Eggs everywhere!

[Kleonaptra]

My dear little Piper laid me some eggs. I put up a partition in the shed so she could sit in private. One of my big girls stole the nest, literally built her own on top, and laid some of her own! I stole some, thinking surely some must be chicken eggs, cracked open four, two of Pipers, two of 'someone else' and all of them had white filaments around/in the yolk so Im assuming, all are fertilized.

The great news is, my drake is doing his job. The bad news is I forgot to date them! Now I have like 20 eggs in the one nest, Im not sure whos is whose or when they were dropped! Varia and Piper share sitting duties and the drake gaurds the nest - but does not sit on the eggs - if the girls go away.

Hoping I will have baby ducks soon! I have waited for my drake to get it together for six years! Im not stealing them to incubate because I dont want to put the girls off sitting and I go a bit nutty if Im incubating eggs, just like a mother duck Id say! So they are on their own...Im not sure I agree with their methods but hey, its their first year. I have confidence we will have many more.

But **** I want some baby ducks!

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

Please know what you are describing is not a sign of fertility. Click the image below to see the difference between an egg that is fertile and one that is not.

 

[Grassman 52]

"all of them had white filaments around/in the yolk so I'm assuming, all are fertilized"
The white strands or filaments are called chalazae - they hold the yoke in the center of the egg.

Celtic - i love that picture "LOOK" - I find that when I open eggs for cooking I am always looking to see if they are fertilized - just a habit now.

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

Grassman its my favorite of all the images. Shows without a doubt the difference between fertile and not

 

[Goose and Fig]

My dear little Piper laid me some eggs. I put up a partition in the shed so she could sit in private. One of my big girls stole the nest, literally built her own on top, and laid some of her own! I stole some, thinking surely some must be chicken eggs, cracked open four, two of Pipers, two of 'someone else' and all of them had white filaments around/in the yolk so Im assuming, all are fertilized.

The great news is, my drake is doing his job. The bad news is I forgot to date them! Now I have like 20 eggs in the one nest, Im not sure whos is whose or when they were dropped! Varia and Piper share sitting duties and the drake gaurds the nest - but does not sit on the eggs - if the girls go away.

Hoping I will have baby ducks soon! I have waited for my drake to get it together for six years! Im not stealing them to incubate because I dont want to put the girls off sitting and I go a bit nutty if Im incubating eggs, just like a mother duck Id say! So they are on their own...Im not sure I agree with their methods but hey, its their first year. I have confidence we will have many more.

But **** I want some baby ducks!

You need to get in there and mark the eggs, so if they keep laying you can take the extras out. In a week or so, sneak a few eggs out and candle them to make sure they are developing. 20 eggs are a lot to cover, so you might have to take a few away. Good luck- hope you have ducklings soon, too. They are such a joy

 

[Wynette]

Check out this thread - the pictures are even better, and quite close; you can see a ton of detail:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/16008/how-to-tell-a-fertile-vs-infertile-egg-pictures

 

[Kleonaptra]

Thanks so much for your replies, everyone.

I had been candling but it seems my partner has lost my torch and my carefully made candling tube! (I make it out of a toilet roll) I will have to find the torch because if anything is fertilized I would definitely see some blood vessels by now.

Im pretty sure the drake has at least mated Piper, they are the only two that are the same breed and are very tiny compared to the others (Wist the drake and Piper are my profile pic, see the big girls on my profile page) its not like a Pacific Black to lay if she's not fertilized. Being a wild breed they dont bother with eggs much unless there are babies on the way.

There are now TWENTY SIX eggs in one nest. Varia has made a massive ring (Piper makes a tiny one each night then Varia makes hers on top) and when they go out for the morning Piper covers the eggs very carefully. I honestly think they are too cold, but thats just my opinion, Pacific Blacks are very resilient and prefer colder weather so this might be normal for them. I have only ended up with this breed at all through rescuing eggs and incubating them myself, for the first time in 10 years I actually have a girl and a boy at the same time, Im so amazed that Piper has laid at all! This time last year I was incubating her! She sits for most of the morning and goes out about lunch time and doesnt go back to her nest until its time for bed.

I can easily tell Varia's eggs, big and pink, and Pipers are small and creamy. I didnt look closely enough at the eggs I cracked (or take a photo) so I cant really compare to the photos. Its a bit of a worry because Ive known for some time my drake is a bit slow...His clutch was the first I ever incubated and his egg was upside down yet still, he was the only hatch.

Thanks so much everyone, Im learning a lot. From the moment she laid her first two I accepted this was a 'practise run' for both her and me, if we get ducklings I will be overjoyed, if not, Pacific Blacks will breed right through autumn so we have time. By then I might be in a better position to incubate...Right now I also have horses breeding and pigeons so I just dont feel I have the time to do the eggs myself. Also I work in retail and its the silly season! I will candle this afternoon, maybe steal a few to crack. There are five eggs in 'Nest Two' that I thought no one was sitting, but they are carefully covered this morning so someone is watching them.

Today I also found chicken feathers on the nest...Is she sitting on them too?!

 

[Kleonaptra]

Took some pics. Any advice is welcome.



From comparing to the very helpful pics above, I believe the egg on the right may be fertilized. Please give me your opinions! The white specks excited me but only that yolk on the right looks anything like the pics above.

I have left 8 eggs in Nest One and 6 in Nest Two. After candling, I left only the ones that were so murky I literally wasnt sure, I stole all the ones that looked clear and one was already cracked (Thats the feathery shell)

I feel that yolk on the right looks like a fertilized dot. Any opinions?

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

the egg on the far right was fertilized yes

 

[Kleonaptra]

Oh thankyou so much for that comment Celtic!

YEEESS!! It means my drake is breeding somebody! Go Wist my clever little man!

I have endured weeks of very fresh girls while he completely ignores them, Im so excited now!

Ive marked all the eggs simply as 'Old' because I was very slack about it, from now on I'll put the date on any new ones.