Mallard eggs

[shoregirl68]

I have 3 female mallards and 1 Pekin that I'm 99.9% certain is female. One or more of my Mallards is laying eggs (they're all 4 months old). They are not sitting on them. I just find them in the coop they share with our 5 chickens in the morning.

I'm assuming they are not fertile but they do fly around and we've seen some wild males "checking" our girls out.

Questions:

Why aren't they sitting/nesting on/with the eggs?

Is there a way to tell if they are fertile? I dropped one this morning and it looked like a normal egg yolk/white.

Aren't they a bit young to start laying?

 

[Kevin565]

1. They are young and inexperienced. It might take them some time to get the hang of everything.

2. Here's a link to a great thread explaining how to tell the difference:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/16008/how-to-tell-a-fertile-vs-infertile-egg-pictures

3. Yes 4 months is a bit young. Are you sure it's them laying?

 

[shoregirl68]

Kevin,

Thanks for reply. Pretty sure. Chickens and ducks all 4 months. All my chickens will likely lay brown eggs, the eggs are found in corner of coop where ducks sleep, (we have 1 pekin, but i thought she would lay white eggs) the eggs we've found are greenish gray color. I'll check out link to tell if fertile. I am on fence about trying to hatch them if they are. We don't have an incubator and have no idea which type would suit our needs.

Last night it did look like one of the mallards was looking for the eggs when she went in for the night.

If she were to sit on them, wouldn't she need to do it for most of the day?

See pix below

 

[fowl farm]

Pretty sure those are Mallard eggs. How fun!
Mallards, like most birds (except owls), will not sit on their nest until they lay what they think is the appropriate amount of eggs. That way, the chicks/ducklings will be the same size and the duck can focus on all babies going through the same thing at the same time, instead of worrying about teaching a duckling to swim and sitting a nest. Sitting on the nest at night won't make them hatch sooner and it helps keep them from dying (my Mallards did this)
It is soon for them to be laying, so they might not sit on their first nest. Your ducks will try and hatch the eggs if you let them, so unless you want ducks eggs every morning you don't need an incubator. Or, you could just let one duck sit. Good luck, baby ducks are the best!!

 

[Kevin565]

Those are definitely Mallard eggs. Congrats!

It's best to not try to hatch the first few eggs. When they start laying it can take awhile for their bodies to get all the kinks out when it comes to laying eggs. I usually give the first 2 weeks of eggs to the dogs to eat,

Once your ducks are broody they will spend most of their time on the nest. I see my ducks go off the nest maybe 3 times a day to eat and drink.