Mandarin Eggs and Laying

[aftertwilight102]

I bought a pair of mandarins this last weekend from an auction and unfortunately lost the male on the way home. (He was just dead when we got home. We assume the stress caused a heart attack?). Fast forward to Monday night, the female escaped her temporary digs (quarantine before entering our mixed flock) and laid an egg on the floor of the barn. Now the female has not laid since (it's been 2-3 days now) and it's been some days since we lost the male. Is there any chance the one egg she laid is fertile? Is it common to get only one egg? We brought the egg in just in case but I know it's pretty hard to incubate them from what I've read. I hate to just toss it. What should we be doing here? Give her a nest box and hope that coaxes her into laying more? Is there even any point with the male dead? We just assumed we'd not get any eggs this year since we had no male.

This is my first time with "wild" ducks. We usually do call ducks so we are way out of our element here. Any help would be appreciated!

 

[Kessel23]

I would try setting the egg. If she was with a drake that recently then there is a good chance it is fertile.
I was looking at some mandarin duck pairs at a swap meet last week. I almost bought some but I do not know how to care for them so I just took a picture and left them.

 

[cleoandtheflock]

You should set them mandarin ducks are amazing

We got a hen from a breeder who kept her with many roosters
And we did not have roosters
When we brought her home a few days later she layee an egg and then the next day another egg then no more for many days and she didn’t lay for weeks since that and we set the 2 eggs
And now they are are healthy little chicks

Do you have a picture of your hen

 

[Jpat]

I bought a pair of mandarins this last weekend from an auction and unfortunately lost the male on the way home. (He was just dead when we got home. We assume the stress caused a heart attack?). Fast forward to Monday night, the female escaped her temporary digs (quarantine before entering our mixed flock) and laid an egg on the floor of the barn. Now the female has not laid since (it's been 2-3 days now) and it's been some days since we lost the male. Is there any chance the one egg she laid is fertile? Is it common to get only one egg? We brought the egg in just in case but I know it's pretty hard to incubate them from what I've read. I hate to just toss it. What should we be doing here? Give her a nest box and hope that coaxes her into laying more? Is there even any point with the male dead? We just assumed we'd not get any eggs this year since we had no male.

This is my first time with "wild" ducks. We usually do call ducks so we are way out of our element here. Any help would be appreciated!

Hey there! Its so sad what happened, ide give my front teeth for a pair of manderin ducks

as far as "normal" ducks go, its normal for them not to lay after a move, or any stressfull event

It took my quails 2 weeks to start up again
My pekin took 3
My kc took 2 months and the whole fall and winter.


Your lucky to get that one, Make a post on your local classified and look for a used incubator or someone who will incubate it for you, some farm supply stores rent them
"Normal" ducks eggs can be fertile for up to 14 days

 

[Kessel23]

Hey there! Its so sad what happened, ide give my front teeth for a pair of manderin ducks

as far as "normal" ducks go, its normal for them not to lay after a move, or any stressfull event

It took my quails 2 weeks to start up again
My pekin took 3
My kc took 2 months and the whole fall and winter.


Your lucky to get that one, Make a post on your local classified and look for a used incubator or someone who will incubate it for you, some farm supply stores rent them
"Normal" ducks eggs can be fertile for up to 14 days

To bad you were not at the swap I went to Jpat. Idk what a good price for one is but this guy was selling them for $75 a pair and that seems like a really low price to me.

 

[aftertwilight102]

I will wait a couple of days and try to set the egg. Maybe she will lay more. I need to order an incubator for it as mine is currently tied up with chicken eggs. Hopefully it is fertile.

This is the only pic I got of my girl Whisper. Certainly not a great one lol