Will they ever hatch?!?

[fowlmom]

I have two Swedish hens. We started letting them keep their eggs around the end of May (wish I had been paying more attention) and once there was about 10 eggs one of the hens started brooding constantly. We ended up with a total of 21 and then the other hen started brooding constantly. That was about 2.5 weeks ago. I am wondering when exactly the incubation period started for these two since they were still adding eggs before they both started brooding. In the last week they have kicked 4 eggs out and poked holes in them, 3 had nothing in them, but one had a partially formed duck. I am very impatiently waiting for something to happen LOL. I don't want to leave them in there too long, but I don't want to jump the gun. I can't candle them because they will not let you anywhere close to the nest. We were thinking that if they don't hatch by July 4th we would get rid of them?

 

[Shadrach]

I have two Swedish hens. We started letting them keep their eggs around the end of May (wish I had been paying more attention) and once there was about 10 eggs one of the hens started brooding constantly. We ended up with a total of 21 and then the other hen started brooding constantly. That was about 2.5 weeks ago. I am wondering when exactly the incubation period started for these two since they were still adding eggs before they both started brooding. In the last week they have kicked 4 eggs out and poked holes in them, 3 had nothing in them, but one had a partially formed duck. I am very impatiently waiting for something to happen LOL. I don't want to leave them in there too long, but I don't want to jump the gun. I can't candle them because they will not let you anywhere close to the nest. We were thinking that if they don't hatch by July 4th we would get rid of them?

You don't mention a rooster so are the eggs fertile?

 

[fowlmom]

You don't mention a rooster so are the eggs fertile?

They are Swedish ducks and we do have two drakes so I'm assuming at least some are fertile.

 

[chickens really]

I'd take the one Hen out. Generally it doesn't work well with two Hens on one nest.

 

[fowlmom]

I'd take the one Hen out. Generally it doesn't work well with two Hens on one nest.

Can I ask why? What happens with two hens?

 

[chickens really]

Can I ask why? What happens with two hens?

Well sometimes fighting or killing of the babies happens ..Totally up to you. I just would never try it.

 

[cmom]

I had a chicken do the same thing. She started out with 6 eggs under her that I was going to let her hatch. When I checked a few days later there were 18 eggs under her. I took the eggs and put them in my incubator and hatched them out.

 

[fowlmom]

Well there were two more eggs kicked out yesterday. One had nothing in it but the other did have a small fetus (can that be used in duck terms?). I think we are down to a dozen or less now, she really wouldn't let me look, tried to beak me lol. Chickens Really I think was on to something. The one who started brooding first seems to have taken back over the nest. I wonder if she was kicking eggs out because of the ones the other hen laid, even though she accepted them at first? I do not have a way to separate them at the moment. We need to build a new duck area and that will have separate nesting areas in it. My husband just decided to bring 10 baby ducks home one day, so we have them in our outside parrot aviary, has not been ideal to say the least.

 

[AquaDuck]

Having broodies sit on eggs with different stages of development are unfortunate. When some of them start to hatch, mom will eventually leave the nest and the rest of the eggs.

I really would candle the eggs if I were you, and mark the different developments on the eggs. Do it at night, sneak in quietly with a flashlight and work slowly by removing one and one egg, then putting them back after you've marked them. Wearing gloves would be good too...
This way you got something to work from. You can take out the duds and leave the rest to both moms, or separate the moms and let one get the near-finished ones, and the other hen the less developed ones.

 

[fowlmom]

Having broodies sit on eggs with different stages of development are unfortunate. When some of them start to hatch, mom will eventually leave the nest and the rest of the eggs.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding everything I've read so far, but they laid them at the same time, every day, an egg apiece. They both stopped laying eggs at the same time too. One hen started brooding first though, on all the eggs, and then the other one started and they have shared one nest since. The other one just didn't seem interested at first. So wouldn't all of the eggs be at the same stages? I may be asking a really stupid question but I am new at this. I need to get something to candle the eggs. I tried to with a couple last night with a flashlight but it didn't go so well. Both of them looked totally dark except for the air sac in one end of the egg.