Broody duck ate an egg, Why????

Sue S

Songster
6 Years
Mar 7, 2018
432
815
216
Pa
My 1 female went broody almost 2 wks ago, she is sitting on a nest of 7 eggs. I candled them over the weekend & 6 out of 7 were developing, I checked the nest again this morning & noticed that she broke/ate 1 of the developing eggs all that was left was the shell. Why????
 
Did you remove the duck egg that wasn’t developing?

But ducks do that sometimes...they sort of sense bad eggs and kick them out (maybe that’s a bad use of words?). Eventually, they will do their best to rid of the egg. No, they can’t always tell the difference which oftentimes results in good eggs getting destroyed instead.
 
Did you remove the duck egg that wasn’t developing?

But ducks do that sometimes...they sort of sense bad eggs and kick them out (maybe that’s a bad use of words?). Eventually, they will do their best to rid of the egg. No, they can’t always tell the difference which oftentimes results in good eggs getting destroyed instead.
No, I haven't removed the undeveloped egg yet, I'm planning on removing it before it goes bad/rotten, I just didn't want to remove it to soon & her realize I messed with the nest!
 
No, I haven't removed the undeveloped egg yet, I'm planning on removing it before it goes bad/rotten, I just didn't want to remove it to soon & her realize I messed with the nest!
I’d go ahead and remove it. It isn’t going to affect her. :)
 
Okay, Thanks. I guess I didn't want her sitting on her nest & realizing she was missing an egg & leave the nest.
 
It's possible the egg was accidentally broken, by her or another, or maybe it had a hairline crack or thin shell to begin with, and then she ate it :idunno. My ducks and chickens both eat eggs from time to time, but I'd never say they are egg eaters, if an egg accidentally breaks they will quickly consume it. I think it's natures way of protecting the rest of the eggs somehow.
 
Do other Ducks have access to this nest? Is she confined in anyway?
She is in the back part of the pen, the other ducks sleep in the new addition of the pen, she won't let them near her, she starts quacking loudly when they even get close to her!!!
 

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