Help with WH hatching her first clutch!

[CloversMom]

I am new to this forum and being a duck mom and need some help with my girls! I have a sliver welshie and a f/w runner. We lost our drake welshie apx 4 was ago. About that same time our runner started setting on 6 eggs. Since then we still get an egg daily. We candeled several weeks ago and saw veins and movement so let her keep setting. We checked them again 6 days ago and now have 9 viable eggs and had 4 quitters. I am new to this and didn't realize our girls could still lay fertile eggs after no drake interactions... How long will they continue to lay fertile eggs? She started sitting on 6-7 and now I have 9 no idea how to judge their ages! Should I be removing the newly laid eggs? One did pop and they moved it out of their nest and I got in all cleaned up. But I'm afraid that it may have contaminated the other healthy eggs now. We weren't planning to let the girls hatch but after loosing our drake so tragically we thought this was a way of letting his legacy live on. I am trying to read all I can but don't see anything on subsequent fertile eggs being laid on an existing clutch. And we are letting the girls do the work and not incubating so I am afraid of the cold weather affecting the eggs as well. Any suggestions regarding the different egg and ages would be helpful! Also some of the eggs appear to have a gray-ish bruised appearance. Does this mean they are infected with bacteria? Thanks and sorry for such a long post!!

 

[Percheron chick]

I'm a little fuzzy on the time line but the eggs should take 28 days. A duck will lay fertile eggs about 2 weeks after the drake is removed similar to chickens. If you can remove the bedding and replace it without disturbing her(like when she hops off to eat) I would do it otherwise best to just leave her alone.

I mark my eggs so I can remove the new eggs and not have half developed embryos when the first eggs start hatching. You can always have an incubator on standby to finish up any developing eggs.

 

[CloversMom]

Thanks so much for advice! I will start marking my eggs today. Is it ok to candle every 2-3 days or should I wait longer in between? Just so curious on their age! I have them in their duck house that is heated right now but I def want to move them all somewhere warmer when the ducklings arrive. I don't want to disturb their nest and they seems fine for now. Any ideas on the discolor end shells? It's kind of a blue-ish gray and very uneven. At first I thought it might be the duckling shadow as it grew and took up most of the shell, but they are not that big yet. Thanks again!

 

[Percheron chick]

Take a picture of the eggs. Have they just started laying? I would guess it's just the color of the egg.
How old are the eggs? As hard as it is i try to candle the eggs as little as possible. Starting about 5 days. Mark the good, the ?s and pull the clears. Give them a week check again. Pull the clears and quitters. If there are still ?s I leave them. About 5 days out from hatch I check them again. If anytime I catch the hen off the nest I will take a peek at a few eggs just because.
No need to move momma. The ducklings will stay warm in a cold house. I would dump any swimming water before they hatch.

 

[bydhatch]

Describe the coloring in more detail. (Maybe a picture if you can't.) I don't want to jump to conclusions but depending on how it's colored this could be a red flag. :/

 

[CloversMom]

All great ideas thank u! I will try to get some pictures when she gets up again and will dump their pool when it gets closer hatch too. They love to still take swims even when it's icy!

 

[CloversMom]

How do you mark your eggs? Will pencil rub off? Will marker seep into the egg?

 

[Percheron chick]

I use a Sharpie.

Don't want mom to take them swimming before they are ready.

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

How do you mark your eggs? Will pencil rub off? Will marker seep into the egg?

I first tried using pencil and numbering the eggs, only to have the marks rub off.

I now make a small mark with a permanent pen, like @Percheron chick does. Sharpie's states in its FAQs that the markers are "AP-certified non-toxic", but that you shouldn't use them where they could come into contact with food or enter your mouth (http://www.sharpie.com/en-US/sharpie-faqs#QuestionAnswers_64020). That gives me a bit of pause, so I try to minimize the amount of ink on the shell.

Edited to add: good luck! Hope you have a great hatch!

 

[CloversMom]

We candled last night and have 5 def healthy movers and 3 questionable. I marked their air sacs with pencil. They look close to hatching size but have a little veining still. I hate that I don't have a better date to go off! No internal pips that we could see but one egg was def moving in the bowl when checking the others. Single digits weather tonight and tom here. I'm worried one may hatch during this bitter cold. We have a camera in their house so I will keep a close eye on them. Would u remove any ducklings and bring them inside to a brooder? Or would that disturb them or momma too much? Thanks again everyone for ur advise!!