To many duck eggs

[JadeComputerGal]

We would love to have little ducklings! So if they are fertile I will probably start incubating them! This may be a stupid question but being new to having ducks I'm not sure...Is it possible that both of our duck are female even though we saw one on top of the other? Could they both be laying eggs in the same nest?

The second one looks fertile. The first doesn't but it could be an early egg. It takes a few days to see signs of development in a fertile eggs.

It's normal for females to mimic mating, especially in absence of drakes. However, if these two ducks are the same age and only one is laying, chances are it's a male. Of course if these are your only two ducks and you have fertile eggs, the other one has to be a drake. Does he have little feathers at the end of his tail that stick up or curl back toward his head? Is their a difference in their voices?

 

[My2petducks]

Neither duck has the drake feather but one does have a low raspy quack. Does the drake feather come in later? They are both about 6 months old now.

 

[My2petducks]

The second one looks fertile. The first doesn't but it could be an early egg. It takes a few days to see signs of development in a fertile eggs.

It's normal for females to mimic mating, especially in absence of drakes. However, if these two ducks are the same age and only one is laying, chances are it's a male. Of course if these are your only two ducks and you have fertile eggs, the other one has to be a drake. Does he have little feathers at the end of his tail that stick up or curl back toward his head? Is their a difference in their voices?

My 2 quackers! The one on the left is the one I'm pretty sure is our little girl. If they are both female is it normal for them to both be laying eggs on the same nest?

 

[JadeComputerGal]

My 2 quackers! The one on the left is the one I'm pretty sure is our little girl. If they are both female is it normal for them to both be laying eggs on the same nest?

Very common for them to lay in the same nest. Sometimes two ducks will even try to set on the same nest at the same time. Do their voices sound different from one another? A drake makes a lower volume, hoarse-sounding noise.

If you still aren't sure from the voices, one way to tell for sure is to either remove all the eggs from the nest or mark all the ones that are in there now with a pencil. If you get two eggs in a day afterward, you have two females.

 

[My2petducks]

Very common for them to lay in the same nest. Sometimes two ducks will even try to set on the same nest at the same time. Do their voices sound different from one another? A drake makes a lower volume, hoarse-sounding noise.

If you still aren't sure from the voices, one way to tell for sure is to either remove all the eggs from the nest or mark all the ones that are in there now with a pencil. If you get two eggs in a day afterward, you have two females.

Yes, their voices do sound different. One is definitely lower and hoarse sounding, doesn't really quack like the other one. Could he be a male without the drake feather?

 

[JadeComputerGal]

Yes, their voices do sound different. One is definitely lower and hoarse sounding, doesn't really quack like the other one. Could he be a male without the drake feather?

Entirely possible. Some drakes never get them, and sometimes they come and go. One of my Call drakes lost his drake feathers months ago when he molted, and it still hasn't come back.

 

[My2petducks]

Entirely possible. Some drakes never get them, and sometimes they come and go. One of my Call drakes lost his drake feathers months ago when he molted, and it still hasn't come back.

I hope he's a he! We would like some babies and that one egg is definitely different from the others so maybe it is fertilized. You've been a big help, thank you Jade! I'll keep you posted on the progress of the eggs!

 

[JadeComputerGal]

I hope he's a he! We would like some babies and that one egg is definitely different from the others so maybe it is fertilized. You've been a big help, thank you Jade! I'll keep you posted on the progress of the eggs!

You're very welcome! If you're willing to incubate, you should probably get them out of there and into the incubator. They won't develop if your duck isn't reliably setting on the nest, and Pekins aren't known for their broodiness. It sounds like to me your little girl is only setting on them until she has something more interesting to do.

 

[TLWR]

If one is hoarse, you have a male and a female.
She's not sitting on the nest, so they are only getting the heat humidity of her sitting at night and what you have during the day - which right now is probably pretty darn close to what your duck will do sitting.
But.... the eggs will be developing at a different rate and will hatch at different times which makes things a bit more difficult.

If she has no desire to sit, she's probably not going to be the nicest to them as they hatch, so you will need to separate them from the adults and brood yourself.

If you have a few eggs that look like the 2nd you posted, try incubating, but I'd toss the rest and then if you want to hatch, collect and keep in a "cooler" place so they don't start developing just because it is flipping hot and humid outside lol

If I had a male in my flock, I'd be sure to collect eggs daily to prevent them from developing in the heat. I don't, so no issue.

 

[My2petducks]

Update....I'm pretty sure I have 2 females. We've been taking the eggs out of the nest and every morning there are 2, 1 in the nest and 1 by their pool. I've read that some ducks do lay more than 1 egg a day but it's not very likely and it would explain why we have so many eggs. Would it be safe to get a drake or would we need more females than just 2?