OMG I am so excited !!!!!!

[ProudRedneck]

My 2 cents worth of thoughts:
I realize that you find it hard but you need to stop thinking of every egg as a potential duckling.
Collect daily until spring. I know it is warmer where you are but for many of us it is way to late to even consider letting poultry hatch eggs.
If you find it difficult to use the eggs yourself, consider selling them. If you don't wash them, they can be stored on the counter for several weeks. Then you can sell by the dozen.
Late spring you can start watching for any broody behaviour. Date every egg. Brooding is when she rarely leaves the nest, and then only for food, water, and swimming if you have a pool. She does not need these provided inside coop. Remove any eggs that are more than a week old. I stand to be corrected, but I think she will stop adding to the clutch if broody. Hatch date is determined by when she goes truly broody but can be more or less days than expected. We'll help you out with that.
You also need to consider what you are going to do with the results. Lets imagine that of your first batch, 10 ducklings had hatched. Do you plan to keep another 10 ducks? What happens if most of them are drakes? I can't imagine you would be prepared to eat any, but are you going to be able to sell them?

Thank you for the advice and all the absolutely valid and necessary hypothetical questions. I promise I have asked them to myself and well, what you see here online up to now is the back and forth struggle of conflicting thoughts in my head being written in black and white.

I have somewhat gotten beyond thinking about every egg being a possible baby but not in every way. I went through cancer that robbed me of being able to have another child, at an age I wasn't ready to call it quits yet. As a result, it left me with PTSD so I am trying my best to work through it and not project my feelings to being Daffy's. I have to admit that is quite difficult to do when I am literally watching her pace the yard, very unsettled, trying to find where her last egg she laid is so she can lay her next one with it. It looks like how I feel continuing with life, every day just frantically wondering what happened, what do I do now, and at some point I have made it another day (she lays a new egg to start again) only to wake up and the whole process starts over. Then, taking them away and in no uncertain terms telling her she can't be a mom when that's all she knows (instinctually) just hits way to close to home for me.

Daffy has been my reason for getting out of the bed, has kept me company when I was in the peak of my depression and have felt so alone, that I struggle with feeling like I am betraying Daffy by forcing her to go through what I am forced to deal with.

• I know I want to keep at least 3 of her offspring (male or female, I will make the necessary arrangements to make this happen)
• I am in the process of building a bigger house & run currently but, I have already thought about the possibility of having to build a second one to keep the offspring I choose to keep, and their dad from mating if hens, from fighting if drakes
• I know that I can't keep them all
• I know that if I let her hatch any that I will not eat any of them (you are correct in that assumption) so I will have to be okay with selling them or giving them away.
• As long as it's not one of her first ones, I won't have a problem sharing them with others to enjoy.
• I believe that after having a few of her babies I will be okay with taking the eggs because I believe my mental hang up is that as of now she isn't having a chance to be a mom.
• I don't think I will have a problem eating the eggs later on but only after she's become a mom. I personally feel like I have no right to benefit from her efforts of laying these eggs before she does.
  • However, I think I am ok with "celebrating" her efforts with a birthday cake by using these most recent 3 eggs she's laid. Afterwards, if SO wants them to eat, then that's on him. I still will have to wait for her to be a mom first before I feel like I would be willing to try one.
  • I don't feel distressed by the idea of selling the eggs or giving them away to others that will put them to good use.
• This list are things I believe are true as of today and may change without warning or reason

 

[ProudRedneck]

#30 laid yesterday on 11/14

 

[ProudRedneck]

#31 laid today in the back corner of the property

 

[ProudRedneck]

SO made the cake we discussed with a few of Daffy's most recent eggs. He decorated it so there was no doubt we were using them as a celebration and in honor of Daffy's hard work.

#28, 30, and 31 were the chosen ones.

 

[DukesDucks]

Very cute cake. Duck eggs can last several weeks on the counter and longer in the frig. I hope you are keeping track of how old your eggs are, and disposing of old ones. Trust me - you do not want the smell of a spoiled egg.

 

[ProudRedneck]

Very cute cake. Duck eggs can last several weeks on the counter and longer in the frig. I hope you are keeping track of how old your eggs are, and disposing of old ones. Trust me - you do not want the smell of a spoiled egg.

SO chuckled and said thanks.

I have a spreadsheet that I keep all the details documented in that corresponds with the # on the egg.