Free Range Pekin Eggs -HELP my first week of eggs, so many questions

[M5pekin]

So, my 2 female Pekin Ducks decided to start laying eggs this week! *Tear* they grow up so fast..
My problem is I have ZERO duck egg experience (zero egg experience period - unless we're talking from the grocery store).
Anyways I have a few questions, but first, let me describe the situation for you...

1) My ducks are free range
2) They currently do not use their coop (It's new and scares them so I thought I'd let them warm up to it first)
3) They decided to lay in the middle of the yard (right next to each other- awe) on the grass - no nest or anything!
4) The eggs are being laid out in the open in a full sun area

Now, I know what you're thinking so let me fill you in before yall get worked up.. The coop is still being worked on and the ducks old coop has already been destroyed. They have been functioning as full-time free range ducks in my yard for about 2 months now. I know this is not the safest setup and I'm in the process of adding fencing around my yard where they live (just one tiny segment of my property outside my house) and starting a routine of getting them into their house at night once the coop is complete. BUT, for now, the ducks are already laying in the same spot every morning so I do not want to disturb them in the middle of their laying cycle- the girls are already stressed enough!

SO - my concerns include: The ducks laying their eggs in a full sun area, whether or not I should move them (currently 10 eggs- 5 from each girl and they've been laying daily since they started) into a shadier possibly safer area by a tree maybe or should I just leave them be and let nature take its course this laying period? I am not collecting the daily eggs due to this being their first time laying and I would like to see if they will become broody and sit on them after they're all done.

Tips and advise please! 1 2 3 GO!

 

[Lamaremybabies]

Okay, so if your ducks have just started laying that tells me they are under a year old? If so then I would not try for them to brood just yet, because younger birds aren't primal mother material and are still growing and maturing. Also I have four Pekin hens myself and two of them have gone broody twice each and given up after about a week... Pekins aren't known for going broody and staying broody (although there are quite a few people who have successful broody pekins). I'd wait until next spring to give them an opportunity to brood some eggs. They'll be done growing and maturing adult ladies, plus you'll have you house done which will provide a safe area for them to have babies and sleep. Also you said you have two females and there is no mention of a male, so unless you are going to buy a male or fertile eggs there will be no babies and it's a waist of a broody.

 

[M5pekin]

Sorry, I should have included more information! I got the ducks on march 15th,2017 so they're still youngish, this is their first week ever laying. I have 3 drakes and 2 females. They've been figuring out mating since late June. Do you have any suggestions on what i should do with the eggs each day then? Will be newest eggs be bad or gross should i toss them maybe? I am a first time duck owner, no previous experience just learning as i go



also..(I understand my ratio of males to females is off but i do not want to get rid of any of my babies- will be adding more females at some point to make it a better set up but as of right now theyre all buddies besides the occasional chase around of the non paired drake whos otherwise my gals best friend also the coop should be done in about a week or so..)

 

[Lamaremybabies]

Sorry, I should have included more information! I got the ducks on march 15th,2017 so they're still youngish, this is their first week ever laying. I have 3 drakes and 2 females. They've been figuring out mating since late June. Do you have any suggestions on what i should do with the eggs each day then? Will be newest eggs be bad or gross should i toss them maybe? I am a first time duck owner, no previous experience just learning as i go



also..(I understand my ratio of males to females is off but i do not want to get rid of any of my babies- will be adding more females at some point to make it a better set up but as of right now theyre all buddies besides the occasional chase around of the non paired drake whos otherwise my gals best friend also the coop should be done in about a week or so..)

Okay, so what I do is everyday I take the eggs my girls lay clean them with soap and water and stick them in the fridge. You can use them for many different things, baking, cooking, or even feed them back to the ducks. At this point I wouldn't eat any of the eggs laid before yesterday. You can crack them open one by one into a bowl to make sure they aren't rotten and feed them to the ducks just to be safe. If you don't want to have to worry about the eggs getting too hot you can move them to a shaded area or make a covered nest box for them to lay in.
I know exactly what you mean, I had three drakes and four hens at one time for a little while until I started to see problems in my girls and I re homed two of them and not long ago my last drake was taken by a fox. You get attached and don't want to see them go, but unless you plan on adding more girls within the next couple months I'd strongly recommend keeping them separated until you have more girls if re homing isn't an option.

 

[M5pekin]

So what if i want to leave the eggs be and see if nature takes its course and my ladies do decide to sit on their eggs after theyre done laying them all since they lay in the same spot every time? Is there a chance they could hatch some of them into babies? if there is a chance id very much like to take it

 

[Lamaremybabies]

So what if i want to leave the eggs be and see if nature takes its course and my ladies do decide to sit on their eggs after theyre done laying them all since they lay in the same spot every time? Is there a chance they could hatch some of them into babies? if there is a chance id very much like to take it

Absolutely. That can most certainly happen. You'll need to make sure though if it does that they are safe. And not sitting in direct sun

 

[M5pekin]

the spot they chose is unfortunatly the direct sunlight all day and im in florida so its toasty out here! gosh dang those crazy ladies... if i moved them to the shade right now, should they be okay? there has been one a day for 5 days so i have 10 total from the past 5 days all in the same spot! These being my first ever eggs I just cant bring myself to ruin them theyre just so pure and perfect

Thank you so much for all this information its amazing i have such a hard time finding information on these guys so many people have a different set up

 

[Lamaremybabies]

the spot they chose is unfortunatly the direct sunlight all day and im in florida so its toasty out here! gosh dang those crazy ladies... if i moved them to the shade right now, should they be okay? there has been one a day for 5 days so i have 10 total from the past 5 days all in the same spot! These being my first ever eggs I just cant bring myself to ruin them theyre just so pure and perfect

Thank you so much for all this information its amazing i have such a hard time finding information on these guys so many people have a different set up

It should be fine. They'll most likely find the eggs and start laying there.

No problem, glad I could be of some assistance!