Broody hen with 36 eggs that aren't growing.

[autumn_g]

Hello everyone. I am new to raising muscovy ducks. I have a hen that has gone broody and last I checked there was 36 eggs, I have seen her steal on of the other hens eggs. She has been sitting on them for a week now so I took a flashlight to each eggs and I see nothing, it has been extremely cold this last month but now starting to warm up a little. I dont know what to do. Should I take them all out? Leave some behind? I dont want to discourage her from laying and hatching in the future. I have a total of 5 hens and 3 drakes, (I thought we had 6 hens 2 drakes but I was wrong...) We were planning on letting them do their thing and just let them breed naturally and not intervene. But now I dont know. Please any and all advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[sylviethecochin]

Yeah... a lot of animals aren't very competent at brooding naturally in an enclosed space. The problem is almost certainly that she's collecting the other hens' eggs until she has too many to keep warm. Every time she rotates some to the outside, they freeze, and now, the entire nest is dead.

Begin by collecting maybe thirteen muscovy eggs. (They can cover more, but it's cold, and if this is her first setting, she shouldn't bite off more than she can chew.) Fresh ones. Mark them with pen or marker. Replace the dead eggs with these thirteen. Make sure the sides of the nest are nicely shored-up so that the eggs aren't exposed to the cold when she shifts. Check daily and remove any eggs that aren't marked.

 

[autumn_g]

Yeah... a lot of animals aren't very competent at brooding naturally in an enclosed space. The problem is almost certainly that she's collecting the other hens' eggs until she has too many to keep warm. Every time she rotates some to the outside, they freeze, and now, the entire nest is dead.

Begin by collecting maybe thirteen muscovy eggs. (They can cover more, but it's cold, and if this is her first setting, she shouldn't bite off more than she can chew.) Fresh ones. Mark them with pen or marker. Replace the dead eggs with these thirteen. Make sure the sides of the nest are nicely shored-up so that the eggs aren't exposed to the cold when she shifts. Check daily and remove any eggs that aren't marked.

Thank you for your reply. I will definitely do that and give an update on the situation in a few days.

 

[autumn_g]

1 more question. Are the eggs that I take out still edible?

 

[sylviethecochin]

1 more question. Are the eggs that I take out still edible?

If there's been the start of growth, and then the chicks died, I toss 'em.

If nothing ever grew, they're fine.

 

[autumn_g]

Made my son his first duck eggs this morning and he LOVED it!!!!

 

[WVduckchick]

Yeah... a lot of animals aren't very competent at brooding naturally in an enclosed space. The problem is almost certainly that she's collecting the other hens' eggs until she has too many to keep warm. Every time she rotates some to the outside, they freeze, and now, the entire nest is dead.

Begin by collecting maybe thirteen muscovy eggs. (They can cover more, but it's cold, and if this is her first setting, she shouldn't bite off more than she can chew.) Fresh ones. Mark them with pen or marker. Replace the dead eggs with these thirteen. Make sure the sides of the nest are nicely shored-up so that the eggs aren't exposed to the cold when she shifts. Check daily and remove any eggs that aren't marked.

 

[autumn_g]

Hey guys! Just a quick update. On Friday I took out all but 16 eggs. I candled each one and left the eggs that I thought may be fertile and took out where I see nothing. When i checked the eggs this morning all 16 eggs have grown to a circle with red veins coming out! When I checked the growth table it looks like somewhere between 4-6 maybe 8 days!!!!! I'm so excited. This will be my first hatch ever! The eggs that I took out didnt seem to have anything in it so I have fed some to my 9 yr old son and he absolutely loves them! Thanks for the advice Sylviethecochin!!!!