will ducks eat eggs like chickens some times will?

[Mom2Cool]

Hi all I have 2 silver appleyard ducks & I'm here in New Jersey where we've been like buried in snow the past couple of days. I had an egg disappear yesterday from a bunny hutch/coop that is open. The 2 ducks in question aren't a year old but over 6 months old & I've been waiting to see them start laying eggs too. I spotted an egg in the bunny hutch that they've been using but the chickens are in & out of all the time too. I had thought that the egg looked tan in color & these ducks are suppose to lay white eggs but I couldn't get all that close of a look at it & I didn't want to disturb the hens that looked to be looking for a place to sit & lay at the time. That was yesterday & I'd forgotten about it because we've had our hands full with other things & so hubby went out to see if he could now retrieve this egg & it's not there. Mean while earlier the ducks had gone into the chicken coop & had kinda bullied all the chickens out & he was actually witnessing them going nose to nose with a hen that was sitting like they were trying to bully her out of her spot & it occured to me maybe the ducks are stealing eggs???? is this possible? Is this why I haven't seen any of their own eggs are they eating them??? The ducks are actually pretty comical & I do love em but I didn't realize this might be an issue with them being in close proximity to the chickens. If they are eating the eggs the entire shell was gone too.... I don't think it's the chickens eating the eggs because we've never had that issue before & they've had many an opportunity. Anyway I thought I might check here to see what you all think. Thanks for any guidance.

 

[Willowbrook]

You mention the coop is "open." Would that mean that predators would have access? If so, you might have an egg-stealing opossum. They love eggs and often times will not harm the birds. They're just looking for a free meal.
As far as a duck eating an egg, I would say that any nutritionally deprived bird would, but I would not think that is your problem at all.

 

[Mom2Cool]

Quote:
Yes the bunny hutch is open & I thought a egg stealing predator too but hubby said there aren't any tracks leading to the enclosure etc. he'd looked real well & we have fresh snow all around it. though now that you're saying this I imagine that's why we haven't had any duck eggs because the ducks are out free from a locked coop at night ever since they were given the pond. They just wouldn't return to it at night & so I just left them be on the pond at night. Now with the pond frozen over & all the snow I've been putting them into the enclosure at night that is attached to the chicken coop. The bunny hutch was the original chicken coop inside the enclosure though the doors on the hutch allow air into the hutch & the ducks I set up with a place under the bunny hutch using bails of hay to block the wind etc. they love it down there & do use that at night & some times they'll just go in & use the bunny hutch itself. The door to the encosure is closed at night & would block predators which is why I put them in there so I could lock them in at night safe & technically they are locked in at night. It's open during the day the same way you'd open up a chicken coop in the morning. I imagine at dusk something could have sneeked in & swipped an egg, but we try really hard to be out there prior to night fall to lock them all up & last night hubby was out there a 5:30. Oppossums don't normally come out until night fall I don't think. Maybe he's just not seeing this egg.


LOL he just found *all of them* buried in the bunny hutch...... This breed is suppose to be broodie & so maybe this is what them being in the hutch itself is all about? They haven't been sitting in there though.

 

[goosedragon]

Quote:
Yes the bunny hutch is open & I thought a egg stealing predator too but hubby said there aren't any tracks leading to the enclosure etc. he'd looked real well & we have fresh snow all around it. though now that you're saying this I imagine that's why we haven't had any duck eggs because the ducks are out free from a locked coop at night ever since they were given the pond. They just wouldn't return to it at night & so I just left them be on the pond at night. Now with the pond frozen over & all the snow I've been putting them into the enclosure at night that is attached to the chicken coop. The bunny hutch was the original chicken coop inside the enclosure though the doors on the hutch allow air into the hutch & the ducks I set up with a place under the bunny hutch using bails of hay to block the wind etc. they love it down there & do use that at night & some times they'll just go in & use the bunny hutch itself. The door to the encosure is closed at night & would block predators which is why I put them in there so I could lock them in at night safe & technically they are locked in at night. It's open during the day the same way you'd open up a chicken coop in the morning. I imagine at dusk something could have sneeked in & swipped an egg, but we try really hard to be out there prior to night fall to lock them all up & last night hubby was out there a 5:30. Oppossums don't normally come out until night fall I don't think. Maybe he's just not seeing this egg.


LOL he just found *all of them* buried in the bunny hutch...... This breed is suppose to be broodie & so maybe this is what them being in the hutch itself is all about? They haven't been sitting in there though.

Ok just like chickens ducks will tend to fill a nest before they go broody and set on them all day and night. Ducks are smarter or less trusting then chickens so cover the eggs when they leave the nest to go around their day. When it is warm they might just use a little stray over the eggs so they aren't in sight. When it is cold they can really dig them in so they don't freeze on them during the day, I bet they are Keep them from freezing with their body at night.

 

[Mom2Cool]

Quote:
Yes the bunny hutch is open & I thought a egg stealing predator too but hubby said there aren't any tracks leading to the enclosure etc. he'd looked real well & we have fresh snow all around it. though now that you're saying this I imagine that's why we haven't had any duck eggs because the ducks are out free from a locked coop at night ever since they were given the pond. They just wouldn't return to it at night & so I just left them be on the pond at night. Now with the pond frozen over & all the snow I've been putting them into the enclosure at night that is attached to the chicken coop. The bunny hutch was the original chicken coop inside the enclosure though the doors on the hutch allow air into the hutch & the ducks I set up with a place under the bunny hutch using bails of hay to block the wind etc. they love it down there & do use that at night & some times they'll just go in & use the bunny hutch itself. The door to the encosure is closed at night & would block predators which is why I put them in there so I could lock them in at night safe & technically they are locked in at night. It's open during the day the same way you'd open up a chicken coop in the morning. I imagine at dusk something could have sneeked in & swipped an egg, but we try really hard to be out there prior to night fall to lock them all up & last night hubby was out there a 5:30. Oppossums don't normally come out until night fall I don't think. Maybe he's just not seeing this egg.


LOL he just found *all of them* buried in the bunny hutch...... This breed is suppose to be broodie & so maybe this is what them being in the hutch itself is all about? They haven't been sitting in there though.

Ok just like chickens ducks will tend to fill a nest before they go broody and set on them all day and night. Ducks are smarter or less trusting then chickens so cover the eggs when they leave the nest to go around their day. When it is warm they might just use a little stray over the eggs so they aren't in sight. When it is cold they can really dig them in so they don't freeze on them during the day, I bet they are Keep them from freezing with their body at night.

Oh thank you for this & now these eggs are not going to be furtile I believe I have 2 females & so can I switch out the unfurtile for furtile the same way I would with a chicken? So that say in a week I put some furtile in there? This would be a LOT easier than having to hatch out my own or intergrading new ducklings into the yard......

& this would really explain them being a bit more confrontational with the chickens too I guess huh? I had a feeling this might be the case with them going broody but my BR hens when they go broody they do not move from the moment they sit on 1 egg. I usually mark the eggs I slip under them after a few days & I'll slip the one she's on out so they don't hatch with a huge difference in time...

Anywy thanks for the feed back I love this web site for this very reason...