Muscovy laying question???

[Rockashelle]

Hello! I'm a newbie when it comes to ducks. 2 weeks ago I went to buy one duck (for slug patrol in my garden since the chickens can't manage to eat the monsters we have, It's more like a game of "slug soccer" for the chickens) Needless to say, I came home with 4 Muscovies (2 drakes, 2 ducks). The lady preferred they all go together to a good home, and frankly... I have the room for all of them and the slugs too. They are a year and a half old. She said that they had laid 7 eggs earlier this year which she took in the house to incubate. 1 duckling made it. So, as far as I know, neither of the ducks have hatched out eggs.

One of the ducks has started laying again. Today is day 3 and now 3 eggs in the nest. I have done a LOT of reading trying to find the answers to my question. I know that they lay the amount they prefer to hatch before they sit on the nest. I have been watching her and plan on letting her hatch them out as I have read they are excellent mothers. My problem is, she is laying her eggs in the morning and out free ranging all day. At dusk, she heads back into her cubby and stays in there all night. Come morning, there is another egg and out she goes again to do the same thing the following night. It appears that she keeps the eggs on the perimeter of the nest versus under her. When I looked this morning, all three eggs were laying perfectly top to bottom in a circle shape around the perimeter of where she's laying. Kind of like she's building an igloo. My concern is that I don't want her to start laying on the few in the nest and leaving them all day. Is it possible that she is just enjoying her nest and not "sitting" on the eggs? I am hoping she is just enjoying the enclosure of her cubby (and avoiding the boys).

Any words of wisdom for me would be greatly appreciated. I don't want the eggs to spoil and I don't want to take them if she is planning on hatching them...

 

[Nyowpotopop]

I have heard it's best to take the first few eggs in a clutch since they don't normally hatch... Also I have heard it sucks trying to incubate muscovy eggs and the best way to do it is let momma duck since they're notoriously hard to hatch otherwise.

Also this sounds pretty normal to me? The momma bird will lay anywhere from 8-25 eggs before sitting on them. This is an evolutionary thing since her presence draws predators if she hangs around the nest and she wants them to hatch all at once which means they need to be incubated all at once. And they have a hard time laying more than one egg each day.

And if you're worried about them spoiling consider that fresh chicken eggs can sit out unrefridgerated for a week or two before spoiling and last months when refridgerated. So you're probably safe for a week or so on that if she doesn't go broody. If you're really concerned my mom always used to crack eggs she was unsure of into a cup before using them. If it sticks oddly to the shell or has black spots in it it's no good. You can also try the float test but be sure to use warm water for it.

 

[Rockashelle]

Thanks! So it's normal for her to sleep in there at night and be out during the day? We have four eggs today... and counting! I'm a little excited.

 

[Rockashelle]

UPDATE: Ok, now both the girls have been laying in the same box which I've read is fairly normal for them. There are now 20 eggs. Again, my concern is that they are now on the nest from about 8:00pm until Noon the following day and then off until about 8:00pm at night again.

Ugh... I really want the eggs to hatch but my concern is they have already started incubation and then cooled off again. The girls haven't started plucking feathers to bed the nest with so I believe they are still laying. I'm concerned my nest box isn't big enough too...

Any suggestions? Should I remove the first 5 eggs that I marked? They started laying June 20th so it has only been 12 days as of today. Do you think the eggs are still ok?