substituting chicken eggs and taking my Pekin's eggs to hatch

[bernie131]

I am trying to save the Pekins duck eggs from predators. I have been going to the college pond for years to feed her and the white gander that died in my arms. Now(Shorty) her name has a mallard that she hangs with and she is laying eggs. I have found several shells and something is eating her eggs so I took them and replaced them with large farm fresh eggs (brown) and I was wondering if she knows what I am doing. If I leave them there they will get eaten. The goose used to protect her and the other ducks from the Canadian geese that flies in all the time.I need some info on what I should be doing,.. I have 16 eggs right now but have not put them under the light to try to hatch them.
Also there are two cracked ones,..one have an indentation and I wondered if I should open it to check if they are fertilized or try to save it??
Last year she laid 25 eggs and none of them were fertilzed,..Does one dose do it for all the eggs or does the drake keep up the mating?
I could leave the rest of the eggs she is laying to she if she will sit in them and try to hatch them and I could start the process here at home when she starts brooding ??
I really need some advice on what to do,..please??

 

[chickens really]

I would not interfere ...But you can try and Hatch them in an incubator if you want?....She might never go broody so she will never hatch out her eggs....You would need to remove all the old eggs so you can date the newest ones because they lose fertility after about 10 days...Or remove all the eggs and bring home the collected eggs place in an egg carton and tilt back and forth daily till you collect enough in ten days to incubate...Candle 10 days after incubation to see if they are viable....?

Best wishes...

 

[bernie131]

Thank you,..I have been dating them,..so far I have 17 eggs so I better start incubating them,..right? I have been washing them every few days because I read they are porous and putting them in egg cartons. I will not take anymore eggs so I can see if she is going to lay on them but if she don't I will keep checking everyday to see if the critters are getting them,..like before,...I go a feed her everyday and leave 6-8 bowls of seed for her and her Mallard boyfriend because the Canadian geese try to eat it also,..I usually stand there while "Shorty and Rocky" eats and chase off the geese until she is full,..I throw bread to the geese to keep them busy while they eat,..ANY information,..advice you can give me I greatly appreciate it. Should I crack one to see if it is fertilized? One has a crack and two of them have a small indentation but they candle clear,..one had a whole and it went bad,..Is it possible for a small cracked one and the indented ones can hatch?

 

[chickens really]

No...The cracked ones or damaged ones are toast........Do not wash the eggs you are getting rid of the protective bloom from the Hen......
Hmmm?....Im thinking?......lol...Painfully too... ..

Right,......after 10 days they start to lose fertility.......17 days the older ones are usually done and no good...


Shannon

 

[chickens really]

Yes.......Also you can take one and look for a bullseye after you crack it into a bowl......

 

[bernie131]

I have started the incubation process,..temp 99.5 to 101,..right,..humidity 45% at first then eventually to 75% to 90%,..??
start with them on their sides for the first 24hrs,..do I turn them and how often?. Do I ever include water bath?
Please tell me all the necessary things,..I want this successful so bad!!

 

[chickens really]

What incubator are you using first off..

 

[chickens really]

Here is a better hand at helping.
@Pyxis

 

[chickens really]

Or @WVduckchick

 

[chickens really]

Or RavynFallen