Oops!!

[duckmama84]

So, I have 5mo old Pekins and neither have a curled tail, and I -thought- they sounded the same, but I'm starting to think we might have a male and female. One of them started to lay eggs 6 days ago. We cracked one open today bc my fiancé started to worry we might have a boy and a girl, and ... well, is thi egg, or was it, fertilized?

Or an I freaking out for no reason? First time duck mama, so I'm a little panicked lol.

 

[duckmama84]

I should also mention, thats shredded wheat in the bowl, sorry just realized it looked gross.

 

[Bills vs Beaks]

LOL
There isn't really a way to tell if an egg is fertilized when you crack it. You have to incubate and candle at intervals and yadda yadda...
The yolk is anchored to the shell by these membranes that snap when you crack the shell. Its a common misconception and lots of people are fooled. Don't worry about it

Edit:

 

[duckmama84]

Whew, okay that makes me feel a lot better. We have four more eggs, but theyve been sitting on our counter for a few days. She didnt lay today, but we also just moved them into a new area, so maybe thats why? Should I incubate and rotate the next egg to see, or let her keep it?

 

[Bills vs Beaks]

I'm sorry but I don't understand. Let who keep it?
Sometimes ducks will skip a day or to, nothing to worry to much about.
And the eggs on the counter are good as long as they've been laid within a week(very conservative estimate. They probably keep a lot longer but we refrigerate ours.).
As for incubating, if you have only girls(which it sounds like, if they're both the same age and the other one doesn't have a curly tail, then they are both females) incubating them is useless.

 

[Bills vs Beaks]

Oh and eating fertilized eggs that aren't incubated yet is just fine.

 

[duckmama84]

I meant let the duck keep her eggs, instead of taking them right away. We'll just continue on as if we have two females, which hopefully is the case

 

[duckmama84]

And thank you!

 

[Bills vs Beaks]

Yeah take em away.
Your welcome

 

[dotknott]

http://horseshoe.two61.com/files/2013/04/fertile-eggs21.jpg

Take a look at that image. There is a way to ID fertilite eggs, but I can't really tell from your photo looking on my phone.

Why is having a boy and girl an issue?