Eggs found in the night pen!

[kaumlauf]

Hi all...I am a new duck owner. We raised some ducklings, and now have two remaining adults. The others were unfortunately kidnapped by raccoons when they were young. We tell the two remaining ducks that their siblings ran off with the raccoons to join the circus, but they're not buying it. Anyway, brother and sister are now mother and father, as well. There are now 2 eggs in the night pen. We put the ducks outside in the relatively light weight day pen, during the day, and keep them secure in the solidly built well house at night. Will the eggs hatch if the mother duck pretty much ignores them for 12 hours a day? Are these eggs fertile? Wiull I be committing eggicide if I don't let the mother duck lay upon them during the day?

 

[Amiga]

The first weeks of egg laying may not produce eggs with much of a chance of bringing forth robust ducklings. You may just want to refrigerate and eat them. This is based on advice I have seen on the Duck Forum.

Also, can you shore up the day pen? Predators can strike during the day as well, and if you are not around, well, I would feel better if you could protect your ducks.

If a duck goes broody, it is best she sit as much as possible on the nest. So if you want to hatch babies, that is another great reason to make a secure day pen adjacent to the place where the nest is.

Thanks for joining us on the forum! Please keep us updated!

 

[kaumlauf]

Hi, Thanks for getting back to me so quickly..The day pen is an open top, 6' high, 12 x 12' enclosure of chicken wire and 2x4's, with a latched door, with a partial roof for shade, rain etc.They are let out of the pen a couple of times a day to forage in the high grass on our one acre property. We used to let them wander the neighborhood, but fast drivers on the road, and not knowing how the neighbors felt about our ducks on their lawns,dogs, etc. have put an end to unsupervised walks. .
Anyway, could something crawl over that during the day?
Thank you for all the help. I'll keep you posted.