Our first ducks egg - help

Sarynu

In the Brooder
Aug 31, 2020
18
31
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Sooo I am sure y'all have responded to this question countless times, I still need help!

Our oldest Pekin just laid her first egg in her temporary shelter. My five-year-old REFUSES to let us put it in the refrigerator and was very, very happy and proud of her Spider-Man.

We have Rouen's who are a little younger and the males are JUST beginning to get their green and gray feathers. It's been about two weeks of the molting/feather change.

Can young Rouen males fertilize an older Pekin's eggs? Or do they have to be older too?

Do we need to refrigerate the egg or is there a shelf life for leaving it out on the counter in a bowl?

If it IS fertilized, can leaving it out make it more likely that we'll see a baby duck or partial baby duck when we do decide to consume it?



Okay,

Thank you!!!!

I'm so happy to have joined your duck/chicken community. <3
 
Depending on how old they are they may have already reached sexual maturity. Young drakes can mate with older hens no problem, you're gonna get a hybrid if the egg is fertile. You can leave the egg in a space that's somewhat room temperature to cool. That being said the longer it is outside and not incubated, the lower the fertility rate of the egg gets. There will be no baby duck/embryo if you decide to consume it unless it has been incubated for a little bit.
 
1. How old are your Drake's? Rouen's normally reach sexual maturity at 6-7 months.

2. As long as your female Pekin is laying and your Drake's have reached sexual maturity the eggs can he fertile.

3. A freshly collected egg can be left out for up to a month, but I go no longer than 15-18 days personally.

4. If the egg is fertilized and you leave it out on the counter a duckling will NOT start to develop unless you keep your house temperature insanely hot lol duck eggs are normally incubated at 99-102 degrees for hatching.

5. I personally never recommend incubating eggs from hens that just started laying. Give it at the very least a couple months (I usually wait until they are almost 1 year old) as the first eggs usually have abnormalities which cause very low hatch rates and possible defects to the health of any ducklings that are lucky enough to hatch.
 

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