Old fashioned Broody thread for ducks 2013 edition

[Buckas]

Francine got off her nest just a few min. ago and I picked up the three eggs to "check" them. I did not candle them (I will though) what am I looking for specifically and do I need to candle them in a dark room?( I hope that is not a dumb question) I held them all to my ear to listen for any peeping but I didn't hear a thing. The eggs are light colored and I can definitely see a dark baby? in them and when I turned the egg the contents shifts, I don't want it to sound like it voluntarily moves, it just shifts. The eggs smell fine and the shells look good. I will rummage through her nest again and try to find out why the dang flies are so thick, I guess after nesting in one spot for this long there will be a stench from all the poops so maybe that is the death smell. Does it sound like the eggs should have hatched by now, its been at least 29 days. Francine caught me messing in her nest and was gasping in disbelief, I feel terrible every time she catches me, I'm sure if I take the eggs away she will be devastated. Thank you for your responses.

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

Candling. Yes to dark room. Check this link for pics and stages. http://www.metzerfarms.com/Candling.cfm

Personally, I wouldn't worry about 29 days, it has taken up to 35 here.

I have read that it is not advisable to candle during the last week of development because the process of candling can harm the late-stage-developing embryos. So you might be smart to wait until day 31.

... But Buckas, normally a broody duck will keep her nest area quite clean. If you've got bad smells coming from the nest, something is up. And please forgive me if this seems harsh, but you really need to identify and remove whatever it is that smells icky because you definitely don't want ducklings hatching into conditions that aren't good.

One last thing. Your duck can not count. So if you feel the need to remove a few eggs, she won't know any different. My girl with the hatch last week had 32 eggs. Was she happy when I was in her nest ? Of course not. But as long as she had eggs to return to, she was fine.

 

[Buckas]

Thanks Holly, 32 is fabulous and I can't even imagine my stress level if Francine had 32 eggs under her! That completely eases my mind about them not hatching right now. So, perhaps I will hold off on the candling just in case. That whole messing with their development is a huge reason I haven't picked the eggs up until today. I have thought about cleaning her area to see if that helps and just figured it would stress her out too much, but I am going to do that right now. I suppose she can't count but if I had even one egg out and she returned and began sitting how in the world would I get that egg back under her!! I will have to admit her behavior is quite intimidating and I may be stuck sitting on that egg

. Thanks for the link and the help!

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

I removed eggs from that clutch of 32... That was just too many-- she couldn't even cover them all. So out of 32, she hatched 6 ducklings.

Does she leave the nest to get her bath? That is when I will typically go in for housekeeping. Remember, she doesn't have teeth, so while she's trying to intimidate you, there really isn't all that much she can really do. My son's hypothesis is that in the wild, ducks and their eggs would be so vulnerable to predators, that's the reason why they lay as many eggs as they do.

Lastly, about candling toward the end, it gets hard to see inside as the embryo grows. That last week of development, typically all I'm looking at is the size of the air sac. It should be getting much smaller and should occupy almost half of the egg toward the end.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Thanks Holly, 32 is fabulous and I can't even imagine my stress level if Francine had 32 eggs under her! That completely eases my mind about them not hatching right now. So, perhaps I will hold off on the candling just in case. That whole messing with their development is a huge reason I haven't picked the eggs up until today. I have thought about cleaning her area to see if that helps and just figured it would stress her out too much, but I am going to do that right now. I suppose she can't count but if I had even one egg out and she returned and began sitting how in the world would I get that egg back under her!! I will have to admit her behavior is quite intimidating and I may be stuck sitting on that egg

. Thanks for the link and the help!

Do you have any food grade DE? you can sprinkle that around and even in the nest to help with smell and wetness. And they can be intimidating but they get over it pretty quick so you just do it.this is what you'll see when candling http://wildliferehabber.com/sites/default/files/wr_duckeggchart.jpg

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

I like those pics At that link ML!

 

[Buckas]

My husband and I cleaned the area around her as close to the nest as we could. The smell is still faint to me but I think the flies will die down. Since Francine was on the nest we didn't bother her and hopefully tomorrow when she ventures out we can sneak in and do a quick nesting material change.
Miss Lydia what is DE?
I hung up some fly paper in a safe secure area close to her too, that might help. 2of her eggs were visible while we were cleaning and one of them definitely has life!! I could see the dark matter inside the egg moving. Keeping my fingers crossed it will be a girl.

 

[Miss Lydia]

My husband and I cleaned the area around her as close to the nest as we could. The smell is still faint to me but I think the flies will die down. Since Francine was on the nest we didn't bother her and hopefully tomorrow when she ventures out we can sneak in and do a quick nesting material change.
Miss Lydia what is DE?
I hung up some fly paper in a safe secure area close to her too, that might help. 2of her eggs were visible while we were cleaning and one of them definitely has life!! I could see the dark matter inside the egg moving. Keeping my fingers crossed it will be a girl.

Looking forward to seeing some ducklings... DE diatomaceous earth [Food Grade only] TSC carries it and some feed stores you can also order online but shipping is outrageous

 

[Buckas]

I just don't know now... This morning we found a baby, outside the shell (no shell) and it still had a yolk sac connected to it. It was dead of coarse and stunk something horrible. I grabbed the last two eggs out and took them inside to candle. I couldn't see any light shinning through the eggs or anything that matched the pics on the links posted. Perhaps my light wasn't bright enough?? the room was definitely dark. I did put the eggs back however because I just don't know

. My guess is that the egg I saw life in is the one I found dead this morning. I am puzzled by the "lack" of development though, any thoughts? I figure I will continue to monitor Francine and the last two eggs until the end (whenever that may be). I'm bummed out but not ready to throw the towel in. I made sure to clean her nest of all yuckiness just in case...
I honestly don't think any thing is going to happen with those last two eggs but I will give it some time as long as Francine is fine.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I just don't know now... This morning we found a baby, outside the shell (no shell) and it still had a yolk sac connected to it. It was dead of coarse and stunk something horrible. I grabbed the last two eggs out and took them inside to candle. I couldn't see any light shinning through the eggs or anything that matched the pics on the links posted. Perhaps my light wasn't bright enough?? the room was definitely dark. I did put the eggs back however because I just don't know

. My guess is that the egg I saw life in is the one I found dead this morning. I am puzzled by the "lack" of development though, any thoughts? I figure I will continue to monitor Francine and the last two eggs until the end (whenever that may be). I'm bummed out but not ready to throw the towel in. I made sure to clean her nest of all yuckiness just in case...
I honestly don't think any thing is going to happen with those last two eggs but I will give it some time as long as Francine is fine.

I'm sorry. other than yolk sac still attached did it look like a full term duckling? Francine probably ate the shell they do that. Shell could have accidently gotten stepped on and cracked and that's the reason yolk sac wasn't absorbed. I hope for some ducklings still. By now ducklings are taking up most of the shell so all you'll see other than air sac is darkness. where was air sac and how was it positioned?