Duck Surrogate?

[Kimmay17]

My mother has a pair of ducks that nest in her yard each year, they have laid their eggs already, but today my mom just saw a different mamma duck get run over in a parking lot at a store. One of the employees says the duck has a nest. Can my mother transfer the eggs and place them in the nest that is in her yard, so they have a mamma duck to look after them? Also, would she be able to tell they are not hers and shun the entire nest? Please advise!

 

[Quacking Pigeon]

If it’s a mallard ducks eggs they should be smaller then normal domestic duck eggs. Also if the eggs have already started developing then they have probably died. But if your mum has ducks which are broody and you’re able to put the eggs under the duck, you may have some luck possibly.

Edit: Re-reading this makes me confused...

 

[Quacking Pigeon]

Also welcome to BYC!!!

 

[MissMaple]

Keep us updated on both clutches!

 

[sourland]

Welcome to BYC. The two clutches have probably been incubated for different periods of time resulting in a staggered hatch in which the mother would leave with the first ducklings to hatch. Adding eggs to the nest may cause the setting duck to desert the nest or leave her unable to effectively incubate all of the eggs. NO on adding the eggs to the existing nest. Is there any possibility of getting an incubator ?

 

[Kimmay17]

That might be a possibility, but what would we do with the ducks once they hatched? We can’t keep them and wanted to interfere as little as possible, but still give them another chance to be raised by a wild duck... and we can’t teach them how to be a duck and get them to a suitable place to live in the wild.... maybe we should just leave well enough alone....

 

[Quacking Pigeon]

You could call a animal rehab place to take them in and release them.

 

[chickens really]

I know here it's illegal to interfere or hatch out wild Water fowl..Best to just leave the nest alone..