How many eggs can a Mandarin incubate?

[jsvand5]

I have two pairs laying a normal and a white. The normal one laid 10 eggs and then started setting on them. The white laid 6 and then seemed to just abandon the nest. I left it alone for 4 days but the duck stopped laying and showed no signs that she was going to incubate the eggs. I ended up taking them out. One was cracked so I tried to fix that with nail polish and I put in in my indoor incubator. Just hoing for the best on that one. The other 5 I put with my normal mandarin. She seems to be doing fine with them, but I am wondering if the 15 will be too much for her to hatch? Any thoughts? Looking back, I wish I would have marked the white eggs and started them indoors to see if they were even fertile before putting them with the normal hen.

 

[Scott]

As long as she accepts them, 15 should be alright. The average size clutch is 8-14, so you should be ok with 15. What kind of set up do you have your mandarins in?

 

[jsvand5]

Here is a pic that shows some of the boxes. They are about 12" wide, 12" deep and 24 tall. After this season I will remove the ramps and raise them a little. My birds came with clipped wings from the breeder so they still don't fly too well right now.

 

[sourland]

If she can cover all the eggs without stacking them, she should be OK.

 

[jsvand5]

She's got them all spread out evenly without stacking so I am hoping for the best. I would just incubate them myself, but my good incubator will be holding my snake eggs in a few weeks and they are at a much lower temp.


Is it common for first year birds to abandon their nest?

 

[Matapatos]

No idea if first year birds commonly abandon their nests... Maybe has something to do with the white ones? Do color mutated birds have a harder time performing as a normal duck would? Again, no idea, and I hope someone chimes in here that knows... Mine still hasn't laid, she's been in the nesting box once about a week ago and hasn't been in since. I hope she lays, she is a second or third year bird...