HELP! Came home to cold duck eggs!!

[Erinmir]

Hi all,
Worried and not sure what to do/expect. Our pekin duck hen decided she wanted to go broody and hatch a clutch of eggs. This is our first time letting nature do its thing to hatch any eggs and we've been very proud of her for being a very attendant and consistently focused brooder. (We read that Pekins aren't necessarily prone to want to do this) We have candled the eggs and we do have development going on. As far as I can recall (we didn't really realize she had gone broody until the eggs were a few days in) we're at about day 5 or 7 or so... can see blood vessels and beating hearts in the ones we candled. Compared to development charts I was able to find, day 7-ish is my best guess.

When we got home today, all the ducks were out of their pen (they just have a low, mini-picket fence to keep them in one place in the yard) and our Nibble's nest was a mess, eggs were here and there and they felt cold. I put them all back and tried to rebuild her nest as best I could and when we got her and the others back in the pen she did go back to the eggs and sitting after a quick bite to eat and drink of water. I have no idea how long she was away from her eggs (and the fence gate was shut so she had no way to get back into the pen until we got home) other than that they were cold when I put them back. Anyone know if they will be alright if she gets back to them ASAP or have we lost them? I was so excited that she decided to hatch some ducklings and now I'm ready to cry thinking that all her work has been for naught.

Should we candle them once it is dark enough out? What should we look for?

Thanks in advance!!

 

[Habibs Hens]

she couldn't get back to the eggs so she may think she lost them and decided to abandon them

any change can cause birds to abandon eggs

candle them and see what's going on

if you see no veins then they are gone

 

[Erinmir]

We candled them once it got dark outside, could still see veins in almost all of them. There were a few that showed signs of halted development, but these were the same roughly 3 eggs that looked like duds when we candled the first time. I'm hoping she wasn't away too long. We'll keep an eye on them and hope for the best. She did go right back on the nest and has been there since being reunited with the eggs. Hoping all is not lost.

 

[Habibs Hens]

We candled them once it got dark outside, could still see veins in almost all of them. There were a few that showed signs of halted development, but these were the same roughly 3 eggs that looked like duds when we candled the first time. I'm hoping she wasn't away too long. We'll keep an eye on them and hope for the best. She did go right back on the nest and has been there since being reunited with the eggs. Hoping all is not lost.

you might just be lucky

good luck