will my muscovy duck eggs hactch ???

[Medusa M]

ive got a female white muscovy sitting on about 12 eggs layed by another female muscovy ,there is a male in the penn too, except i havent seen any succsesfull mattings taking place (as the male has never been around other ducks for around 5 years )though shes made a nest (of her own feathers) and has been sitting on them for about a week and a half ......

does this mean the eggs are fertile due to her sitting or will she sit on them anyway even if there not going to hatch

 

[Kadjain]

When a Muscovy goes broody they'll sit on anything fertile or unfertile. If you want to know if they are fertile or not you can candle them. If they are fertile it has been long enough that if you candled them you should see veins on the inside of the shell.

 

[TheSpeckledRoo]

Try shining a bright light through the shell of the eggs. If you see like spider webbing in the egg then it is fertile. If you shine your light through the egg and you don't see anything different then the egg is not fertile. This is called candling and it works on chickens. I am assuming it would work on your girls too. My chickens will go broody even though the eggs are not fertile. I just got a rooster though so i am hoping that changes

. I hope this helped a little, good luck!

 

[Medusa M]

Thank you all for your great answers ,I will now go and candle the eggs

 

[jdywntr]

Here is a link with some pics of candling. http://www.metzerfarms.com/Candling.cfm?CustID=150614

Your drake may need more time with the ducks before mating. I never see my drake breeding with the ducks but one of my girls hatched out 12 ducklings almost 2 weeks ago. So you never know.