I have this black and white duck. She made a nest in the bush near a lake, and laid one egg down in it. She left the egg though and came in to her coop like usual.
I think your duck is now afraid because of what happened to her previous eggs and will try to find a much more secluded area.
Sometimes you can 'watch' them to try and see where they are headed but they are smart and may just not go to their nest.
Hopefully, you can provide more security for her but most likely you're going to just have to be patient as if you keep hunting you may lead preditors to her nest.
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I found 7 duck eggs on the ground. My friends touched them but I did not. The next day I checked on them and they were gone. I was wondering since "What eats duck eggs?"
Snakes
Dogs love eggs of all kinds. So do foxes, possums, racoons, and birds of prey like hawks and owls.
I have a couple of Mallard ducks, they have never left my backyard since we have a big pond. This year she has laid so many eggs, but finally she has made a good nest and she laid 13 eggs, She has been sitting on them for 2 weeks now, but last night 3 were eaten. Normally they will abandon the nest, but she still sitting on her nest, a little frighten.
Should I move the eggs to to a chicken coop? Will she still sit on them after I move them? What is the best I can do, so no more eggs get eaten?
We live in Michigan and have foxes, raccoons, hawks, snapping turtles, and more :(
Thank you.
Do you have a wildlife rescue or aviary in your area? I would call them and see if they can help. The wildlife rescue in my town is really good and offers solutions to challenges like this. If you can't find it through Google, call your local town officials or even the police NON EMERGENCY number and see if they can get you hooked up with the right place.
My duck was thought missing for 3 days, but I found her last night sitting on 16 duck and 2 random chicken eggs. She is in a questionable spot and we have big dogs.
Can I move her and the nest into a sitting box and have her still care for them?You need to talk to someone who has experience with raising ducks. Is there a local farmer you could consult, or a government agricultural office that might help?
We had a duck lay one egg in our bark at work 2 days ago. The egg was completely exposed to the elements. We hadn't seen the mother duck until today when she came looking for her egg. We assumed she abandoned the egg, so we picked it up with rubber gloves, placed it in a warm towel and laid it in the sun for warmth.
The mother duck returned today, however we have her egg inside. If we place the egg back, will the mother return?The egg requires higher more consistent temperatures to survive so is certainly dead now.
Not really sure if she'll take the egg back but I did hatch one with a heating pad before. The mother was killed by the neighbors dog & it was the only one left.
Ducks lay "practice eggs" all over the place before they get around to building a nest. I don't know why.
You may return this egg to where you found it, but it may already be dead, depending on what temperature it reached while you had it in the towel or sitting in the sun. A certain level of heat initiates development of the duckling, and then to remove the heat will stop development so that the duckling will die. Incubation is not meant to begin until all the eggs have been laid and the mother is ready to incubate them for the full duration of time... it should not be started and stopped, or attempted with haphazard temperatures.
I have 4 abandoned duck eggs I have been caring for a week. Rough calculation we are on day 21. I have candled the duck eggs and there are live babies inside. I have them in the original nest on a heating pad in a plastic bin with a bowl of water and a sponge soaked in water.
I have 4 abandoned duck eggs I have been caring for a week. Rough calculation we are on day 21. I have candled the duck eggs and there are live babies inside. I have them in the original nest on a heating pad in a plastic bin with a bowl of water and a sponge soaked in water. Any suggestions or helpful hint would be greatly appreciated
We have 4 ducks we bought as they where young. 1 has laid 8 eggs and is nesting at this point. We will be moving at the end of the month. Will she still care for the eggs?
We will be taking them with us as we move. They are tame ducks not wild so I wasn't sure if she would still care for them.
Once you move the nest she may abandon it. You might want to consider an incubator
I suggest you call your local ag college or county home extension office or if you have an aviary nearby, call them. Moving nests and eggs is super tricky and you want to make sure that the eggs have the best outcome.
As I am thinking about this, I think I would start with an aviary...if you don't have one nearby, call the one in my town and ask them to tell you the closest to you.www.aviary.org/
Let us know what they say and how it goes! Sending up prayers for the feather family!! Humans too!
If you physically touch the eggs, the mother won't return to the nest and care for them. An incubator may be the only way...however, if you wear gloves, pick up and move the entire nest with grassy materials that are surrounding the area of the nest, she might. Just have an incubator ready just in case she doesn't.
Hopefully, the eggs will hatch before you move. Otherwise, the duck who is nesting on the eggs might stop if you move the nest. If it gets close to the time that you need to move, I'd make an incubator to put the eggs in until they hatch. This will be the only way to save them and let them hatch.
A duck has been nesting in the garden, but was scared off the other day. 2 eggs were broken and she left the nest. She has not returned all day and it is wet and cold. They are calling for more rain and cold weather including possible snow tomorrow.
Seeing as it was nearing evening we decided to bring the eggs and nest inside so they would not get too cold. There is no male and she was hurt. Is there any chance she will return and if she does can we put the nest back for her?I doubt she will come back. Just from my own experience of keeping ducks they are very good at laying and abandoning eggs wherever they feel like. They even lay them in the pond.
