duck eggs

[lovinlife]

How do you tell if a duck egg is fertilized? Is it the same as chickens?

I have three ducks and was told one of them is a drake, but "it" has no drake feather. I am getting two eggs a day, like clockwork. They lay early in the morning, before sunrise. I know who the two hens are, the question is if the third is a drake. I can crack an egg open to see if it's been fertilized and that would answer the question. So, how do I tell?

The duck in question has a different quack than the known girls. Is that a sign? Why is there no drake feather, then?

Thanks!

 

[FenDruadin]

The quack is a very good sign of gender. Girls have a good, loud, duck-ish QUACK. Boys quack more quietly, a raspier hoarse sound.

And yes, if the egg is fertile you can tell the same way you do with chicken eggs--it'll have a bulls-eye shaped spot on the yolk.

 

[lovinlife]

Thank you! Just by the quack alone, I'm saying it's a boy. It's very raspy and much softer than the girls.

Why no drake feather? Does he have to be a certain age for the feather to come in?

 

[GrannyCarol]

When a drake is young, he won't have a drake feather. Also when he has molted or is in eclipse plumage (non breeding). The drake feather is no big deal. What breed is he? Many breeds you can still tell by the color, but some that are solid colored, it's not so easy. I go by the "quack" or lack thereof as my first telltale, then by color, size, and drake feather.

 

[FenDruadin]

Oh, sorry--I forgot to address the drake feather. Yeah, there are lots and lots of reasons a drake may not always have a drake feather. They lose them when they moult, they don't get them till they mature fully, they may have them pulled out by another drake, or it may just fall out and not grow back right away. Some drakes never have a very noticeable one. The voice sexing is much more reliable, so I think you have a boy.

 

[lovinlife]

Thanks!!! He could definitely be young. The people i got him from weren't exactly the most knowledgeable owners.

He is blackish brown. That's all I can say. He is probably a mixed breed, but of what, I don't know.

I collected six eggs total and put them under a broody hen. I hope they're fertile and hatch out! How long does it take for ducks?