What should I do?

[jaimie13]

My Pekin has produced 6 eggs at first it was one everyday. She was sitting at first but I have not seen her sitting anymore and she has not laid in a week or maybe a little longer. One egg she removed from the nest last night so I am assuming it is dead. We are wanting babies so should I remove all the eggs? Will that make her start laying again and then I guess I need to purchase an incubator any advice would be great!

 

[rebrascora]

I don't know about ducks, but chickens will usually come into lay and lay for a few weeks before they go broody. If you think about birds in the wild, they will lay a clutch of eggs in a nest and THEN sit on them. If they start sitting when they lay the first egg, then by the time the last egg is laid the first egg will already be incubated for at least a week.... which means the first chick will hatch a long time before the last... this would be a big problem for the mother bird, particularly ground nesting birds that need to move to evade predators.

I have a hen that lays in the nest boxes for a few weeks and then makes a secret nest, lays an egg a day in her nest for 14 days. She is on and off that nest just long enough to lay it. Then, when she has her clutch of 14, she suddenly sits tight.

I would wait until your duck is in a good routine of laying eggs and then stops laying and is clearly committed to sitting day and night for a couple of days before you let her have a clutch to hatch. If she is still laying, then she is not ready to be broody.

Regards

Barbara

 

[jaimie13]

I just walked out there to candle the egg she removed and it was full except clear on top. Does that mean fertile? Also she was sitting when I went out there so that's good.

 

[rebrascora]

The way to check if it is fertile is to crack it into a dish and see if it has a bulls eye in the yolk. There are other posts with photos of this on the forum which I will try to find for you. Obviously the egg cannot then be further incubated, but can be scrambled and fed back to the duck.
It is too early to tell by candling in my opinion especially if she has not been sitting tight for several full days and nights. All eggs have an air sac in the blunt end whether they are fertile or not. If they are fertile and they have started to incubate, they will start to develop a network of blood vessels first.
I assume you do have a drake. Have you seen them mating?

When you say, "she was sitting at first but I have not seen her sitting anymore" what do you mean? She was sitting for a few days or perhaps you just saw her sitting for an hour or so each day, whilst she was laying each day. Once she stops laying and sits day and night and does not want to get off the nest even when you try to lift her off, that is when she has gone broody. Until then, you are just wasting eggs leaving them in the nest. It might be best to get some fake eggs and leave them in a nest as having a nest full of eggs will encourage a hen to go broody, but she has to have the inclination to it in the first place.

Regards

Barbara

 

[rebrascora]

Hopefully the link below will work and you will have more idea of what you are looking for as regards fertile eggs

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/16008/how-to-tell-a-fertile-vs-infertile-egg-pictures

Regards

Barbara

 

[jaimie13]

The way to check if it is fertile is to crack it into a dish and see if it has a bulls eye in the yolk. There are other posts with photos of this on the forum which I will try to find for you. Obviously the egg cannot then be further incubated, but can be scrambled and fed back to the duck.
It is too early to tell by candling in my opinion especially if she has not been sitting tight for several full days and nights. All eggs have an air sac in the blunt end whether they are fertile or not. If they are fertile and they have started to incubate, they will start to develop a network of blood vessels first.
I assume you do have a drake. Have you seen them mating?

When you say, "she was sitting at first but I have not seen her sitting anymore" what do you mean? She was sitting for a few days or perhaps you just saw her sitting for an hour or so each day, whilst she was laying each day. Once she stops laying and sits day and night and does not want to get off the nest even when you try to lift her off, that is when she has gone broody. Until then, you are just wasting eggs leaving them in the nest. It might be best to get some fake eggs and leave them in a nest as having a nest full of eggs will encourage a hen to go broody, but she has to have the inclination to it in the first place.

Regards

Barbara

I posted a picture of both of my ducks earlier yesterday and was told one was a drake. When I saw her sitting it was just for short periods of times. But this morning she was sitting when I walked outside but now is not and has not laid eggs in over a week now. She had 6 eggs but removed one last night and did not return it to nest as of now.

 

[rebrascora]

It really doesn't sound like she is ready to be broody yet, from what you have said.

Once she is ready, she will sit on the nest day and night and only leave for about half an hour every day or sometimes only every other day and when she does get up, she will probably run around like a mad thing and grab a bite to eat and a quick bath and leg stretch and then run back to the nest to keep the eggs warm.
Getting into the nest and sitting but not laying and then getting off after an hour or so, is just an indication that she is not really into a laying routine yet. I would say she has quite a long way to go yet before she goes broody. But that's just my opinion.

Barbara

 

[jaimie13]

Thank you. I was just confused since she stopped laying. I used a flashlight on the egg she removed earlier and this is what it looked like.

 

[rebrascora]

Yes, I looked through your other posts and saw that picture. How long had she been sitting on that egg and had she sat day and night or just a few hours here and there. You don't seem to understand what I'm telling you about a broody hen/duck sitting. She might have stopped laying for a number of other reasons apart from being broody, but if she isn't committed to sitting on eggs day and night for an extended period, then sge just isn't ready to be a mom yet, regardless of whether the eggs are fertile or not.... but you cannot tell anything from that picture of the egg in my opinion. The air sac at the bottom doesn't mean anything and you can't really see anything else. Sorry.

 

[jaimie13]

Ok thank you