What is candling eggs and how do you do it?

[Quackers n milk]

What is candling eggs and how do you do it?can you touch the eggs is it ok will the mom duck still sit on them if I touch it I don't have an incubator the mom duck just lays on them

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

What is candling eggs and how do you do it?can you touch the eggs is it ok will the mom duck still sit on them if I touch it I don't have an incubator the mom duck just lays on them

Candling eggs is when you shine a bright light into an egg to view the inside. It's done at different points in the incubation process to assess development, and if certain problems are identified (blood ring, for example), the egg is removed from the incubator. There are several informational articles in the Learning Center about candling eggs, like this one: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/candling-pics-progression-through-incubation-of-chicken-eggs. Metzer Farms also has a duck egg-specific candling article here: http://www.metzerfarms.com/Candling.cfm.

If the broody is sitting on the eggs, I would leave them alone. A mama duck can be sensitive to being disturbed and could possibly abandon her eggs. What kind of duck eggs are they and how long has she been on them?

 

[Quackers n milk]

The parents are a drake and a Swedish blue, she has been sitting on them since the 8th or 9th of April.

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

The parents are a drake and a Swedish blue, she has been sitting on them since the 8th or 9th of April.

Assuming the drake is also a mallard-derived breed, it should take roughly 28 days for the eggs to hatch...if she's the only duck laying in the nest, then I'd expect the eggs to start hatching in about a week (when they hatch will depend on when they were laid, and she probably laid one a day). With my broodies, I just ensure that they have a secure place to incubate their eggs, including access to food, drinking water, and bathing water, and leave them be. If most of the eggs hatch and she abandons the nest, that's when I would candle the remaining eggs to see if they're still viable and if so, put them in an incubator to finish hatching; if you do this, though, you'll first want to be certain that she has actually abandoned the remaining eggs, and use care when handling because if they're rotten, they could explode and make a terrible mess.

Best of luck! Hope to see some photos of your new ducklings soon.