Should I let my broody mama incubate?

[LordDuckWings]

I have a female Buff Orpington duck and she has laid 21 eggs. I don't have an incubator, should I let her incubate or buy one? I check on them in the morning and they are a little cold, but they get warmer throughout the day. I don't see her sit on them during the day. I think she incubates them in the night, and I saw my male call duck mate her and they are definitely fertile. Will they live?
( Its 25 Celsius outside usually )

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

She doesn't sound like she's actively brooding. Sitting on them through the night but not the day I believe will kill the eggs. 21 is way to many for her to efficiently brood anyways and most would end up rotten. I personally would remove the eggs, and dispose of them, than start collecting them again if you think your duck will actually go broody, not all do.

I would remove the eggs as she lays them and store them in an egg carton fat side up at a 30 degree angle, rotate which end is higher daily. Store at 45-70 degrees for up to 10 days for best viability. If she goes broody, sits in the nest constantly day and night for more than 3-5 days you can return some eggs to her to brood. I wouldn't give her more than 10.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

I have a female Buff Orpington duck and she has laid 21 eggs. I don't have an incubator, should I let her incubate or buy one? I check on them in the morning and they are a little cold, but they get warmer throughout the day. I don't see her sit on them during the day. I think she incubates them in the night, and I saw my male call duck mate her and they are definitely fertile. Will they live?
( Its 25 Celsius outside usually )

If you've never used an incubator before let the duck sit on her own eggs.
It is not a part of human DNA for us to be born knowing how to hatch eggs.
In the future learning how to successfully incubate may be worth knowing. A book titled A GUIDE to BETTER HATCHING will help you greatly. The author is Janet Stromberg and it is available from Stromberg Poultry. At under $6 this book will soon pay for itself in baby chicks and I assume baby ducks as well.