Hi Everyone, It's been a few years since i have posted or been on the forums. I bought 2 Hottentot Teals about 5 years ago and when i was cleaning the aviary yesterday, i noticed an egg was laid behind a little shrub. This is the first time she has laid an egg and i don't think they have ever mated, at least when i have been watching or around them. The temperatures here are pretty low for my area 60F as the high and 30-40s for the Low at night. This morning it actually froze and got down to 28 degrees. I went ahead and brought the egg inside this morning and have it in a room for storage that is about 68 degrees. Now, while i realize the probability of this egg being hatched is very low, given all of the variables, i wanted to ask a few things about it. The egg was outside in a sheltered area in 28 degrees for about 4-6 hours. Can that completely ruin the chance for it to hatch, assuming it was fertilized? She seemed to ignore the egg the rest of the day yesterday, meaning she wasn't laying on it or anywhere near it. It's going to be at or below freezing a few degrees the next 2 days, so i brought both of my ducks inside. After that, it will be about mid 60s to mid 40s for the next 10 days and my ducks will be outside again. Is that weather ok for me to put the egg back outside to see if she will lay on it? If the egg is at all possible still ok, is there anyway to get her to lay on it and hatch it naturally? Also, do teals lay 1 egg a day or how often do they lay? From what i remember, they only lay about 2-5 eggs a year. She didn't lay an egg today, before i brought them in, so it's just the 1 egg. I don't have an incubator and did not plan to get one, but if she can lay and hatch 1 or a few, i would like to give her the chance to try, so if anyone has any tips or comments on having them naturally hatch, let me know. Also, is there any way to tell if she is developing and about to lay any more eggs? Thanks for the help everyone.
answering purely from a poultry stand point .... (I have experience with chickens, and little with ducks but not with your kind of duck) since this is her first time, the chances of her setting properly on the egg are very low. Since there is a chance that the egg could be fertile (and it could still hatch even with the cold temperatures), if it is important to you, I would run around and call around to try to find a person with an experienced broody, or a person who has experience with an incubator, and ask if they will try to hatch your egg. You could call your local 4H and FFA, stop by any feed stores or places that sell home grown eggs, or just drive down the road and stop if you see chickens or ducks! I would be tempted to stick a regular chicken egg under your duck, or in a little nest that your duck can find, to see if she is interested in brooding.
Well ducks don't start sitting on their eggs as soon as they lay one. They lay their clutch, then start sitting. (Just like chickens) now the size of the clutch varies... And since you said they only lay 2 to 5 eggs a year... Well I'd say her clutch would be two to 5 eggs. I'd certainly try to find someone wit experience with your breed and ask their advice.
Perhaps you can ask this question in the ornamental waterfowl forum? I think they may have more specialized expertise for this species of duck.
Ok, thanks for the help everyone. I completely forgot about the Ornamental section, since i haven't been around here in a few years. I went ahead and posted a few questions there.
