Newbie Duck Egg Question....

[Andrea PNW]

Hi duck crew - I was super excited the other day to find that Barbe my young Cayuga hen had laid her first egg smack in the middle of the duck house (YAY!). Come to find out two days later that in fact that wasn't her first egg - it was her 10th and she buried them so well in the straw I completely missed them. Damn near a clutch but she hasn't been broody at all and comes running out of the duck house every morning and is out all day until i put them to bed. She and Ed are def mating so I expect these are fertilized eggs.

Now here is my question: I assume she's sitting on them at night and keeping them warm when she's in there, so is there a chance that these eggs may have started to develop? Or is the fact that she leaves them in the cold during the day negate that? It's been about mid 30s to mid 40s consistently for the past month - entirely too cold on their own but i just don't know if her keeping them warm at night might change anything. I immediately put all of them in the fridge as soon as I washed them.

Am I going to crack one open and see a partially formed duckling or is that ridic? Should i just discard these 10 just in case and start fresh?

thank you thank you!

AC

 

[Cassandra Lana]

I don’t think there would be ducklings but You can check by candling the eggs

 

[cheezenkwackers]

I would not expect anything inside. I have missed a few before and they were still very taste! Also, just because they are mating does not mean they are fertile. Young males often take a few months before they produce fertile eggs. When you crack one open look at the size of the white spot on the yolk. A large spot, like the front egg, is fertile. A small spot, like the back egg, is not.

 

[Andrea PNW]

AMAZING