If the chicks have already started to develop then it is probably too late anyway. Your best bet is to find someone with an incubator to see if they develop and hatch, but you then need to be prepared to look after them if they do. They will need "chick crumbs" to eat and are a lot of fun to start with as they will follow you everywhere on little pitter pattering feet and they snuggle up with you on your shoulder, but will get big, very messy and not so friendly as they grow up.
If she did not return in 2 days she probably will not return again and since her nest was moved and eggs broken she probably would not stay if she did return. This is sad but it is really nice to hear about someone who cares enough to want to help.
If something ever happens like this in the future, here is a link that may help you decide what to do: Be sure to read the warning note at the bottom of the page.
wildliferehabber.com/
Yes i have chicks right now, so that is very useful.
There are ducks in my backyard and they come every year, but this year they laid eggs. She laid one yesterday and one today.
But there's no nest and they're scattered everywhere. Did she abandon them? Should I move them?My duck just laid eggs for the first time. Her nest is not by her house or her area at all, we have owls and cats that can take her eggs. Can I move them without losing any babies?
We have a duck's nest in a bucket on our balcony that is one story up from the ground. Should we move the bucket to ground level and when should we do that?
If we move the bucket before they hatch will the mother duck find them?Don't move it. She may not come back to it if you move it because she will then consider you to be a predator. They only put it where they feel safe. Most likely she spotted a predator on the ground, so that is why she went up a story (dog, cat, snake, even mice or rats will eat their egg)
I would not move it. The mother may never go back to the next if you move it.
it's illegal to move it-google it and you will see what others have done to baby-proof their balconies for hatchlings
I had several duck eggs laid about two weeks ago, 12 in total. I noticed two days ago one egg was out of the nest about two feet away. Today 4 more seemingly were kicked out again all about two feet away.
One of the eggs the very top was broken off and looked to have some egg yolk left but not much else. I see ducks over there every day. Are these eggs not good or what could have happened?
If the ducks are not sitting on the eggs and/or they have rolled away from the nest, and are cold for even a short time (only a few hours), then the babies are dead.
I have heard of crows stealing and dropping eggs
This morning I found a duck egg on the step of my salt water pool! I wasn't sure what to do with it! I used the skimmer to move it out of the water and put it in the bed closest to where it was. Do you think it is alive still? Also, I need something to keep the ducks from getting in the pool! I have tried everything, but they keep coming back. They are ruining the liner; any suggestions? I love ducks, but can't have them in my pool. They are pooping all around the edge and my dogs are eating it! Yuck!
Please help!
My duck laid 2 eggs on my neighbor's pouch. It has now laid one egg on my balcony. Which I think was because she didn't have a way off of the balcony where I her wanted to lay her egg. What do I do? Which should I move to add to the other?
Don't move the egg. Your scent will remain and the duck will think a predator is around.
It is snowing in Minnesota and the temp has gotten down to the 40s most nights for the last week. On Easter we noticed a duck in the bushes by our front yard and 3 eggs under some leaves. We have not seen the duck since then, but today she tried to move her eggs and one is in the grass on the side of the driveway and the other 2 are still in the bushes. What should we do?
She may have purposely left that egg out. Sometimes they know if an egg is bad.
I have a big pond with a male and female duck. There used to be two females, but I have not seen her in two days. I found a nest with 3 eggs in it yesterday and 4 today so it must be the female's that is still here. I also found two eggs that were laid in the pond and read online that they can be very resilient before the incubation period starts and that if an egg is laid in water it can still survive if taken out.
Should I take the two eggs out and put them in the nest? Or should I just leave them alone?I have 3 duck nests in my yard, each nest has 20 plus eggs. The momma ducks are caring for them and at this point and are not leaving their nests. They are obviously not sitting on all of the eggs because their bodies are not that big. Is it possible all of the eggs will not hatch? Also, one nest is on a hill, a few have rolled down about 1-2 feet (see pic), should I put them back?
I do not live on a farm either hahaha. They are so beautiful tho so I am watching them closely. She is on the nest under the branch. She is pretty much used to me because I am around all the time.
How neat. Please take pictures.
As for the rest, all the eggs will not hatch. Ducks are frequently careless with their eggs. Nature makes up for that by providing enough living chicks for the duck to care for without becoming completely overwhelmed. The stray eggs frequently make meals for racoons and black snakes, so these are also part of nature's plan.
Resist the urge to rescue stray eggs, however, if they aren't disposed of naturally within a few days dispose of them so they don't rot.
Your ducks should be happy and healthy with cute babies. They require little help from humans.
Two ducks have been hanging around my swimming pool. Last night the female laid an egg in the pool. I fished the egg out of the pool without touching it and put it in a grass insert for a flower basket. Will the ducks care for it or should I just throw the egg away?
By Brian from Setauket, NY
If the mother doesn't come back, put the egg in your hand and carefully take it inside. Put it in a box and keep the box open then put the egg in the box with a soft pillow and a big flashlight to keep it warm. You never want to throw it away.
Can I safely move a mallard hen's eggs to another location and will she continue to sit on them?
By Robert Miller from Kinder, LA
It's not likely that you can move wild duck nests and have the mother stay with them.
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I need to move a nest with duck eggs in it. Where and how can I make new nest?
