Can ducks be egg eaters?

[TJAnonymous]

I have 2 broody ducks. 1 Silver Appleyard. 1 Pekin. They have been collectively sitting on their joint nest for at least a month. At least 2-3 weeks ago, I peeked in on the nest and there were 6 eggs. Since it has been over a month, I went out to the coop to candle the eggs and see if they are dead. Only instead of 6 eggs, there are now only 3? I'm certain a predator did not get into the coop so the missing eggs are a mystery.... Of the 3 that were left, 1 looked fresh and 2 were clearly early quitters. So no babies for us this summer....

 

[fatty and friends]

my ducks have never cracked open their own eggs but yes ducks LOVE to eat eggs (we don’t eat the eggs, so we either give them away or scramble them for our ducks and they always eat them all) so it’s definitely a possibility.

 

[Isadora]

Absolutely! My ducks eat theirs if they get stepped on and broken. So far though, I haven't found them breaking eggs intentionally.

 

[TJAnonymous]

Absolutely! My ducks eat theirs if they get stepped on and broken. So far though, I haven't found them breaking eggs intentionally.

I could see that happening. Our duck coop is rather small. It is approximately 4 ft x 6 ft and houses 5 ducks (4 females, 1 drake). They are only inside the coop at night but when it's time to go inside they kind of all scramble in at once. With it being so hot outside, the broodies moved their nest closer to the door. It's possible eggs were trampled during the rush to get inside the coop at night.