emergency duck egg rescue incubation

[Ashleyponygurl]

So my husband and I went fishing today to a local pond as we made pour way around we came across a sad scene, aducks nest had been ravaged some eggs smashed a couple tossed in the water but a few salvageable eggs so we brought the unbroken few hone with us to try and give them a chance by incubating them. My incubator is reading 98.9 with 40% humidity, but my secondary thermometer to calibrate only says 93 what is the best temp to incubate them and if I post pictures of the eggs can someone help identify them? I think it may have been a 2 nest destruction cuz it looks like 2 different kinds of eggs ey all looked the same when they were muddy and a wreck but now I can definitely see what seems to be 2 different kinds of eggs

 

[dirtychick]

99.5 like chicken in air type. if they hatch great if not don't matter kind. I'd worry more about game laws ? run higher humidity on them . good luck .

 

[Orca5094]

Have you candled the eggs to see if they're still alive in there? If your incubator has a fan you typically incubate at 98.5 degrees. If it doesn't have a fan, it's around 101 degrees.

Wild duck eggs all pretty much look the same, just size differences really. Not sure if they can be identified by sight like that. What species do you typically see in that area?

 

[Ashleyponygurl]

Well its a park around the pond I think the ducks there are ones sadly dropped off by people, they looked like huge mallards but with a white chest, which ive never seen before ( I'm outdoors A lot) which is why I don't think they are a native species. It is still air and I really wasn't trying to break any rules by taking the eggs, I just found out I'm pregnant and hormones are kinda crazy but when I saw the smashed eggs I almost cried, it looked something done by some punk *** teens and I felt so bad if a human messed it up maybe a better person should save the day... My hormones made me feel like I was being heroic but now I don't know if I did the right thing... I just couldn't leave them I felt it was my duty as a mom to help the mmama duck whose home was wrecked

 

[WVduckchick]

Have you candled any of them yet?

Also did you look around for momma duck? Maybe she was just hiding from the meanies.

 

[Ashleyponygurl]

I don't think she had sat on them yet the ones that were smashed were not chicks but still white and yolk, all the ducks were out on the water the time we were there at least round on our side, being that the nest area had been trampled I knew if I left those eggs there exposed another kid would have come along and smashed them, I mean who knows maybe they were smashed by kids that thought they were easter eggs (they are green) and there were a lot of little kids still at the park and where the eggs were they were 10 feet or from a concrete strusture picnic area where they hold annual kids fishing events I was just so scared these eggs would have the same fate as the smashed ones anyways I'm not giving up yet, eyve been in the bator for about 24 hours at what point should I candle them to see if any are even viable eggs? They were pretty spread out as though tey had been kicked or rolled around a bit and some were rolled into the water (2 were submerged) so I'm not getting my hopes up too high but I figure I should at least give them a chance...

 

[WVduckchick]

I don't blame you one bit for wanting to help... only you know the situation, so I wish you the best with them.

You can probably tell if they are fertile by day 4-5, but for sure by day 7ish.
Heres a good candling chart for ducks.

Oh, best of luck with your pregnancy too!!

 

[Ashleyponygurl]

Thank you so much! Its a surprise blessing this time we weren't trying because our son turns a year in 2 weeks, but god gives us surprises at crazy times, literally my husband was laid off a week before we found out and the next day he got his job back (miracle) so we took his last day off to go fishing and found the mess so I thought maybe I can help there were so many other nests I could see with eggs right there I only hoped they weren't found and smashed as well thank you again that candling chart is a great help I will check them in about 3 days and post again if any look good

 

[Ashleyponygurl]

I also thought about setting the eggs in another ducks nest but I was afraid if I disturbed an untouched nest it would get abandoned and even more eggs would be left to die, I'm very scared for the other nests they were all in e watered edge right near that picnic area, I just pray they do not ho!d any easter egg hunts at that park this year

 

[WVduckchick]

Great. Keep us posted on how it goes. I'll be curious!
Its funny to me that so many duck eggs were so close to the pond and people. But they say young ducks just lay wherever they are. Plop! Oh what just came out? Oh an egg! Lol.
Nice that your husband got his job back, that's great news. You could be on a lucky streak!