Mama Duck Attacked!!

[Jkioneil]

So sorry for your loss. The egg process is not that bad it is worth it too. worst tha can happen...thay dont hatch. go grab some lights or an incubator and get hatching... you can do it!

 

[L0rraine]

I'm sooooo sorry, this must be so hard for you. Bless your Momma duck, she must have tried to put up a fight to protect those eggs. On any given day it's just too true that our ducks are so very vulnerable to predators. I know it makes us all want to turn our enclosures into Fort Knox, but that can be so difficult and expensive to do. Don't know if you found a way or not to incubate, but obviously the potential babies in those eggs are even more precious cargo now.

Good luck in the next few days.

 

[b.hromada]

Quote:

I'm so very sorry.

 

[JosieR]

I'm so sorry for your loss

 

[WriterofWords]

Are there any members near you that might incubate them for you?

 

[MamacatPatch]

Thank you all for your kind words and concern.

No, we know of no one who can incubate them for us.

 

[chickboss]

I don't know if it has been too long, but I would candle. Seriously, get a box, fish tank, anything, a heat lamp, dimmer switch, themometer and a pan for water. Lots of people here will talk you through it. Spring for one of the hygrmeter/themometer combos, Wal-Mart has them. Just get them warm enough and see what happens, lots of stories on the forum here about eggs surviving pretty incredable stuff. They may not make it, but is totally worth a shot. Heck, people used to hatch eggs from under their wood stoves. I would go for it.

 

[MamacatPatch]

Quote:
Ok, I'm going to try it anyhow. If nothing happens I won't be any worse off than if I let them all go so why not give it a go? Might not hurt me to learn this stuff since we have ducks now.

How long is too long for the eggs to be out without mamaduck? I went and gathered all the eggs in her nest just now .... didn't count them but it seems to be about 20!!! .... so I would guess they've been out there 24 hours or so? I put them in a bucket of warm water and many floated to the top. I would guess those are not good eggs and can be tossed, yes?

I will dry them off and put them in an old aquarium. I thought of putting the aquarium on a heating pad and then a blanket on the bottom inside and they lay the eggs out on the blanket. I have a thermometer and lid and light for the aquarium ... the usual aquarium supplies. I should probably use another light, right? Like a 100 watt bulb? Should I put a towel over the eggs or not? Should I mist them at all for humidity? I know the eggs should be turned. Should they lay tilted too?

I will candle them tonight after dark tonight. Thanks for anyone who wants to help me through this.

 

[chickboss]

Quote:
Ok, I'm going to try it anyhow. If nothing happens I won't be any worse off than if I let them all go so why not give it a go? Might not hurt me to learn this stuff since we have ducks now.

How long is too long for the eggs to be out without mamaduck? I went and gathered all the eggs in her nest just now .... didn't count them but it seems to be about 20!!! .... so I would guess they've been out there 24 hours or so? I put them in a bucket of warm water and many floated to the top. I would guess those are not good eggs and can be tossed, yes?

I will dry them off and put them in an old aquarium. I thought of putting the aquarium on a heating pad and then a blanket on the bottom inside and they lay the eggs out on the blanket. I have a thermometer and lid and light for the aquarium ... the usual aquarium supplies. I should probably use another light, right? Like a 100 watt bulb? Should I put a towel over the eggs or not? Should I mist them at all for humidity? I know the eggs should be turned. Should they lay tilted too?

I will candle them tonight after dark tonight. Thanks for anyone who wants to help me through this.

Yeah, I would toss the floaters. I don't know how hot that heating pad gets, but yeah I would try to get a bulb, just be sure you can adjust either the out put with a dimmer switch or the height of the lamp, something. Watch that temp like a hawk, when I tried this I had lots of ups and downs. Also, see if you can get a pan for water in there, and somekind of small divider so that if you do have hatchers they won't get in the pan and drown. Or, if you have a tray that you could elevate the eggs on, maybe then you could just put the water in the bottom of the tank. Don't know how good of an idea that is with a heating pad though. I will look up the temps for still air incubators (incubators with out a fan), but I think it is 101-102. 55% seems to be a pretty standard humidity level, with anywhere between 65-75% during the hatch. Main thing for now since you don't have a way of measuring humidity from the sounds of it is to just get something in there. I am one of the least experienced people here, so update the title of your post, or start a new thread to get everyone's attention. Something like "Help, trying to save attacked mamma duck's eggs" oughta do it. Oh, and with that bulb, if you end up hanging one above the eggs, like a heat lamp or something, you will need to difuse the light somehow otherwise the ones underneith the light will be like 104 degrees and the ones on the out side will be chilled. I had a heat lamp, and used tin foil attatched to the rim of the reflector to even it out. Good luck! Post after you candle, we will all want to know. If they are all, or almost all dark, you will be pretty close if they are going to make it. Hope this gets you by until the experts show up!

 

[chickboss]

Okay, Storey's guide says that for still air incubators the correct temp is 101.5,102,102.5, and 103 for each consecutive week. So I guess you would be at 103, but I hear 101-102 a lot on the forum. So there is your range. Also, there is a story that Dave Holderread has in his book about finding some duck eggs at the pond that he used to go visit to feed the ducks. There had been a lot of flooding and he found a nest that had been under water for who knows how long. He took them home and got eight of them to hatch, so it isn't unheard of that they could still be viable. Crossing my fingers for you!