Is a duck egg with tiny spots of blood in yolk always a fertilized egg?

[kaumlauf]

Hi- my 2 female ducks are starting to lay eggs, and we do have a male, but as far as I can tell, he hasn't mated with them. In fact the drake is a new addition (having lost our other drake to a fox or coon), he was hatched early this spring, and is harassed and pecked at by the hens. In fact, they attack him so much that we had to separate him from the hens. (one morning his back neck feathers were stripped and he was weak and limping, and could barely walk). We keep him in a separate pen at night, but during the day they all live together in a big penned in yard, and seem to be OK and leave each other alone. So, I ate one of the fresh eggs this morning, and noticed small specks of blood in it. I always thought this was a sign of fertility. Is it fertile?
Thanks all-
Kat in Northwest PA.

 

[Wyandottes7]

No, blood spots in an unincubated egg aren't usually a sign of fertility. Blood in the yolk of an egg is only a sign that the egg is fertile if it has been incubated for several days. More commonly, blood spots are caused by small glitches in the reproductive tract that cause a blood vessel to rupture as the egg moves through.

 

[kaumlauf]

Thanks for clearing that up! Now we are keeping our fingers crossed that the females will stop harassing the young male, so that he'll breeed with them when the time comes...and not be too scarred and put off, permanently.