fertile eggs after drake dies

[critterranch]

how many days is good to get fertile eggs from my 6 runner ducks? after my runner drake died? how many days is pushing it? i was thinking about going 7-8 days you think i can push it to 10 if i dont get enough eggs?

 

[duckyfromoz]

Sorry to hear of the loss of your drake. I recently picked up some ducks currently laying- and assumed that eggs from the first 10 - 14 days may be fertile from the drakes from where they were picked up from. This is based on what I have read and been told by others. Knowing that they may also be fertile in 3-4 days by my own drakes - I have set them all and am awaiting the hatch days to figure out exactly when difference began.
My suggestion to you would be to set all eggs collected for the first 5 days. Continue to collect eggs and set again after 5 days. You can even do this a third time- and you will know when candling at 5-7 days if the eggs are still fertile. Setting eggs every 5 days will ensure they are still fresh and are given the best chance to hatch. If you hold over all the eggs until you have enough to set- some of the first ones - although fertile when laid - may be too old by the time they are set to develop.

 

[sourland]

Up to 2 weeks with good fertility. After that fertility will drop off, but some fertility can be evidenced up to 4 weeks. You definately have time to raise some ducklings sired by him. If your drake was ill, fertility may dissipate much more rapidly.

 

[Dances with Ducks]

I had a hen that looked like she was going to go broody after I got rid of her drakes, I gave her four eggs she had already laid and she laid another eight after that, and she hatched them all.
I just read in Holderread that eggs can be fertile up to thirty days after no exposure to a drake, but the likelihood is very poor. If you don't mind wasting a lot of eggs that won't hatch you can keep putting them in the incubator in hope for one of the rare successes.

 

[critterranch]

he was young and vigerous lol he loved piggy back rides
he died from dog attack

 

[FenDruadin]

Aw. Sorry to hear about your drake.

The hens may be fertile for as much as two weeks after losing the drake, so 10 days is a good median to choose. Just be aware that fertility often drops off significantly in the winter months, so even if he was well and doing his job, they may not be fertile.

But it won't hurt to try, and you should be able to tell if they're developing after seven to ten days (I can tell at four days, but that's with experience).

Be sure to store the eggs at room temperature or down to as low as 50 degrees (but not above or below that range). Fertility is best preserved if you turn the eggs daily from one side to the other. I also like to mark the date on each and give them each a unique identifier (I use a letter to indicate the group that the egg belongs to plus a number to indicate the order in which they were collected) to make record-keeping easier.

Good luck. I hope you get some babies from them!

 

[Miss Lydia]

duckyfromz? are you close to where all the flooding is going on? I know there are others from your neck of the world and haven't seen them post lately, hope ya'll are okay.

 

[critterranch]

well my one crested female keeps laying her eggs a night or early morning. i am afraid they might be too cold to incubate. she has been laying before 7 am and they are very cold. so i was thinking about bring her in house at night 8pm putting her in bathroom to lay her egg then taking her out in morning 7am after she lays. i was thinking it wouldn't get cold plus they would be cleaner. i want to make sure i get some crested gene eggs. this is so simple why didn't i think of this sooner?

 

[FenDruadin]

Might very well work, if you don't mind the extra work & mess.

Only thing I can think of is that she might stop laying for a while after you start bringing her in--my ducks HATE change, and anything that changes in their environment causes them to stop laying for a bit. But it's definitely worth a try. Good luck!