My duck isn't sitting?

[cluckers&quackers]

I have a mallard duck that has currently got 20 eggs in her nest, but she still isn't sitting on them.

She keeps them covered with hay, and appears to keep them turned, so I thought she was going to sit.

She is currently housed with her drake, closed in at night and allowed to go out during the day. Is there anything I can do to encourage her to start sitting? Or is she just plain and simple not interested?

I don't have an incubator so I can't try hatching them, nor do I have a broody hen

How long will the eggs last before they are no longer hatchable?

 

[Heather J]

Hi, I know my geese laid dozens of eggs (literaly, I cleaned up over two dozen from their nest, so they wouldn't get broken and stink up the place), but none of them ever acted interested in sitting on them. My Cayuga hen laid eggs pretty steady through the spring and into summer, but also never got interested in sitting. Both of them are just over a year old and never laid until this summer, so it's possible their bodies just don't have the hormone levels to start broodiness. On the other hand, my Muscovy hen laid a clutch full, sat on them three weeks, then got rid of the eggs somewhere and walked away. Almost immediately she started laying again. ??? I don't know what that's all about, but I did steal the ones from the second nest and stuck them in the bator.

There's nothing you can do if the hen isn't interested in sitting on the eggs, unfortunately. See if you can find someone with an incubator who would be willing to set them for you. I think they usually only stay good for 7-10 days, and start dropping in fertility dramatically after that.