Wasn't Expecting Eggs this Winter!

[Sosalty]

Jeepers! I thought 'Scovy ducks didn't start laying in the winter. One of my 5+ month old girls was acting odd yesterday. Actually, she was the last one to take up wanting to be petted. Then yesterday, she was very calm and didn't dodge my hand; stood there getting scratched and petted a good minute, then stayed by my feet after I stopped. I recall them going in their duck pen in the mornings (they refuse to go in to spend the nites.) Moby Duck, the one that's not been staying close to the other 2, takes her am naps in the door of their doghouse within the coop. So, I was scanning the "How many eggs did you get today thread," and noticed some were getting winter eggs in mild weather. It dawned on me and I went out to check under the plastic doghouse. 4 eggs!

Questions:
1 With 4 in the straw, can I count on 'em all being good to bring in to eat? It's been 20's at nite and about 50f high in the day, probably 62 3-4 days ago.

2 I left 1 egg remaining in their nest. Was this the right thing to do?

3 Would it upset 'em if I gathered their eggs while they watched, in the future?

4 I'd like 'em to keep laying in the coop. Anything I can do to keep 'em from going elsewhere to hide their egg laying?

 

[DukesDucks]

You don't say your location but where I am it is unseasonably warm. My Muscovy ducks aren't laying and I don't expect any for months.

In order to protect your ducks from night time predators, you need to make them go into a secure coop where they can be locked in for the night. I suggest using something like a broom or pool noodles to slowly herd them in. It might take some time for them to get used to the new routine, but it is for their safety. They do not need food or water in the coop for the night.

Answers IMO
1. Since you don't know how long the eggs have been there, personally I would chuck them. You could try breaking them into a bowl to see how they look and smell before using them. My chicken eggs are very cold to frozen in the winter and I still use them.
2. and 3. Take all the eggs every day. Expect some possible reaction from ducks but you aren't harming them emotionally. You can consider leaving eggs once the weather is warm enough that ducklings can safely hatch and survive if that is what you want. At that point, mark each new egg with a date and return it to the nest.
4. If they free range, they will continue to hide nests.

 

[Sosalty]

Alabama. These duck hens are incredible divers and decent flyers. They dive under each other and go 75' under water in play. One heard me cutting brush down at the creek; that's 45 ft down over about 90 horizontal ft. and 250 ft from pond. She flew down to visit. From sitting in the creek, she flew upwards, looked me in the eye as she flapped by my head, all the way up, over her 5 ft high hay bale, where she could've stopped to rest but didn't, and then over the length of the pond. I appreciate the encouragement to pen 'em. Yet the only thing I'd accomplish trying to would be to earn their mistrust. Maybe someday they'll ease into staying overnight. The turkey door on pen opens at sunrise. They go in then for their morning nap. If I'm working in their pen, they visit me. I can feed 'em snacks during the day inside. Yet they stay far away, even if I put the snacks outside the pen door close to sunset. Whenever I trick 'em and close 'em in for the nite, they stay on the far side of the pond for the next several days. Otherwise, they are very tame and trusting. They were raised in the coop and are comfortable there, just prefer the water at nite. Oh, and there's no drake.

Thick shell, no off odor, we used 1 in a blackberry cobbler, nice brown crust.
Good to know I can collect all eggs and they'll not be emotionally scarred . I'm pretty excited about my ducklings becoming ducks!
Thank you DukesDucks.