Duck & boyfriend/eggs/freezing temps?

[horsejumping]

We have a 1 yr old female mallard duck "Lonely." Last year she laid 3 nests but nothing ever hatched. We bought her along with 2 others as duckling. The other 2 flew away in the fall and we haven't seen them back. That was when we named her.
Now spring has hit and we have had a drake mallard staying around and others flying over head. I made a nest box for Lonely, which she has been laying in, however our temps keep going below freezing at night still. I was hoping for her to get herself another clutch to hatch out this time. Should I pull the eggs and keep them inside? Also some of my chickens keep laying in her nest as well. We pull the chicken eggs and in error some of the duck eggs before we realized they were hers and not our blue egg layers.

 

[jonhpdx]

Are you sure the mallards flying around are actually fertilizing her eggs? It seems to me trying to get wild mallards to mate with your domesticated duck isn't the best idea, because you'll get crazy hybrids that aren't necessarily that tame.

 

[missnu01]

Probably no reason to leave her sitting on eggs if there is no male duck...I mean its possible that the wild male will mate with your hen, but have you actually seen them together? How long has she been sitting on the eggs? If it's been a few days you could try candling them, but if I was you I would look for someone giving away a drake...or make a craigslist post or classified ad locally saying that you would like to buy a drake...people can only keep so many males so it seems they should be about as easy to find as roosters are.

 

[Oel99]

During cold weather I always brought the duck eggs into the house after they were laid to keep them from getting chilled. I would put nest eggs "dummy eggs" into the nest in their place to fool the duck. Once she started setting on the fake eggs I would take them out and return her eggs to the nest (while she was off eating). If you save the eggs in the house be sure to turn them every day.

 

[horsejumping]

Thanks everyone for your posts. My female is a mallard and the wild drake that was hanging out with her was also a mallard, no worries of crazy crossbreeding. And I DID leave her eggs alone and 16 out of 18 hatched. Now I am just trying to find new homes for them all and will not let her sit on anymore in the future. SIXTEEN! Yeah I guess she and he were getting it on (never actually saw any action being had). She was a very good mama but she too is done with the babies. She does continue to look for the drake though.