You all are going to think I'm nuts....but here goes. We had a terrible storm last night. We found 5 very large eggs and a partial nest blown out of a very high tree. 2 of the eggs were crushed beyond help, one still with yolk. 1 is intact. 2 were cracked. We didn't know what they were and figured they were probably gone anyway so we peeled the shell from one of the eggs and the baby chick started to peep. It's a duck. My guess is a wood duck as I don't know of any species of duck that nests so high in a tree, but it's not in a hole in the tree and there's no water nearby. I've seen wood ducks in the area a few times trying to get into large knot holes in mature oaks but nothing in our yard. Here's my question....would the ducks survive if the shells are cracked or opened? Two of them you can see the chicks and they're breathing and peep once in awhile. The intact one looks like it's starting to hatch on it's own with a small area pushed out and starting to crack. I've not seen a hen anywhere nearby, a good portion of the nest is on the ground and the original nest is over 20' up the tree, no way we can get the eggs back in the nest. We've raised ducks/chickens before, but it's been a long time and these are wild. I would like to see if we can bring them into the world then release them if possible. I've seen what to feed wood duck chicks on this thread, but would love any advice I can get. We are prepared to lose them, but we want to try. See...nuts, but sincere. Thanks!
