Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My dog found a mallard duck nest on the property line in late May. Our area has rabbits,red tail hawks,raccoons,and cats and dogs that wander. There was 13 eggs when we saw the nest. We of course just watched with great concern for almost 2 weeks. The hen and 8 eggs "hatched" and left. We saw egg pieces and feathers all around the nest and the remaining 5 were abandoned. I took them in after realizing the hen wasn't coming back. This was June 2nd. One week later, we saw a dead pair of mallards on the end of the road. I candled them and found vasculature in all of them and am amateur incubating them. I have a small incubator for 3 and the other two are in an aquarium. The temperature control is where it should be and progress is being made in terms of growth. I even have listened to them with a medical stethoscope and have heard lots of noises inside all the eggs. I have done the water float test twice with success, the last time today because of having them incubating for 33 days. My goal is to release to a water area with help of a wildlife rehabilitator if they hatch but obviously due to the great amount of time invested, I would like to see the hatching but I'm worried. When is too long for incubation? From what I understand, if they float they are still alive. Do I have any chance of having these hatch under these circumstances? Is there a set time they hatch or is 30 days more of a guideline? HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Chris
mom to two boys,two cats, a dog
awaiting mallard births desperately

P.S.My heart and soul are invested in these eggs

Hey,

Mallard egg incubation should last for approx. 28 days. So if yours are going to hatch it should be very soon.
Humidity, temperature and the overall health of the ducklings will effect the length of incuabtion by several days.

Roughly 4 days before the ducklings are due to hatch, they will start to 'pip'. This means that due to the increased levels of carbon dioxide inside the eggs, the ducklings start to spasm, and this causes the air sac to brake, and therefore the ducklings can begin to breath the released air.
If you gently handle the eggs during this time, you'll easily feel the ducklings moving inside as they prepare for hatching.

Also during these last few days the ducklings should call to each other and their mother whilst inside the eggs, to syncronise hatching and so they learn their mothers call.

Hatching itself is a lengthy process, and a stressful one for duckings. Hatching can take as long as 24 - 48 hours in total.

I hope you don't mind me asking, but do you know how to care for the ducklings once they've hatched? If you need anymore help, please don't hesitate to ask someone.

Good luck, hope things go well...
Mel X

From what I read-I can't help them out of their eggs once they start to hatch unless stuck. They have to dry and stay warm. I need shallow water so they won't drown. They don't eat until 24 hours and then they eat starter chick feed. We have a 55 gallon aquarium that I'm planning on them going in. But I really want them to go to a wildlife rehabilitor once old enough which I believe is a few weeks. Please correct me if I'm wrong about any of this information.

Hey,

Yeah everything you said sounds fine. Do you have contact with any local wildlife rehabilitators? It may also be an idea to register with a local Vet just incase you get any health problems with a duckling.

Hope all is going well.
Mel X

I have the list provided by the Michigan DNR. I also have a local vet.Just an update one of my eggs is leaking yolk is that a concern?

Hey,

How much yolk has been leaking? Are you sure that the egg is fertile? There obviously must be a hole or crack somewhere, has that increased in size at all?
During the last day or so of hatching, ducklings will absorb the remaining yolk as this is their source of nutrtion, and the reason why ducklings don't need feeding for the first 24-48 hours after hatching.
So if the duckling is hatching, then its possible that a little bit of yolk could escape.

Mel X

Well they were floating on July 4th. Before that I heard a lot of noise in the eggs. No pinng though yet. A few eggs have what looks like scratch marks white in color on the shell. One egg has a horizontal break on it. The one with the yolk leaking has a small hole but hasn't gotten any bigger. None of the eggs smell yet. My temperature is stable but the humidity has been fluctating. How long is too long for these eggs or is there such a thing? Correct me if I'm wrong, when they die, they smell.

Hey,

Have you tried candling the eggs, to test for fertility? I know you've tested by placing the eggs in water, but if you candle the eggs you'll be able to see the actual amount of development within the eggs.

To candle the eggs you just have to hold them up against a bright light (to help see better, you could get a bit of cardboard, cut out an egg shape in the centre and then hold the egg in the hole). You should be able to see the air sac and if the eggs are fertile, at this stage the rest of the insides should be dark due to the duckling.

Mel X

Egg 1- the one with the largest crack looks like it has tiny duck feet and a darker area surrounding it. Air sac also present
EGG 2,3, and 5 over 1/2 of the egg is an air sac and the bottom is dark-no visible anatomy that I can tell
Egg4-Air sac presnt also-small dark area present-looks like an eye-has a shadow in the air sac area

I can hear noises with all eggs with a stethoscope but no movement is felt or seen.

Egg 3 was the egg leaking yolk that area is about the same

I can see that there are scracthes on the inside on all eggs

What is my next recourse as this is day 41? Can I help them out or are they just dead or will never hatch. What do do with dead eggs? Does there have to be smell to be dead?

I got a brighter light-egg 3 has scattered areas around the egg in and around the air sac

egg 5 smells a little differently than the rest

egg 2 reddish area inside a spot-? blood ring

egg 4 heavy-dark shadow at bottom
egg 1-looks like feet to me
I took some candling pictures and will try to post them to let you see what you think. I am afraid the outlook is grim. If these aren't going to make it let me know what you normally do with dead eggs.

Hopefully you can access the link. If not, I will e mail them to you.

Hey,

I was just wondering how things were going now? Any development?

Mel X

Two started smelling on July 14th and I buried them all. Before i buried them I did crack them in the air hole area. Two eggs looked like underdeveloped ducks and the other three were solid material similar to yolks at least on top. I only made a little crack just to make sure nothing was still alive. I guess mom mallard knew something that I didn't be leaving them behind. It was an interesting adventure/science project. They are buried near a tree near the bush where I found them. I found them May 24th-all 13 originally but they could have been there sooner. We had a lot of rainfall early May and the two males and one female were frolicking in a flooded part of my property in early May. Sometimes nature just knows best. I would rather try to incubate them then for them to get eaten by the hawk.

AwWw, i'm sorry that none of them hatched. At least you gave it your best. Thanks for keeping us updated.
If you ever have any ducky problems in the future, please don't hestitate to ask for advice.

Mel X