Found fertilized duck eggs. Now what?!

[Cjsquiggle]

I only have one female Pekin duck outside. The rest are inside ducklings I’m raising to give her friends. Today I sound two fully fertilized duck eggs burried in our back yard dirt. I took them to tractor supply to make sure I’m not crazy. Def fertilized. It was cold last night and she wasn’t sitting on them bc she gets locked up at night. I bought the cheapest incubator to give them a chance. They looked viable as of this morning according to pictures and the general feel of what they saw at tractor supply when candling them. I have a feeling a Muscovy duck I saw close by a bit ago is baby daddy. I’m not sure about rly anything else other than that now. Dunno how far they are. According to a pic on google looked about 16/18 days. Any advice

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Eggs buried in the dirt doesn't sound like a fresh nest. I don't understand going to the tractor supply to candle them.

Did you see actual movement? Or just a dark mass? Do they smell? Generally a duck hen will make a nest out of bedding, grass and feathers. They don't bury them in the dirt.

 

[PirateGirl]

If she wasn't sitting on them, then even if they are fertile, they won't be developing.

If they are developing and as far along as you think, then the best thing would be to leave them in the nest to continue to develop with the mother. Clearly she has been sitting on them enough hours of the day for 18 days if they are that developed and should continue to take care of them for the remaining week or so until they hatch.

I believe a duck will get off a nest if a threat is detected (you or another human or predator) this is so that hopefully the predator, even if it sees the adult duck, does not find the nest. Just because you found a nest doesn't mean it's abandoned. If the eggs are 18 days developed, clearly someone's been taking care of them.

 

[chickens really]

Yes...I'm confused...
Please explain why you think fertile?

 

[Cjsquiggle]

Eggs buried in the dirt doesn't sound like a fresh nest. I don't understand going to the tractor supply to candle them.

Did you see actual movement? Or just a dark mass? Do they smell? Generally a duck hen will make a nest out of bedding, grass and feathers. They don't bury them in the dirt.

They don’t smell. The dirt on them was fresh that’s why I even saw them. My duck free ranges during the day. She doesn’t have an outside nest so she probably just didn’t know how to move them to her inside nest at bedtime ? I took them to tractor supply (I’m there a lot) bc I could tell they were fertilized but didn’t know If they might be dead and they said they had someone there who might be able to tell. So far they look viable? No ring or anything I know to look for. They definitely progressed for a while because when we candled them the mass inside was pretty big. I’ll candle in a few days I guess and if not progressing I’ll know they are dead?

 

[chickens really]

They don’t smell. The dirt on them was fresh that’s why I even saw them. My duck free ranges during the day. She doesn’t have an outside nest so she probably just didn’t know how to move them to her inside nest at bedtime ? I took them to tractor supply (I’m there a lot) bc I could tell they were fertilized but didn’t know If they might be dead and they said they had someone there who might be able to tell. So far they look viable? No ring or anything I know to look for. They definitely progressed for a while because when we candled them the mass inside was pretty big. I’ll candle in a few days I guess and if not progressing I’ll know they are dead?

Veins and embryo would be developed after 7 to 10 days incubation.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

They don’t smell. The dirt on them was fresh that’s why I even saw them. My duck free ranges during the day. She doesn’t have an outside nest so she probably just didn’t know how to move them to her inside nest at bedtime ? I took them to tractor supply (I’m there a lot) bc I could tell they were fertilized but didn’t know If they might be dead and they said they had someone there who might be able to tell. So far they look viable? No ring or anything I know to look for. They definitely progressed for a while because when we candled them the mass inside was pretty big. I’ll candle in a few days I guess and if not progressing I’ll know they are dead?

They won't hatch if they aren't consistently incubated by the hen. The embryo will go cold and die over night. I am also curious to see how it goes.

 

[PirateGirl]

Yes, if you are not putting them back in the nest are you putting them in your incubator? They will not continue to develop if not in the nest and not in an incubator. Can you candle them again and take a photo to share here? A good flashlight in a dark closet would do it.

 

[Cjsquiggle]

Veins and embryo would be developed after 7 to 10 days incubation.

Yes. That’s the case with these

 

[Cjsquiggle]

Yes, if you are not putting them back in the nest are you putting them in your incubator? They will not continue to develop if not in the nest and not in an incubator. Can you candle them again and take a photo to share here? A good flashlight in a dark closet would do it.

I put them in the incubator I mentioned in first post. I just grabbed cheapest one to give them a chance. When I found them I was going to just throw them away bc didn’t know how old they were but they felt kinda heavy so that’s why I decided to candle in first place. They could totally be dead but if not I figured give em a chance.