Clutch of duck eggs...now what

[Beccazon]

My KC or my Rouen girl has been laying now for about a month. I assume the KC as she is older by a week or so but that's my only reason. After the first 2 weeks or so of daily, she slowed...every other day maybe then twice a week. Only one this week. They got all new bedding and coop cleaned a week and a half ago or so. I assumed since I started using straw at this cleaning that she was just "stressed". None of the ducks were fond of the straw until it got backed down after a day or two LOL.

They are out of the coop all day, when she lays, I find it in the morning when I open the coop after night time.

This morning I open the coop, they head out, and I pop my head in to find a new deep nest in the coop that was never there. Full of eggs! 10 to be exact! Little turd was squirreling them away under the straw each day.

So here are my questions...
Why NOW a nest? And do I let her keep them even though she has not returned to them since I let her out this morning? Or...?

I float tested to make sure no nasty ones (I assume that works for duck eggs the same as chickens). I did a quick candling and saw nothing of concern. Most have an adequate air cell and nothing more of note. It has been warm and humid and rainy the last 2 days but otherwise typical fallish weather for Michigan Thumb area. Maybe a bit warm a few days...days between 70 and 80 save for the last two warmer humid ones. Nights in the high 50s to 60s.

The girls have two drakes and I know they all have been mated.

I pulled all but 2 eggs out just to see how she proceeds.

Info? Questions? Suggestions?

 

[PirateGirl]

Just because she laid them in the same spot does not mean she will go broody. It just means she has a favorite spot to lay. Dark corners seem to be the favorite around here and they often cover their egg when they are done. When I have particularly deep bedding I always stick my hand down on the favorite spot and dig around a bit and it often turns up an egg.

If you want her to hatch, then leave the eggs a week and see if she will go broody and start sitting on them 23 hours a day. If you don’t want her to hatch, then keep collecting eggs daily.

 

[Beccazon]

Just because she laid them in the same spot does not mean she will go broody. It just means she has a favorite spot to lay. Dark corners seem to be the favorite around here and they often cover their egg when they are done. When I have particularly deep bedding I always stick my hand down on the favorite spot and dig around a bit and it often turns up an egg.

If you want her to hatch, then leave the eggs a week and see if she will go broody and start sitting on them 23 hours a day. If you don’t want her to hatch, then keep collecting eggs daily.

Thank you! Yes the straw is deeper than the pine shavings were. I will definitely have to start digging around there if I see if she covers this nest. I am surprised I never saw any signs of a nest at all or even a preferred spot to lay, like a dip in the straw. So to find this 8" deep nest full threw me for a loop lol. Do you think that the testing I did was sufficient to not have rotten eggs get broken, or stepped on or explode?

 

[aart]

I float tested to make sure no nasty ones (I assume that works for duck eggs the same as chickens).

It doesn't really work on chicken eggs either.
Will only tell you, kind of, how old they might be...older eggs float due to evaporation.
....and once wetted they should be thoroughly washed and put in the fridge for consumption.
Only way to tell if an egg is 'bad' or not, is to open it up.
When in doubt....
Open eggs one at a time in a separate dish before adding to pan or recipe,
use your eyes, nose, and common sense to decide if egg is OK to eat.

 

[PirateGirl]

I have never float tested an egg. I have candled to look for cracks on occasion. If I find an egg in the coop and I don’t know how long it’s been there I typically don’t eat it, just to be on the safe side, though I often just feed it back to the girls.

 

[PirateGirl]

I also wouldn’t give an egg that I’d dunked in water and has no bloom back to a broody to hatch.

 

[Beccazon]

I have never float tested an egg. I have candled to look for cracks on occasion. If I find an egg in the coop and I don’t know how long it’s been there I typically don’t eat it, just to be on the safe side, though I often just feed it back to the girls.

Sounds good. I usually feed them a few once a week anyhow. By how many are there, surely been at least 10days for the oldest one!

 

[Beccazon]

I also wouldn’t give an egg that I’d dunked in water and has no bloom back to a broody to hatch.

Yup I marked the two I left for her in case she is going broody and will pull them as soon as she lays another. At least, that was my plan lol