Egg exploded under Muscovy Duck

[kuntrygirl]

I have a muscovy duck that is setting on about 20 eggs. I went out to check on her this weekend and smelled a horrible smell coming from her nest. When I walked over to check on her and the nest, I noticed that she was standing over her eggs. I immediately knew that one of her eggs had exploded. I wanted to clean up her nest and remove the shell but I was too afraid that if I disturbed her that she would abandon the nest and eggs and it is so close to hatch time. Her eggs are scheduled to hatch this week. I hope that the contents (bacteria) of the exploded egg doesn't kill the other eggs that have not hatched.

Has anyone ever had to deal with an egg exploding under a broody duck hen? If so, what did you do? Should I have risked disturbing the duck to clean her nest or not?

Thanks for any input.

 

[The Duck ABC's]

You may have to disturb her and clean up the entire nest. It is less likely that the contamination will kill the other eggs, simply because there is not enough time left. You should candle all eggs at this point and remove that that are not good to avoid another explosion. So make a new nest, clean up the mess and put the good eggs into the new nest. Then lock your duck in with the eggs. She should be able to go back to sitting on them. If not get an incubator ready now as a back up. A cheap one from your local store should do.

 

[Bleenie]

Duck ABC's really covered it all but I just wanted to add... I had a hen that this happened to and the egg exploded so hard that a piece of the shell actually cut her tummy open. It bled pretty bad but all I could do was put her in a bath to clean it up and keep an eye on her. Mine was VERY feral though.

Good luck with all your other eggs, definitely candle them though, to make sure theres no more exploders.

 

[kuntrygirl]

The Duck ABC's :

You may have to disturb her and clean up the entire nest. It is less likely that the contamination will kill the other eggs, simply because there is not enough time left. You should candle all eggs at this point and remove that that are not good to avoid another explosion. So make a new nest, clean up the mess and put the good eggs into the new nest. Then lock your duck in with the eggs. She should be able to go back to sitting on them. If not get an incubator ready now as a back up. A cheap one from your local store should do.

Thanks for the info. I will clean her dog house up when I get home. I don't have an incubator, so I don't have anything as back up. My girls are pretty friendly but when they go broody, it changes their personality. I'm almost sure that after I clean up her area, she will not sit on the eggs anymore but it will be a chance that I have to take. Because everything hatches the old fashioned way at my hobby farm, I have never had a need for an incubator. I guess this is the time when I really need an incubator. I will keep you all posted.

Thank you VERY much for your input.​

 

[kuntrygirl]

Quote:
Thank you. I will.

 

[The Duck ABC's]

Put food and water into the dog house and lock her in. This does not give her much of a choice. You can build an incubator on the fly with an electric heating pad in a cooler. You are close to hatching so if you get it anywhere from 95 to 99 it should work. I think it is a good idea to get a real cheap incubator at the feed store for emergencies. Any hen can get sick, injured or worse. The LG runs around 40 dollars. Not the best machine, but it will work when needed.

 

[Duck Keeper]

Oh my word! Worst stink in the world probably!
My poor buff duck always wanted to hatch out some kiddies of her own, but something happened every time. Never failed, something would go wrong.

I would clean up everything and check for other ready-to-'splode eggs then lock her up with them, as has been said already.