Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hi if anyone could offer any advice that would be great. we have four muscovy ducks; one male, three females, and we're having problems with their eggs hatching. we found three eggs crushed with nearly fully formed ducklings inside. and we dont know why this is happening. we've separated the male from the females as we thought it was him doing this. could the ducklings be having problems hatching and are dying in the process or could a big duck be attacking the eggs? any help would be greatly apprecitated. thanx mike

Hi,

Whenever my female muscys go broody, a always seperate any other ducks from her to ensure that she does not become stressed or bullied, and also to make sure that any eggs/ducklings do not become broken, injured or even killed.

Have you seperated the other two females as well as the male?

I've actually found that sometimes my muscys will eat any eggs that have been freshly layed.

How long had the eggs been incubated for, before they were found broken? Muscys incubation period is 35 days. If they were fine until the last few days, they could have died if they had trouble hatching. One possible reason could be because the humidity/temperature level(s) was wrong. Or maybe the mother accidentally crushed them.

Mel X

I dont really know how long they've been sitting on the eggs, we didn't write down when they were layed. But it has been about a month. The male is separated from all of them and there are two females together and one female on her own. I think the ducklings are having trouble hatching but I dont know if I should go and look, would this disturb the ducks? Im a bit of a beginner so I dont really know what to do. Would misting the eggs help do you think? Thanx for your help. Mike

Hi,

If your female is hand tame, then it may pay to have a check when she leaves the nest to feed.
All my females are tame, and when the eggs are due to hatch i sometimes check them all every couple of hours or so. Because my females are use to me, and are very tame, this doesn't bother them and they seem to be happy with me having a quick check on the eggs/ducklings.
But only do this if it doesn't upset or stress your duck.

When your female leaves the nest, not only could you have a quick check, but you could also lightly sprinkle the eggs with luke-warm water, as this will help to increase the humidity. Hatching is a difficult time for ducklings, and if they take a long time, they and the egg shells can become dry.

Mel X

two days ago i checked on the eggs. one duck had none, another duck had and still has 8 the other duck only had one. i could feel this egg moving and so i sprayed it and left it alone. the next morning i checked on it and it had been half crushed and the duckling was trapped inside. as i could see it moving and hear it i carefully broke the egg open and helped the duckling hatch. it was very weak and as the mother was not really taking care of it we put him under a lamp in a box. we gave him some water to drink every so often and in the morning he ate a small amount of cat food. he is so much stronger now and is running everywhere. he has grown so much in just 24hours. we're so pleased he's survived. thank you so much for your help mel. we're over the moon that he made it. mike

AwWw I'm so glad you were able to help the duckling.
I hope everything goes ok for you. If you ever need any help anytime in the future, someone here will help you.

Mel X

thank you so much. now ive got those other eggs to sort out!! lol thanks again. mike