Straight Run and Eggs

[TaraontheCoast]

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Aw thanks, but I'm located in California.

 

[poultrypatch]

OK, I have to ask ! How do U sex a baby WH ??? I just got 5 from Holderreads...2 look bigger then the other 3. They just turned 2 wks today. All are adorable.
Thanks for answer...
Liz
MA

 

[TaraontheCoast]

Hopefully someone can answer that sexing question for you, as I have no idea.

Has anyone had experience with having only drakes? If it's a concern that they'll be fighting with one another w/no females present, maybe I should try for only hens and just give away their eggs.

Can anyone speak to when a duckling officially "forms" in the egg? I think I read somewhere that at 7 days, they have eyes...If I were to grab the fertilized eggs w/in a day or so of hatching, would my "omg I'm giving away a fertilized, baby duckling duck egg for someone to eat!" fears be less valid?

 

[1lpoock]

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Well with ducklings you can sex by their bill color, dark for male, light pink for female. However, this can only be done with day olds. With two week olds you can vent sex, or wait until they start quacking.

 

[maralynn28]

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So after day old, you can't tell? One of my WH duckling beak has been darkening, almost all gray now! They are just over 1 wk old.


Tara, I think you'd want to get just laid eggs anyway for freshness, but I think the sooner the better to avoid those fears.

 

[chickboss]

On the fertile egg issue. You can tell if an egg is fertile because it will have a small white circle on the yolk. The white stringy stuff is in both fertilized and unfertilized eggs. While a fertilized egg is inside the mother it starts the process of cell division, hence the white spot on the yolk, but once layed, and cooled it goes into a phase where the growth is suspended and will not recommence until it is either restarted by the hen offically sitting on the eggs, or put into an incubator. This is why a hen can lay eggs for many, many days but all the chicks/ducklings hatch at the same time.

In terms of eating them they are perfectly fine. Many egglaying breeds of both chickens and ducks rarely if ever go broody (meaning they don't get the urge to sit their nests) though some could. If yours follow the typical tendency to not sit, then these eggs really have no potential unless you plan on incubating them yourself. Some will get broody regaurdless of the overall tendency for the breed, so to ensure that you are not eating an egg that has begun to grow, you should collect eggs daily. If you don't and run into a nest with a large number of eggs, you could candle them to see if they are developing. Also, if the nest is lined with feathers the hen is likely sitting, or getting ready to.

Hope this helps.

 

[10ducks]

One more thing about the white circle on the egg that show that it is fertile... it's subtle, you have to look for it. I doubt anyone who isn't actually looking for it would even notice it. At least they'd have to be more observant than I! Here's the link to a photo someone posted on this site. Plenty more on Google images.

http://gallery.backyardpoultry.com/data/500/fertilised_egg_Small_.JPG

 

[poultrypatch]

1lpoochk............Thanks for the answer ! Now if I can just make them regress back a couple of wks. )
Liz
Ma

 

[maralynn28]

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Wow, that looks really neat! Kinda looks like a little spiral shape. Thanks for the info!