Questions for First Eggs

[CaneCorso311]

So i've got a pair of ducks that i wasnt expecting to be laying eggs until the weather warmed up. Well i found a couple eggs laying out in the open when i checked on them in the AM so i collected those and looked around for more and apparently she has been laying them in little crevices etc. i found a few here and there and it appear she had multiple nesting spots around the same area of yard as well as dropping a few in their house. I got excited and started collecting them all to eat, i left 3 at one of her nesting spots.

is there anyway for me to tell if she started incubating them, without a candle light or damaging the egg?

if they are not started incubating, can i put some of the eggs into her nest box that she never used, to try and get her to lay more in there?

can i take all the eggs from her different nest to put in 1 nest if she continues to lay them here and there to get her to incubate them?

if i can not put the eggs in a nest with her, can i incubate them and put the hatched ducklings out with mom?

if i continue to keep taking eggs will she keep laying through winter or will she only lay a certain ammount then stop and start laying more in the spring?

 

[Orca5094]

I'm not sure I'd eat them if I didn't know how long they've been out there. You CAN try to get her to lay in her nest box by putting the eggs in there, but if she doesn't go in there herself usually then that probably won't work. Probably best if you move them to the spot she's laid the most eggs in (or the most recent) in order to encourage her to finish laying there and possibly incubate. Alot of domestic ducks don't seem to like to incubate their own eggs, so if she doesn't decide to sit on them you can incubate them yourself. Only problem with that is you can not put the ducklings out with her after they hatch. She MUST incubate eggs herself or she will not accept ducklings. She won't see them as her own and will likely attack them.

The only way to tell if she's started incubating any of the eggs is by candling them, no other way around it. You can use a simple flashlight and a dark room to candle them, no need for any fancy egg candlers (I use an LED flashlight that's really bright). It doesn't seem likely that she's incubated any if she's been laying all over the place, though.

 

[CaneCorso311]

so she laid another egg this morning, leading me to believe that none are incubated. they are m/f ancona pair that free roam 24/7.

 

[CaneCorso311]

any questionable eggs i,d feed to the dogs, but im sure they are fresher then any at the store and i live in seattle so the temp shouldnt have spoiled any if that is even possible

 

[Orca5094]

How many eggs have you found so far? Good that she's still laying and they're in a cool climate, though. You might be safe.

 

[CaneCorso311]

20 including the 1 layed today

 

[Orca5094]

Wow! Ok, she's been laying for awhile now then. But that means that some of the eggs have been out there for over two weeks, that just doesn't seem safe to eat for me (even for your dogs, but I'm super paranoid). The difference with the eggs at the store being older is that they've been refrigerated since probably the day (or day after) they were laid. That keeps them absolutely safe from growing bacteria inside. This is just my opinion of course, but I wouldn't eat any of them. If you want to have some to eat I'd discard the ones she's laid so far and start anew so you know they are fresh. (Or try to get her to sit on some of these eggs and see what happens with them.)

 

[Sfraker]

Put the eggs in water to see if they are good to eat. If they stand on end use them right away. If they float throw them out. If they sink they are good to go.
If your weather hasn't been too hot they should be fine.