HELP! Duck eggs with black speckles, what's wrong?

[Young Duck Dad]

Hello, I'm hatching my first ever batch of five eggs. I took them in from outside after the mother disappeared (a predator possibly got into the nest, there used to be 9 eggs in the nest, but 4 were destroyed. Plus, some of the eggs have small nicks on the shell). We believe they're mallard eggs. My eggs have been experiencing discoloration in the last few days, black smudges and speckles appearing on the shell. I'm currently on day 22. One of my eggs, with the wounds, has started oozing a dark brownish fluid; but only from the holes. What's happened? Should I take it out? Will the other eggs be able to hatch?

Here are some pictures.

This is the fluid that came off of the egg.

this is an example of the speckles. the other eggs are more or less severe than this.

oh also, this is the egg that was oozing. it used to have one large dark splotch around the hole, until after the liquid came out.

Please help!! I really want as many of these ducks to survive

 

[JaeG]

Yes, the black spots are indicators that the baby inside has died and is decomposing which results in bad bacteria in the egg. Oozing eggs have a high likelihood of exploding (and that's pretty gross). Get rid of it/them. I'm sorry you couldn't save them. Any nick or crack in the shell can let bad bacteria into the egg resulting in death for the foetus.

 

[Benevolent Barn]

I really do not know on this one. Candle the eggs and see if there is anything inside. Best of luck.

 

[Young Duck Dad]

Seeing as none of them are moving when I candled them, I've thrown them out. Thank you both for the responses!

 

[JaeG]

You gave them a shot at survival and that's all you can do. Do try again - there's nothing cuter than ducklings/goslings/chicks/poults - take your pick. Lots of people sell hatching eggs and there are many domestic duck species that are flightless.

 

[FrankHomestead]

Seeing as none of them are moving when I candled them, I've thrown them out. Thank you both for the responses!

Wait a minute...you're on day 22 and you threw all the eggs out because you saw no movement when candling? You probably threw away at least one healthy duckling that would have hatched had you let it complete incubation!! For future reference- it's VERY hard to see anything at all but black by day 22 because the embryo has filled the egg. Man, I just can't believe someone would toss their whole batch on day 22 assuming the were all dead.
I was certain my very first hatch was not going to result in any chicks because of all the countless mistakes I made...4 hatched out and still doing great. Even though I thought they were all goners, I still gave them a fair shot.