My ducks are laying eggs, but I cant find them...

GoofyDuckLady

Hatching
Mar 18, 2018
9
3
7
I have three female ducks, and they all normally lay eggs consistently. At one point one of my females started to brood, but then I guess she gave up. After 1 day of having the whole clutch in the nest, she abandoned them. Recently we got the other two females, and one of them has started half burying her eggs in the back of my yard. She seems to be trying to nest, but I'm not sure. Plus some days I can only find 1 or two eggs total from my three ducks. At first, they would all lay their eggs in the house, but now I cant find them. I'm convinced they are laying them somewhere, because I found a dead baby duckling. I'm pretty sure the eggs hatched at one point, but I cant find any eggs shells, or any other babies. What do I do? (And yes I have three males too)
 
:welcome

They are very good at hiding their eggs maybe even up underneath something you couldn't imagine them getting under or behind?
Try keeping them locked up longer inside in the mornings, what time do you let them out? maybe keep them in 30-45 mins longer. Or place fake eggs inside that usually gets my new layers into laying inside. Sad one was broody and you found a dead duckling. Might have had a predator problem also. Not a good idea to leave them sit outside or stay out over night.
 
I feel like I've searched my whole yard, but still no luck. They are usually let out sometimes around 8. Usually I find one or two in the house, but I'm always missing a few. This morning I found a cracked egg in front of my house. (The ducks cant get up there, so I'm guessing it was some predator) The egg must have come from somewhere, but I cant imagine where...
 
If you found an egg in front of your house and the ducks can't get there then I'd say something carried it up there. Might have gotten startled and dropped it? Do you have a game camera? Best thing there is for spotting what is coming around.
 
I wish I did, it would make life a lot easier, but sadly I don't. Do you think I should buy an incubator, or just let them do their own thing with the eggs?
 
My runners are really good at covering their eggs, you can't even tell anything is there. They build up the straw and tamp it down so you can't see any evidence of the nest. I just discovered 6 runner eggs in my duck house while doing the spring cleanout.
 
My ducks don't have any straw to bury their eggs in. I've tried searching the grass, and the base of the trees. I even tried looking under my porch and along my fence. There is one egg buried in the back of my yard. Its tucked under some weeds. I'm not sure its fertile, but it stays warm from the sun, and I've been keeping an eye on it. I watched my duck lay it three or so days ago.
 

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