Nest attacked, eggs moved inside to incubator, help!

[Lpskitfit]

Hey guys, so our duck started secretly incubating a nest under some stairs in our backyard and we didn't find them until recently, as she was going up with our other ducks at night and would play in the yard when we were out there. I candled all 8 of them when we found them to see how far along they are, and it's somewhere between 10-14 days. Well, apparently someone miscounted them when they put the ducks away and she was left on her nest because she didn't go up with the others like usual, and an opossum attacked. I wanted to move the nest to an incubator to begin with, but the natural way worked so much better when we let our chicken hatch our ducks, so mom insisted on leaving them. The opposum ate an egg but the others are unscathed. Will the change in temperature of them being brought inside kill them? We held them to our skin until the temp and humidity were right in the bator. Do you think they'll be okay?

Our second issue is this: our duck is fine, but currently doesn't know her eggs are missing. We put eight chicken eggs (unfertilized) in their place and are praying she doesn't notice until we figure out what to do. Would it be a safe bet to invest in some ceramic eggs and let her sit on those during the day, and introduce her to the ducklings shortly after their born? Do you think she'll take them if we replace the ceramic eggs with them? Any and all advice is wanted!

 

[cavemanrich]

I would just leave the un-fertile eggs in place. Much easier to handle. No need to get fancy ceramics, (pricier than 8 chicken eggs.)
When your duckies hatch, just replace eggs with duckies.
When you do replace these eggs, you can boil them up, and then break, to see if they look OK. Then feed these eggs to your chickens. I don't like anything going to waste, if not necessary.
If after cooking them and they don't look good,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,toss them then

Keep an eye on your duck, so you don't have a repeat with the opposum.
Many peeps see a opposum as a predator. While that may be true, a opposum is a very beneficial animal. All animals need to eat. Opposums control the ticks by eating numerous numbers of them that hitch a ride on their bodies. They are also immune to Lyme Disease, as well as Rabies.
YES, WE DO NEED TO PROTECT OUR FLOCKS. Best way is to provide secure run areas.

WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[Lpskitfit]

Thank you, I think that's what we'll do. Of the chicken eggs start to rot I'll just replace them. They have free run of our backyard but we had no idea she could get under our house until this happened!

 

[Lpskitfit]

I would just leave the un-fertile eggs in place. Much easier to handle. No need to get fancy ceramics, (pricier than 8 chicken eggs.)
When your duckies hatch, just replace eggs with duckies.
When you do replace these eggs, you can boil them up, and then break, to see if they look OK. Then feed these eggs to your chickens. I don't like anything going to waste, if not necessary.
If after cooking them and they don't look good,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,toss them then

Keep an eye on your duck, so you don't have a repeat with the opposum.
Many peeps see a opposum as a predator. While that may be true, a opposum is a very beneficial animal. All animals need to eat. Opposums control the ticks by eating numerous numbers of them that hitch a ride on their bodies. They are also immune to Lyme Disease, as well as Rabies.
YES, WE DO NEED TO PROTECT OUR FLOCKS. Best way is to provide secure run areas.

WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Thought I'd update. Decided to recandled the eggs just in case. I estimated the age based on one egg I'd candled, which is apparently just rotten. I only candled it briefly when she was still on her nest so I didn't have time to check for more movement, and I guess I mistook the yolk moving for a baby. Our chickens are only hens, so there's no chance of fertilization, and she had TWO chicken eggs! The others aren't showing signs of life, but I'm going to leave them in a bit longer just in case