Incubating duck eggs

[eriin_jeanxo]

I have 11 duck eggs. I’ve candled them all and 5 have clear distinctive veins, you can see the embryo forming and on 2-3 of those eggs, you can see the little heart beats!
The remaining eggs Im not sure if they’re fertile or duds. I’ve posted pictures below.
Let me know opinions!

 

[dan26552]

That first picture is a blood ring. That's an embryo that started and then quit. Some of those look like clears. What day are you on?

 

[eriin_jeanxo]

That first picture is a blood ring. That's an embryo that started and then quit. Some of those look like clears. What day are you on?

To be honest, I’m not sure. the fertile ones appear to be around 10-11 days old. My brother is renovating a house and last summer, he cut down a bunch of limbs. Last Saturday he was cleaning up the brush pile to burn and when he got to the bottom of it, he discovered a nest of eggs. He felt so bad about destroying the nest and he knew I would try my best at saving them. (I’m the family animal person! Haha)
I picked them up on Saturday, they were so cold and he had never seen a mama duck nest or around the yard so he wasn’t sure even if the mama was still around. I wasn’t too hopeful since they were SO cold but I candled them that night. There were no visible signs of life in any of them. I let them go in the incubator anyways and honestly thought they didn’t make it, I checked tonight and to my surprise, there are signs of life!
Since they are wild duck eggs, if they hatch, I plan to release them on our property. I have 100 acres with 2 ponds. I don’t know whether I am doing the right thing, but I couldn’t leave the eggs behind and I couldn’t let my brother feel so awful.

 

[eriin_jeanxo]

That first picture is a blood ring. That's an embryo that started and then quit. Some of those look like clears. What day are you on?

Also what does clear mean? I know it can’t be good, which is why I wanted some opinions.
I had a feeling about the blood ring one.

 

[Conan]

Clear just means that they were either not fertile or never started developing for one reason or another. Either way, best to pull them from the incubator.
How long have these eggs been in the incubator?

 

[eriin_jeanxo]

Since April 17th

 

[Conan]

Since April 17th

Keep those nice veiny ones in there and remove the others. These are mallard eggs?

 

[eriin_jeanxo]

Keep those nice veiny ones in there and remove the others. These are mallard eggs?

they could be, I’m not sure of what kind of duck egg they are and neither is my brother. I know it’s illegal to keep wild mallards if that’s what they are. I don’t plan to keep them if they fertile ones do hatch. I’m going to contact local wildlife places in my area for help and resources as well! I just wanted to give them a fighting chance.

 

[Conan]

they could be, I’m not sure of what kind of duck egg they are and neither is my brother. I know it’s illegal to keep wild mallards if that’s what they are. I don’t plan to keep them if they fertile ones do hatch. I’m going to contact local wildlife places in my area for help and resources as well! I just wanted to give them a fighting chance.

Neat! Mystery eggs. Always thought that rule against keeping wild mallards a bit odd considering many hatcheries sell mallards, but whatever!
What kind of wild ducks do you have in your area?

 

[eriin_jeanxo]

Neat! Mystery eggs. Always thought that rule against keeping wild mallards a bit odd considering many hatcheries sell mallards, but whatever!
What kind of wild ducks do you have in your area?

These are all possibilities for NE Ohio! If I had to guess though, I’d say mallards as they’re the most common I’ve seen in my area.