foxes and ducks

[kookykate328]

last year a fox was going around eating all the ducks that live in the lagoon by me. it left the nests with eggs in them but the eggs would have been cold too long without the mom duck and died. this year we are going to try to get the eggs and put them in the incubator before they get too cold. since the ducks might have not started sitting on the eggs yet, if the fox gets the parents it shouldnt really matter if we take a little time to find the eggs right? we know the fox had started hunted because it ate a bunny the other day and left 4 dead few day old bunnies in a pile that i wish we could have saved. so i know that was a lot but my main question is what should the humidity and temperature be for mallard or mallard/domestic ducks and would we even be able to save them?

 

[hollychicken]

Well it really does matter on how long they had no mama to sit on them , beacause the fox could have attacked them at night and the eggs could have been cold for too long but it never hurts to try! Good luck! (Make sure to post if one survives!!)

 

[yinepu]

sorry to say.. but if you live in the U.S. it's illegal to take the eggs...

even though the Mallard isn't protected under the Migratory Bird Act

"The federal regulation regarding migratory birds states that no permit is needed for captive-raised mallards that have been properly marked; that is, banded before the age of 6 weeks. However, it is illegal to gather mallard eggs or ducklings, even if the nest has been abandoned or the ducklings orphaned, said Billy Dukes, South Carolina wildlife biologist. "You can't touch them," he adds, even if they are being predated. Nature must be allowed to take its course."

from here: http://www.ehow.com/info_8515317_permits-raising-wild-ducks-sc.html

i'm sure this is a federal thing..

 

[Lacrystol]

last year a fox was going around eating all the ducks that live in the lagoon by me. it left the nests with eggs in them but the eggs would have been cold too long without the mom duck and died. this year we are going to try to get the eggs and put them in the incubator before they get too cold. since the ducks might have not started sitting on the eggs yet, if the fox gets the parents it shouldnt really matter if we take a little time to find the eggs right? we know the fox had started hunted because it ate a bunny the other day and left 4 dead few day old bunnies in a pile that i wish we could have saved. so i know that was a lot but my main question is what should the humidity and temperature be for mallard or mallard/domestic ducks and would we even be able to save them?

Ok first there is a forum on here made just for Ducks, you can post your questions there. But I have some calls ducks in my incubator right now and I don't think mallards are any different then what I'm doing with my call ducks. I have my temp arranging from 99 to 101 and my humidity is at 50 to 55. I have been misting them three times a day because I read misting them give a higher hatching rate. I hand turn mine, so what I do is each time I hand turn them before I close up the incubator that's when I mist them.. No need to soak them, I take my sponge from the bowl of water and touch each one of them with it. Not sqeezing it just a little tap, tappy tap tap,. LOL..
I have them in a homemade incubator with a fan. Not still.. they are due to hatch in two weeks, i received 13 eggs and so far 12 of them are looking good with veins... Your situation is going to be a little bit challenging unless you know exactly how many days they are. OH also they do take 28 days unlike chickens 21... Last year I my neighbors brought me some eggs because something was eating the eggs underneath mommy and i managed to hatch all of them, they were mallards and bibbed. the tough part was trying to figure out Lockdown day. I use pictures to match up the candling to try and figure out how old my eggs were, when I got them they were about already 2 weeks..

 

[FenDruadin]

Dave Holderread likes to tell the story of finding eggs under the water in a public park when he was a boy. His parents told him the eggs were cold and had been underwater too long and there was no point in bringing them home.

Every single one hatched.

I don't know the legality--are they truly mallards, or are they escaped (or released) domestic ducks? If you're sure you won't get into legal trouble, I say go for it.

Oh, and definitely check out the duck forums--lots of help for the actual incubating, which is not terribly different from chickens and depends on your incubator and other conditions. Good luck!

 

[kookykate328]

Thanks everyone! I'm going to try to hatch them if we can even find any and since most are part domestic I'm hoping I don't get in trouble I'll tell you what happens and I'll check out the duck forums. Thanks

 

[Lacrystol]

Sounds great, good luck to you and keep us updated.... YIPPPIEEE

 

[kookykate328]

So far we didn't find any eggs but we are ready with the incubator just in case we doooo.

 

[Lacrystol]

Good luck I hope you find some....

 

[Lacrystol]

Oh my ducks like to hide the eggs by slightly buring them....