Duck Egg Dilema

[Soos-Quacken]

Ok, so recently my runner duck layed a sizable clutch of what turned out to be fertile eggs. We were naturally overjoyed, however upon reading up on runner ducks as mommies, we learned that domestic ducks on the whole tend to be rather poor parents with a propensity for abandoning their eggs. This caused us more than a little concern. My brother (who happens to be something of a nervous nelly) wanted to pull four or five of her 10 eggs and raise them in an incubator. We have since done so, and so far our runner has continued to faithfully sit to on her nest (this was yesterday). Our newest concern is that we don't know the specific day the eggs were layed on or began to develop. They have a visible heartbeat and veign development, so we think around day 8, but aren't sure. Any advice?

 

[NuggetTheChicken]

Ok, so recently my runner duck layed a sizable clutch of what turned out to be fertile eggs. We were naturally overjoyed, however upon reading up on runner ducks as mommies, we learned that domestic ducks on the whole tend to be rather poor parents with a propensity for abandoning their eggs. This caused us more than a little concern. My brother (who happens to be something of a nervous nelly) wanted to pull four or five of her 10 eggs and raise them in an incubator. We have since done so, and so far our runner has continued to faithfully sit to on her nest (this was yesterday). Our newest concern is that we don't know the specific day the eggs were layed on or began to develop. They have a visible heartbeat and veign development, so we think around day 8, but aren't sure. Any advice?

Post a pic of you candling the eggs. Hopefully someone experienced will come along and tell you

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

I also read that Indian Runners are bad parents, but:
It all depends on the individual duck!!!
Last year my Fawn & White Indian Runner Katharina Duck decided to have ducklings. Not only outsmarted she the dumb humon who was collecting the eggs daily, she also viciously defended her nest against me and sat patiently for 33 days until the last of seven ducklings hatched. Then she defended her babies against a flock of 17 grown up ducks and taught them everything they needed to thrive here. Result: Three drake thugs and four beautiful girls that have started to lay green eggs this spring.
Here is a link to the thread: Charleston we have a broody here!
And i wrote a little Article about broody ducks: Broody Duck! - What now?
I hope that helps, and if you have more questions, don't hesitate to ask!
Good luck with the duckies!

 

[Soos-Quacken]

I'm sorry if the picture is blurry.

On another note, we are seeing a bit of movement in the eggs.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

I'm not the eggspert, as i have left all the hard work to my duck last year, but that egg logs good.