Not sure where to post this??

[Ashley77]

So... I have 2 ducks. I have a Male and a female. The female we got last spring. She laid eggs consistently and would leave the eggs all through the coop up until around November. She stopped laying all through the winter, we just assumed she was done as we're really not sure how old she is (4 or 5?) Well my husband and I spent the day spring cleaning their coop out and she has tucked a nest in the corner and it's full of eggs!!! I have no idea how long it's been there but I'm pretty confident non of them are fertilized. Our male duck is snowflake the duck (if you Google him you'll see he just has no idea how to be a duck) I tried candling them just incase but I can't tell. She's also not sitting on them consistently. She sits on them all night and randomly throughout the day and they both get real mad whenever I go in the coop. And now my daughter has seen them and you know how that goes... Am I waisting my time??? Should I just take it down?

 

[Magnolia Ducks]

If you see nothing but the yolk when candling , probably not fertile. And probably too old for hatching. You could crack one and see if you see a bullseye.. Don't count Snowflake out. I swore my drake did not have any idea what the corkscrew was for. I have 5 eggs in the bator that say I was wrong.

 

[Ashley77]

If you see nothing but the yolk when candling , probably not fertile. And probably too old for hatching. You could crack one and see if you see a bullseye.. Don't count Snowflake out. I swore my drake did not have any idea what the corkscrew was for. I have 5 eggs in the bator that say I was wrong.

Thanks so much for the response, should I just take down the nest?? When would I be able to see the bullseye? And if they are by some miracle fertilized, shouldn't she stay on them???

 

[Magnolia Ducks]

It depends on how old they are. If you don't see veins already and they are more than 7 days old, they probably won't develop. I would probably clear the nest, get a little incubator and save up the next 3 eggs and pop them in as an experment. Unless you know which in the pile are less than 7 days old. Do any of them have veins? Also 7 is not a magic number, it just seems this is where hatchability drops way off. One member here hatch ed some balut eggs.

 

[Matthewstee]

I would get an Incubator, and try to save as many of the eggs as you can, and then put any future eggs she lays in the incubator.

 

[Magnolia Ducks]

Also Google fertile duck egg picture and you can see some pictures of the bullseye and candling charts. These are helpful. Spin the yolk of the cracked egg all the way around. Sometimes it's on the bottom.

 

[Magnolia Ducks]

Thanks so much for the response, should I just take down the nest?? When would I be able to see the bullseye? And if they are by some miracle fertilized, shouldn't she stay on them???

Sorry didn't answer your last question. What breed of duck is she? Lots of domestic duck have been bred for meat, eggs and colors. Most are poor broodys and poor mothers. Unless she's muscovy, she probably won't sit.

 

[Wezdin]

@Ashley77 I just watched the CBS video

 

[Magnolia Ducks]

@Ashley77 I just watched the CBS video

Me too. How very cute.

 

[humblehillsfarm]

I found this stash and didn't want to waste the eggs. I did the float test and the all floated so that indicated they were at least fresh. Before using them I cracked them into a bowl, did a whiff test, and made sure they looked fine and then ate them. I ate all 20! I did NOT give any of those away though. Just in case.