Duck eggs not hatching

[mismomary]

We have a solo runner duck (used to have others but she's our last) and when she went broody a few weeks ago we bought some fertilised eggs and she has been sitting on them ever since.

But it has now been 31 days since she sat on the eggs and no hatching is happening. We aren't sure what to do. When should we call it a day take her off the eggs?

Can you candle them? I’d give it a few more days. Mine have taken an extra week to hatch before, I’ve got one mum who’s not on them enough in the first week or so and they develop really slowly, but most are fine in the end

You should candle them as pp suggests.

Oh that's encouraging about yours taking an extra week Danio. Yes we will attempt to candle today. DH was nervous about going near mama duck yesterday for fear of getting his hand bitten but today we will try and entice her out with food and nip in to candle the eggs. She's sitting on six of her own and six purchased fertilised eggs.

Fertilised eggs can be hit and miss ime. Absolutely candle them but I'm afraid I would have expected them to have hatched by now. What is mama duck like? Has she been pottering off? Is it her first brood? Keep us posted!

I'm not feeling very optimistic either Lime. Mama duck has built the most fabulous nest, only her head is sticking out and she is not for moving! So we aren't sure we can candle the eggs. She just isn't budging! And we don't want to stress her too much just in case. It's her first time sitting on eggs.

Well, she sounds like she's doing everything she can! Like PP said, they can be a bit flexible either way of the date. I understand completely about not distressing her... if you gave it until Tuesday or Wednesday I think you'd know either way and could just wear very thick pair of gauntlets and grab one to candle just in case?

Ok so as it happens I’ve got two ducks sitting on a tandem nest they’ve both laid eggs into. I first discovered the nest exactly 28 days ago but had no idea how long they’d already been sitting on it, at least a few days. Oh is convinced those two girls started disappearing up to ten days before so potentially could have been well over by now. I’ve just grabbed two of them to candle (and got bitten for my efforts 😂). One of the eggs looks all dark and not too good. It also smells a bit so that one’s a fail. The other one however, I could see pulsing veins and a very much living duckling who flapped its little wing at me. It looks to be at the very end stage so I’m definitely leaving that nest alone. There’s somewhere between 20-30 eggs between the two of them, so if there’s a living duckling in one of only 2 I checked, I’m certain there’ll be more. I’d leave well alone for now, it’s not an exact science. I remember keeping button quail eggs for FAR longer than the hatching time, I ended up throwing them in the bin. Imagine my horror when a few hours later I could hear little cheeping coming from the bin!

Dani how are your girls doing? How lovely that they have a tandem nest. One can keep the eggs warm while the other goes for a wander - very practical!

My mama duck came off her nest yesterday, she was wandering around her pen quacking, looking distressed. I fed her and closed the door to the house so I could quickly candle some eggs. I inexpertly candled five - four were dark but one had large veins, though there were no signs of life. I don't think these eggs are hatching and she knows it. But she has gone in again and is still sitting. I feel so sorry for her, all that effort.

We will let her sit a little longer, maybe a couple of days, before we take the eggs. DH very nervous about doing so... I told him about your binned quails Dani!

So still no hatching. Mums still on the nest and very hostile. I did go in today and grabbed 5 to candle (dad had a go at me today as well). 1 of the eggs clearly no good. 4 had good air cells on them, but couldn’t really see veins and there was no movement at all in any of them. The thing is I’ve had the same before with incubated eggs, I knocked the incubator off which was in a freezing shed. The eggs were a few days away from hatching and were absolutely freezing when I realised. Over the next few days there was no movement and the inside of the eggs looked completely bizarre, I can’t really describe the weird shapes inside of them. Also no movement and no veins. A few days later 3 ducks out of 6 eggs hatched alive and well. It’s really hard sometimes. I’ll also say that today’s candling involved me trying to lock myself in a linen closet where it was darkish and trying to do the candling with my iPhone because I lost my torch, and I really couldn’t see well. I’ve not completely lost hope. I can see you’ve got the same mindset as me!

Also I think the tandem nest has potentially caused the problem. I’ve tried to keep the eggs together but they do keep separating into two different nests. I’ve got one mum who is excellent and one who wanders off every 2 minutes to flirt with the boys and go for a swim. I think the good mum doesn’t know which nest to sit on and has been switching between the two. When I went in this morning the eggs were back in one big pile with the good mum sitting on them so hopefully she’ll stay like that 🤞

Also you’ve just jogged my memory that bad mum was still laying eggs when good mum was already on her nest, so there’s eggs in there maybe a week or so newer than the first ones that were laid so won’t even be due to hatch yet

That would explain it! So good news really? Fingers crossed for you, keep us updated

How did yours turn out op? I’m now on day 31 since finding a nest that I didn’t even know how long had been sat on. I was deciding whether to chuck them soon. Still can’t find my candler (got a new one coming today), but i just pulled 3 eggs and had another go with my phone. 1 egg was a fail, one egg I really couldn’t see. The third it took a while, but I could definitely see a couple of veins fluttering away. And as soon as I went to put it down I could hear a little duckling peeping inside!! I’m so excited after I thought they’d all died, I showed the kids the little egg peeping away so that’s them sat nest watching for the day 😂

Our mama is still sitting on her eggs. She's hopeful, we aren't. Next time we see she's out we are going to candle all eggs and remove all that are 💯 out. Poor girl.

Oh Dani I just saw you have a duckling inside one of your eggs! Whooohoooo!

First duck has half hatched out the shell. I wish I hadn’t disturbed the nest again but I couldn’t help it 🤦 it’s a really unusual crossbreed aswell. I thought by the colour of this egg (some are blue) this would be a fluffy yellow Welsh harlequin, but it’s mums a harlequin and it’s dad’s a Cayuga that’s been with them. The little duckling is jet black. There’s still two males in with them so I hope they don’t hurt it. The male harlequin has been really protective of the wife and nest, going for my ankles even when I put food in. I need to sit on my hands and leave well alone today

So sorry op, but it’s been such a long time for you that I’d pull all the eggs tonight. I’d spend a minimum of 2 mins candling each one before you throw them, but it has been a really long time now.

Is the condition of your female duck ok? You can buy fertilised eggs online for her to have another go, it’s crossed my mind to do that. I’m missing my females so much though I can’t wait for them to get off that nest, also I’m not ecstatic about increasing my flock, I was doing so after finding the accidental nest and feeling a bit emotional about my old ducks being mums

@Danioyellow it sounds beautiful!

Our duck is about four or five years old and in good health. We just candled her eggs, she was sitting on a clutch of five of her own (so unfertilised) and six purchased fertilised eggs. Five of the fertilised eggs have developed to various stages but none showing life. We've left her with the five and will order more today to sit on as she's still keen. She looks so lonely since our last rescue hen died.

Duck sitting on new eggs this morning. Can't believe she's going to sit there for another 29 days, will be keeping a close eye on her and whip eggs into incubator if need be.