of breaking one open? Floating them gave me data but I didn't know how to use it lol.

 

[HumbleHen207]

The sinker is almost surely a dud from my personal experiences. Floating them in warm water is the only way to tell for sure if your eggs are alive or dead. They will wobble if they are alive. All living embryo's constantly wiggle in their eggs. Your eggs are probably about 3+ weeks into the incubation process, it takes about 28 days for duck eggs to hatch.

 

[GBov]

How high should they float? Just barely or high? And should I remove any sinkers?

 

[HumbleHen207]

Remove the sinkers, that means the air pocket has been damaged. How high they float is dependent on how far into the incubation process they are. I would say as long as they are somewhat floating they are worth putting back in the incubator.

 

[GBov]

Right! I will float test them all, remove any sinkers and keep putting water and time into the 'bator.

Let you know if anything good happens!

 

[Nupe]

I remember as a child going out to the marshes with my step father every year to collect wild duck eggs to incubate. We ate duck almost every week and that's how we replenished our flock. To me, that's no different than hunting or picking wild asparagus.

 

[OnlyOrps]

Boy I would be concerned about AI in the wild bird populations!

 

[GBov]

I remember as a child going out to the marshes with my step father every year to collect wild duck eggs to incubate. We ate duck almost every week and that's how we replenished our flock. To me, that's no different than hunting or picking wild asparagus.

These eggs (and the duck) were taken from beside the bank where she has two broods a year, to the delight of all patrons. A sign CLEARLY states "Don't mess with the duck, she lives here!" but a well meaning person didn't see it and thought she was in danger so brought her to our 4H grounds where she promptly abandoned the eggs and returned, we think, home.

It would be nice to save a few of her offspring.

I do know the eggs were unsatupon for at least 12 hours and most likely more, on a cool night. But if they were dead, shouldn't 2 weeks in a 'bator have brought forth some smells from dead eggs?

 

[Nupe]

I don't think 12 hours is enough to kill them all. You may have a couple that don't survive.

 

[HumbleHen207]

I have had some lengthy power outages with eggs in my incubator. Delays the hatch a bit, kills a few, but never completely destroys the hatch. I have eggs make it through some of the worst conditions. Forgetting to plug in my turner, incubator temperature of 110+, faulty humidity measurements, 8 hour power outages, etc... Heck, I even assisted a weak gosling from making the internal pip, to zip, and she made it. They are tough. You should be able to make some judgement on if they are alive relatively soon.