Mom duck gone from eggs for almost 2 days, what should we do?

[angeltet]

UPDATE 4/19/21

Here is some news with the eggs and mom. Unfortunately, she didn’t come back since this post was made, and her eggs are almost definitely dead at this point.

It’s a shame, we were really excited to see little baby ducks when they hatched, but it seems we spoke too soon. I hope the mom is alright and that she didn’t get into any trouble.

Thank you for all the tips and reassurance earlier with this, maybe we’ll get some duck eggs another year. This year was just not it with the bipolar weather. ):

 

[Ducks2024]

Hello! We have a mallard duck nest in our front yard. The mama duck would always cover it up when she left. For the past 3 days/nights she was on it non-stop and had a bunch of her feathers surrounding her on the nest. This morning she was off the nest and walking through our yard with a boy duck. She left the nest uncovered and a couple eggs had cracked and only shells were next to the nest in the flower bed. Lots of other eggs still in the nest untouched. We saw her come back this afternoon and she was sitting next to the nest but not on it. This evening she is gone again and the nest is still uncovered. We haven’t touched the nest or eggs at all. Hoping everything is okay…not sure what to do? Any advice??

 

[kaumlauf]

UPDATE 4/19/21

Here is some news with the eggs and mom. Unfortunately, she didn’t come back since this post was made, and her eggs are almost definitely dead at this point.

It’s a shame, we were really excited to see little baby ducks when they hatched, but it seems we spoke too soon. I hope the mom is alright and that she didn’t get into any trouble.

Thank you for all the tips and reassurance earlier with this, maybe we’ll get some duck eggs another year. This year was just not it with the bipolar weather. ):

I am sorry to hear this news. It is so rewarding to watch the nesting, hatching process of wild ducks. A Mallard duck nest such as yours was, so readily accessible to predators (raccoons, possums, weasels, etc. is never very safe. maybe next year she'll lay again in a safer place, but not too far from you.

 

[Spring_Valley]

I have a similar problem. I have a Muscovy nesting in my bush and we have been avoiding it and sneaking some food for her near her nest when she was away. She has laid 2 eggs in 2 days. But 2 days later and she hasn’t returned to her nest, she was in the yard, but cams show she never went back to the nest. I have rescued a duckling before and we have an incubator.

What is the best thing to do at this point? She has left the pond and I saw her nesting at a different location when driving around to look for her.

 

[Zallix]

I have a similar problem. I have a Muscovy nesting in my bush and we have been avoiding it and sneaking some food for her near her nest when she was away. She has laid 2 eggs in 2 days. But 2 days later and she hasn’t returned to her nest, she was in the yard, but cams show she never went back to the nest. I have rescued a duckling before and we have an incubator.

What is the best thing to do at this point? She has left the pond and I saw her nesting at a different location when driving around to look for her.

probably spooked her when you were sneaking her food around the nest. not an eggspert but she probably deemed the spot unsafe once you started worrying about her too much and started poking around. either way she wouldn't have even started incubating those eggs till there were at least 10+ so if she never returned that just means she's laying somewhere else and those 2 eggs were just normal fertilized-but-not-developing eggs

 

[nuthatched]

probably spooked her when you were sneaking her food around the nest. not an eggspert but she probably deemed the spot unsafe once you started worrying about her too much and started poking around. either way she wouldn't have even started incubating those eggs till there were at least 10+ so if she never returned that just means she's laying somewhere else and those 2 eggs were just normal fertilized-but-not-developing eggs

This thread is 4 years old

 

[Zallix]

This thread is 4 years old

and Spring_Valley's comment was from Mar 1st, 2025. I stumbled on it while googling stuff and was surprised to see a recent comment at the end here