Are my ducks eating eggs?

[helios]

After a long wait for my other hens to start laying, I finally saw an egg lying in the water on the edge of the pond on my reconnaisance walk yesterday (yay!) and as I walked over to it, I glanced over and saw two more on the shore (double yay!). However, when I picked it up, it was empty and there was a bill-sized hole in it with no evident scratches in the film around the hole from teeth or claws (I have Cayugas who lay white eggs covered with a grey film). The other two were identically eaten (triple grrr...).

I know that chickens are prone to cannibalizing eggs, but I thought it was very rare for ducks. The ducks free-range 24 hours a day and have supplemental food available at all times (although I'm not sure all of them regularly get over to the duck house to eat). We do have a muskrat on the pond, but I thought that they were herbivores. I have not seen any raccoons in the area for over a year, as my boyfriend took out any he saw about four summers ago and the majority of the trees around the pond were taken out last summer. I forgot to check for prints in the mud (I was a little upset). We did kill two opossums late this winter, but I didn't see the eggs on my walk two nights ago, so I think I may have missed one egg, but not three--meaning at least one or two were not on the shore overnight for nocturnal predators to find. I found/saved two eggs this morning, so at least two hens are laying in that area.

I'm almost thinking it had to be the ducks. I have too many drakes right now, if that makes any difference--I'm more apt to suspect them eating eggs rather than the hens. I'll be checking for tracks tonight, but wondered if anyone had ideas about whether I should suspect the ducks, the muskrat, or look for other predators.

 

[duckyfromoz]

My ducks will eat a soft shelled egg- but I have yet to see them actually break a hard shelled egg open to eat it. Occasionally I will find a broken egg next to a broody sitting on a nest- and it could be assumed that the duck cracked the egg somehow while turning - and saw it as an opportunistic feed. If they were laid on the bare ground it could have been many different types of birds - and yes - possibly the ducks. But I think it much more likely that it was something other than the ducks in your case. If- however it was your ducks- it could be a sign that you need to offer them some oyster shell for the extra calcium.

 

[helios]

Yes, I've thought about adding an oyster shell feeder. The eggs all seem to have strong shells, so I think they're getting enough calcium from the layer feed I give them. I have fed my injured ducks hard-boiled eggs with the shell on, but they didn't really seem to go crazy for them. What worried me is that all three were eaten, so whatever ate the first one got a taste for it and moved on to the second and third.

I also saw a little hole drilled into the ground on the outside of the duck house as if someone was reaching in under the side to get at the nest of eggs on the other side. All of those eggs were intact, and I'd think if it was a raccoon, it would've walked in the door to get to the nest (the door's always open now that they won't go into lockup at night). I figured one of the ducks found a soft spot and drilled a hole there like they do. Also no strange tracks there.

I'm planning on checking carefully for tracks tonight and staking out the area to watch for the offender tomorrow morning. And adding an oyster shell feeder LOL.

I just thought of another suspect...we have Canada geese that stop over on the pond on a daily basis (sometimes just a few, sometimes thirty or more). They seem to ignore the ducks, but maybe they are the hungry offenders?

 

[ravnis]

Had a problem with my ducks eating there eggs too. It started after a freeze and the eggs had frozen in the snow. I took a storebought chicken egg and poked holes into both ends and filled with mustard after reading about it on a website. It worked started getting eggs regularly after that. They already had the oyster shell. They suddenly started eating again. THey had been getting lots of cracked corn because I thought it would help them through the cold spells. I stopped the cracked corn and fed them higher protien food (was all the feedstore had that week) and they stopped again.

So mustard makes them want to stop and having high protien food when bugs aren't available my be preventative.

Good luck to you.

 

[helios]

Quote:
Thanks! I like the mustard idea--I'll try that if I find it's the ducks or if it doesn't stop. I was thinking that the jumbo store-bought eggs I used as dummy eggs in the hen's nest after I stole her eggs would work well as lures to catch the egg-eater tomorrow (or maybe tonight--haha! no one expects the Spanish Inquisition!)

The cracked corn may be an issue, too. Over the winter, they were getting about 1/2 cracked corn (for quick energy to keep them warm), 1/2 16% crumbles. I switched the crumbles to layer about halfway through winter and this last bag I reduced the corn to about 1/4 of their feed to wean them off of it. There's maybe 1-1/2 weeks of the mix left, but I think I'll buy a new bag of layer (and oyster shell) tonight and throw the rest of the pre-mix stuff on top. I did notice one of the girls get excited when she saw a pile of cast off feed with lots of cracked corn on top.

I also feed them about 3 cups of Black Oil Sunflower Seeds each night...some seem to dig through the greens I mix it with to eat the BOSS, some prefer the greens. I don't even know what the protein content is of BOSS, but maybe I'm letting them fill up on junk food

They haven't been finishing the greens/BOSS treat nightly, so I've been skipping it if they have leftovers or cutting back. I guess the problem might fix itself when the tadpoles start hatching and the ducks get their tummies filled with wriggly protein. At any rate, I'll have to take a look at their nutrition. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[dumb_cluck]

When my mallards started laying, I saw holes in the eggs and the shell was soft. I imagine that they didn't know what it was and pecked at it and it broke. After a few weeks their eggs were kicked around, but not broken or pecked at.

So I am thinking that their early eggs had soft shells and they hardened after several "layings". Just a thought...

 

[Suzie]

Sad to relate but my ducks will eat eggs - I have witnessed this and it is very worrying for me at the moment as they are laying - I have left eggs in their accommodation at night, in the mornings the eggs have been eaten - I no longer leave eggs overnight, I will wait until one of mine is broody before leaving any eggs there!

One of my geese ate an egg she laid earlier in the day too!

My animals are cannibals....!!!

 

[helios]

I lost three more eggs over the weekend to my cannibal ducks. I was suspecting the drakes, but the girls laid their two eggs this morning next to one of the mustard eggs that had been broken into. I saved the two from this morning and I hope the mustard trick worked, because they got the Saturday morning eggs and I looked for eggs every hour from 8AM to noon on Sunday before I found a single empty egg.

 

[helios]

I only managed to save four eggs from my cannibal ducks. I think they managed to eat 8 eggs that I found. Strangely, they seemed to stop laying (or were laying in the water)...of course they stopped laying on the shore just after I promised 3 or 4 eggs to a friend

But, then... the count of eggs in my first laying duck's nest in the duck house skyrocketed and I think the other two girls got tired of losing their eggs and found the nice, safe nest. After putting the four saved eggs in the nest today, there should be 30 eggs waiting for a warm duck belly if everyone layed this morning.

I just hope the cannibalism is over!

BTW, I thought the mustard trick worked...they broke through two of the three mustard eggs and left them full of mustard, but then I found one of the eggs at least ten feet from the shore. We had some wicked winds, but I think they might've pushed or dragged it around. No eggs at all on the shore for a few days, then I found a single one over the weekend. I thought it was intact until I picked it up--they hid the hole on the bottom

I have to go over my posts and do some math to see how many of the eggs in the nest are from the new layers.

 

[Toledano Farm]

Want to try the mustard. Same issues. How do you hide the hole ?