Dead Eggs????

[ngibb1]

Hey Guys!

I am fairly new to having ducks so am just after some advise about my (hopefully) to-be babies!
I have 2 muscovies, male & female, which have been laying for a while but this is her first fertile batch.
All have been candelled, and looked great. Mumma Duck sits on them all day but gets off only for some food!
They are just about ready to hatch (I assume), as she had them about 3/4 weeks ago. She first laid them in a very
impractical place so we moved them into her coup (which she surprisingly didn't seem to mind).
1 of the eggs, as pictured below, looks black? I have read a few forums before posting this but none seemed to have photos..
I have tried candling it but I can see nothing, it's so dark! Last week there were 2 that looked like this, but now there is only one? I'm a bit confused and can't figure out if it was just a phase and now it's okay, or if she knew it was dead and hid it somewhere???
Just hoping someone with more experience than myself (not hard haha!) can provide some insight....

 

[Mrs.H]

I would say it's a rotten egg. I had that happen to one the eggs at near hatching time. For some reason the momma never kicked it out of the nest like she did the others. I would toss it bc I've read rotten eggs can explode and get bacteria everywhere. The other egg could possibly be hidden somewhere

 

[Mrs.H]

Good luck with the rest btw!!!!

 

[ngibb1]

Thanks Mrs H! I had a feeling that could be the case. Hoping Mumma will let me give the coup a little clean out so I can try & find the missing egg! I have read so many stories about people thinking their eggs are dead, then cracking them open to find they're alive - so definitely want to be sure before removing it! Such a tough decision!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Thanks Mrs H! I had a feeling that could be the case. Hoping Mumma will let me give the coup a little clean out so I can try & find the missing egg! I have read so many stories about people thinking their eggs are dead, then cracking them open to find they're alive - so definitely want to be sure before removing it! Such a tough decision!

Muscovy's take 35-37 days to hatch too so don't freak out if you don't see ducklings until then, other breeds take 28-29 days

I agree with Mrs H that egg looks like it may explode any minute, I hope you can find the other one, wait till she goes out to eat then go in and look for it very carefully.

 

[ngibb1]

You were both right!
Returned from work today to find the second egg also gone. Could smell it from a mile away... Not sure where abouts in her coup she hid it, but she hid it well! Spent 10 mins trying to find where she had putten it but no luck. Just a lot of flies.. Yuck!

 

[Miss Lydia]

You were both right!
Returned from work today to find the second egg also gone. Could smell it from a mile away... Not sure where abouts in her coup she hid it, but she hid it well! Spent 10 mins trying to find where she had putten it but no luck. Just a lot of flies.. Yuck!

I hope you will clean out that nest real good and put down fresh bedding flies you don't want with ducklings soon to hatch. You can put the eggs into a basket or small container then clean out the nest put back in fresh bedding and eggs she'll go back to her nest.

 

[ngibb1]

Did a massive clean out of her coup, no sign of the rotten eggs - must have exploded & deteriorated? Came across a 3rd egg starting to rot and got rid of that.. I'm hoping no more do 9 left out of 12. I candled a couple yesterday and they look very healthy, large air sacks and veins. They should be hatched within the next few days, she layed them around 4 weeks ago approximately. Thanks for your help guys much appreciated!

 

[ngibb1]

We woke up this morning to find a dead duckling, no traces of a shell though??? It was away from Mumma duck & rest of the eggs. Is it possible that it starting hatching & Mumma has freaked out? Not sure what to think here...

 

[Miss Lydia]

We woke up this morning to find a dead duckling, no traces of a shell though??? It was away from Mumma duck & rest of the eggs. Is it possible that it starting hatching & Mumma has freaked out? Not sure what to think here...

She could have, I had similar thing happen with one of my girls, she was sitting on 3 eggs one stated to hatch and she freaked out and attacked the lil one, when I found it she had chewed up both sides of it's head. Thank goodness she hadn't killed it but she would not take it so I had to care for it. The one egg had dead duckling in it and the other one died trying to hatch, so keep close eye from here on out. Some ducks are wonderful broody's but horrible mothers, My girls was first to go broody the next year and I was ready to take the ducklings as they hatched she was a great mama that time. You just never know. And the duckling may have already died on it's own and mama removed it from the nest. They will eat the egg shell.