Broody domestic Mallard

[5boysformom]

I have all female birds (chickens and several kinds of ducks) but I have some wild mallards that visit our pond. One of my mallards goes broody frequently but my husband usually takes her off the nest and removes the eggs because they can't be fertile. Today out of curiosity he candled an egg as he removed them from her nest and it appeared to have a moving dark spot. The only reason it is a possibility is because of the drakes that visit almost daily to share the food and play in the pond. I have never seen any mating behavior and my girls usually fuss at them for stealing food but I suppose it is possible they could have mated without me knowing. So my question is, how do we know if they are fertile and would it be unheard of for a domestic duck to mate with a wild duck? We have never hatched duck eggs and it is more difficult to candle them than the chicken eggs we have hatched in the past. We aren't really sure what we are seeing and what to really look for. Any help would be great!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Crack open an egg look for the bullseyes that will tell you if an egg is fertile.

and yes a wild mallard drake will mate with a domestic duck he sees no difference.
http://www.metzerfarms.com/Candling.cfm?affiliate=undef&CustID=16619040

 

[5boysformom]

Crack open an egg look for the bullseyes that will tell you if an egg is fertile.

and yes a wild mallard drake will mate with a domestic duck he sees no difference.
http://www.metzerfarms.com/Candling.cfm?affiliate=undef&CustID=16619040

 

[5boysformom]

Thank you for responding. I will just wait a few more days and check them again. I don't want to crack them open because I don't want to stop any potential development. This girl really wants to be a mama and even though we aren't really wanting any more ducklings right now we are willing to give her a chance. I am hoping she will do the work if any babies hatch because I don't want to ever raise ducklings in a brooder again. They are a mess!

 

[Lil Drake40]

By day 7-10 you should see good development. An LED ahlight works great for candling. Please let us know