Had a question...

[littlegrl187]

ok, so I have 2 ducks - 1 male, 1 female - they're both about 5 months old. and yesterday the female laid an egg! and then I found another 1 this morning! I didn't take away the 1st egg and now there are 2 eggs in their hutch. The female doesn't seem to be sitting on it at all - in fact she doesn't seem interested in them at all. the male though is very protective of them. can I take them away and eat them? or are they fertile? how do I tell the difference? I'm really not sure what to do here, as these are my first ducks and I really wasn't expecting eggs just yet.

 

[Birdcrazy]

There is no difference between eating fertile or non eggs

unless they've started to be incubated in which case they'll have a growing duck inside them.

You can tell if they're being incubated because your duck will be sitting on them and have an attitude and be fluffed up (being broody).
If you want your duck to have ducklings, I'd suggest taking the first few away because the first few eggs are generally smaller and weak.. unlikely to succesfully hatch ducklings.

Your duck will not sit on her nest until she has laid one egg a day untill she gets a certain amount of eggs (10-20 depending on breed). They wont start growing til she sits on them to keep them warm so they will all hatch out at the same time.

Also if you want ducklings, be careful - drakes are protective but have a reputation of injuring and killing baby ducks. Of course there's always a good dad around.

Good luck and feel free to ask more questions, everyone's happy to help

I wish I discovered BYC when I first got ducks

 

[katharinad]

A duck egg needs about 4 days of incubation before you see blood vessels. Ducks lay eggs, and the eggs will lay dormant until the duck decides to site on them. That can be 2 weeks later. For now take the eggs and eat them. It is best to take the eggs the first 2 weeks before you let a new laying duck sit on them. She may not be a good mom first time round either. They get overwhelmed. Another thing to consider is how close you are to winter. You should not have 2 month old ducks run around in winter. Always think 4 months ahead. It may be better to wait until spring/early summer. Your duck may not even go broody until then.

 

[littlegrl187]

thank you so much for all the information! I'm still new at this and these guys are always surprising me!

 

[Birdcrazy]

Quote:
Anytime! and I completely agree about the surprising part lol