Fertile eggs?

[ErinMB]

Hi all! Our ducks have just started laying eggs within the last month. Usually we collect the eggs when we let them out to free range in the morning. None of my ducks stay behind to sit on the eggs, they all leave and roam the yard until they get put away in the evening. So if the eggs are left alone all day without having a duck sit on them, isn’t there any chance at all of having them hatch a few babies?
We hatched our babies this spring and I am new to all of this, so I really have no idea if they will be viable or not, or if I should just continue collecting them
Thanks!

 

[kaumlauf]

Hi all! Our ducks have just started laying eggs within the last month. Usually we collect the eggs when we let them out to free range in the morning. None of my ducks stay behind to sit on the eggs, they all leave and roam the yard until they get put away in the evening. So if the eggs are left alone all day without having a duck sit on them, isn’t there any chance at all of having them hatch a few babies?
We hatched our babies this spring and I am new to all of this, so I really have no idea if they will be viable or not, or if I should just continue collecting them
Thanks!

I'm more or less a novice, but I noticed that my hens didn't start laying on their nests of eggs until the nest was "full" and she decided she had enough eggs, and was ready to start sitting on them day and night, getting up to eat, drink, walk around a bit, and poop. Until the day she started to sit the nest, she left the other eggs alone. It amazed me that the other eggs could "wait" till all the eggs were laid.

 

[nchls school]

The above post is correct. Development will not start until the duck is brooding full time minus breaks for food, water, etc.

You do not say what kind of ducks you have. There are duck breeds that do not have the brooding instinct that were developed for egg laying only; like leghorn chickens.

The internet has sites that will tell you if your breed is known to brood and raise ducklings. Should you have a nonbrooding breed you will have to use an incubator, broody chickens, or another broody bird to hatch the eggs. Geese and turkeys have been used to hatch duck eggs.

 

[britesidefarm]

I’ve has eggs sit out for around a week until my incubator was empty, and all hatched fine

 

[cheezenkwackers]

As stated above development doesn’t start until the eggs are incubated. If birds sat on the first egg they laid, it would hatch two or more weeks before the rest. Mother duck would have her hands full with ducklings of different ages, needs, and sizes. So, she usually lays one egg a day until the nest is full (10-20 or more eggs) and then sits on them (goes broody) so everyone hatched on the same day. And, as also stated, some breeds have been bred not to go broody (Khaki Campbell’s for instance).

I would continue to collect and eat your eggs. Good chance they are not fertile since males have to be a little older to be fertile than yours are. I would not want ducklings in the winter but it depends where you live.

 

[ErinMB]

Thank You everyone for the replies! This all makes sense, that they will wait till their nest is full to sit. My ducks are a barnyard mix - Rouen, Cayuga, magpie..

I will continue to collect them and we will try to let them hatch some in the spring. Our winters here see a lot of -30 degree weather which could arrive in as early as 2-3 months from now, so I think we will wait till warmer days!

I appreciate everyone’s guidance

 

[kaumlauf]

One thing to note, it's very possible not all eggs will hatch when the time comes. Out of about 6 nests over the years, (Blue Swedes and Muscovies), none of the nests had 100% successful hatching. Also, our Moscuvie was a super brooder, a real champion.