Flooded Duck Nest!

[My15Ducks]

Hi all! I’m new here and I’m the owner of 6 adult ducks and 9 ducklings between the ages of 3-5 weeks. I’m really enjoying my ducks!

One of my female ducks is broody and has been sitting on her nest (15 eggs) for 2 weeks. Her nest is outside in a predator proof yard, but she didn’t make her nest in her house. 2 days ago we had an inch of rain. When I fed her she got off the nest and I discovered that her eggs were sitting in half an inch of water!!! I quickly added dry wood shavings and straw to the nest and built it up quite a bit so it was high and dry.
I candled one egg and all I could tell was it had red veins and looked ok. Couldn’t see movement but my light wasn’t super bright.

Today I candled another egg and it looked a bit odd. There are still some red veins around the edges and the center is a dark blob (I still didn’t get a good flashlight). When I turned the egg the blob kind of “sloshed”. Does that sound normal? I can try to take pictures next time.
For now I’m just hoping for the best. I hope her eggs didn’t die!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Some good candling pictures would be a good idea. Being the eggs were sitting in water bacteria may have gotten through but having the bloom still intact hopefully not so get some good pictures.
the dark blob in the center of the egg is probably the duckling forming but pictures would help a lot to make sure.

 

[My15Ducks]

Thank you for the reply. This morning she didn’t get off the nest so I wasn’t able to candle the eggs but next time I see her get off I’ll try to get some pictures. I wonder if she’ll abandon the best if they are all dead?

 

[Miss Lydia]

She may eventually some are diehards and won't get off for nothing just depends on the duck.

 

[My15Ducks]

At least 5 embryos are moving and alive! Yay! Top pic is one of those. Then there are a bunch of eggs that are clearly developed but I’m not sure if they’re alive. I think most of them might be dead..I’ll post a bunch of those photos below

 

[My15Ducks]

These eggs are all 2 weeks and 3 days. I didn’t throw any out because I wasn’t sure but I’m worried the bad eggs will ruin the good ones. Maybe in a few days it will be more clear which are dead?

 

[Miss Lydia]

That's a good idea to candle again in a few days then toss the ones that have quit. those last 3 pics don't look right if they are all same age. I don't see any veins like in the first pics.

 

[My15Ducks]

Update: 1 week until hatching.
Today I candled the eggs again. 6 are definitely alive and well. Fingers crossed they make it. 3 I am not sure about. They aren’t definitely dead, but I don’t see any veins or movement. I didn’t feel confident enough to throw them out so I left them in the nest.
I did throw out 4 eggs. They were pretty clearly not right - sloshy, no veins, clear spots, some of them smelled iffy. I did crack them open which is something I’ve never done before and now I am pretty nauseated.
3 of them were mostly filled with foul smelling brown slime and some tiny dark blobs which I assume were dead ducklings. But one looked way more developed and not as rotten so then I felt terrible that maybe I shouldn’t have thrown it out.. but I’m pretty sure it was dead. There was no blood. Ugh. Sure hope I did the right thing.

Here are the iffy eggs I left in the nest:

 

[My15Ducks]

 

[My15Ducks]

Here’s one of the eggs I threw out