This is my first time caring for ducks. We have 1 female and 2 males. We were excited when we found our first egg. We wanted to have little ducklings, and are learning the process. We have now counted 35 eggs in her nest. What do I do?
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A female can't lay more than an egg at day, and generally an egg takes no more than 30 days to hatch when properly incubated -- so chances are that many if not most of your eggs are not viable. Without more details about her behavior and your setup it's hard to say what's going on, but the general rule of thumb is that ducks like to mind their own business. (A female duck doesn't need a male duck in order to lay eggs, but without him those eggs will not hatch.)
Judy is correct.
Just leave the nest alone and see what happens as it appears some of the eggs are too old to hatch but the female will take care of her eggs.
Are your ducks in a pen or free range?
If she leaves the nest then she'll start a new nest if space is available.
There are people who would purchase the eggs from you, there is a market for them. I have a neighbor that sells Duck eggs. They have many, and they sell them $6 a dozen.
You dont have to do anything. The duck will sit on the eggs when the time is right and they will hatch.
First of all, you need to find out if your duck is laying eggs with embryo. You can break one egg and examine the yolk. If on the yolk you find a small bright spot with a dot in the middle - something like the letter "o", then this embryo and eggs from your duck are suitable for incubation.
From these 35 eggs, choose fresh ones: dip them one by one in water, those that remain on the bottom are fresh,
those that start to emerge little by little with a blunt end up are most likely a week old, those that swim near the surface are old.
Then examine the selected eggs. They should not have spots, bumps, cracks. Candle eggs www.youtube.com/
Duck eggs before incubation can be stored for 8-10 days at a temperature of 282-288 K with an air humidity of 75-80%, in a horizontal position. At temperature of 291-293 K, eggs are stored for no more than 5 days. It is better to periodically turn the eggs 180 degrees so that the yolk does not move and do not stick.
To get ducklings from eggs, you need a broody duck or incubator.
I don't know if your duck is sitting on eggs. Watch her.
You can try placing your duck on the eggs. First check whether the nest is comfortable and soft. Then place the duck on the eggs. Watch her. For 2 days, the duck should not be disturbed. On the third day, you need to carefully remove her from the nest for feeding and drinking. After another 2-3 days, the duck will go to eat herself. If, after feeding, the duck is in no hurry to return to the nest, then carefully seat her.
You can also hold the eggs in the incubator until the embryo appears, and then leave the duck to sit. Many ducks are more attracted to eggs with embryos.
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