I noticed this morning that a mallard hen made a nest in my backyard. This afternoon I had a yard service put mulch down. When I got home the duck was gone and the eggs were covered with mulch. I uncovered them and I really hope she'll come back! Do you think she will return? How long will the eggs be OK without her setting on the nest?
By Monte from Overland Park, KS
I don't really know, but I suspect she's gone for good. That was a lot of disruption for her nest. I don't think the eggs will survive for very long without her heat.
We went out to eat last night, and they've put a little "river" through this shopping area. When we were leaving, I noticed a goose was sitting very intently behind a large rock/stone. I suspect she was sitting on a nest. Not a very good place to pick, considering how close it was to the parking lot & how busy the area is. We watched her for a little while, and I had to keep reminding my daughter not to try to get close, because I didn't want to scare Mama away. But I fear that others will not be so careful.
I think you'll just have to keep the area as quiet as possible, and watch & wait. Good luck!
She won't return. I once disturbed a duck, while she was sitting on her eggs and she never came back, once she knows you've seen the eggs, she won't come back.
I was working on a construction site and along the fence line there was a mallard duck with a nest full of eggs. She had gotten killed by a predator. So I collected the eggs and put them in my warm car.
At the end of my work shift they went into an incubator. What are the chances of survival? It was cold last night.Yesterday I found a single duck egg in my neighbor's backyard. He had been doing some yard work and there was no mother in sight. The egg was cold, so I brought the egg inside. I'm not even sure it's a duck egg, but it seems like one. I'm not exactly sure how to car for it. I placed it in a small bowl thing with a dry washcloth around it in an old hermit crab cage. I placed the cage in a cupboard with a desk lamp hovering above it in the cupboard. I periodically spritzed it with warm water and turned the egg a bit, as it said to do on various websites.
Today we bought a heat lamp because I felt the desk lamp wasn't producing enough heat. Now I have the egg sitting in a warm moist towel underneath the heat lamp. I have already tried the flashlight trick to see if the embryo is even living and there was a small reddish area near the top side of the egg. Am I taking good care of it? Does anyone think it is living? Should I spray it with water or keep it in the moist towel? Is there any way I can find out how old it is? Thank you!
I have this unknown kind of egg from the lake. Can we hatch it?
I rescued a couple of duck eggs from a raccoon and I have them on a heating pad with wet paper towels around them. I don't have the money to make or buy an incubator so I am wondering what I can do to keep these eggs alive and hatch them?
My cat gave me what looks to be a duck egg, I put it under a lamp that is about 30°c and put some wool around it, it was still rather warm when she gave it me. Any hopes of it surviving or do you think it's already dead?
My daughter found a duck egg in our pond on Sunday. It was on the edge, but in the water. We do not know how long it has been there. She is trying to hatch it, we have it in an incubator and it has been there since Sunday.
Is there any chance the egg is even still good? It hasn't been warm outside only in the 30s and colder at night.The eggs have to be above freezing. They take from 25-35 days to hatch, depending on the breed. They also have to be turned over.
I had a wood duck lay 9 eggs in my planter. The ducklings finally hatched yesterday. This morning she had most of them out and on the ground headed toward the pond, but left 2 ducklings behind. I was able to pick them up with my gloves and reunited them with their mom and off they went. When I got home from work, I realized there is one unhatched egg in my planter. Should I do anything with it? Or leave it alone? I assume mom won't come back. Will this hatch without me doing anything to it? It is warm today and the sun is on the planter. It's about 78 degrees out. Thanks!
We found one lone, what we believe to be a mallard egg, in our ornamental grass. Should we do anything?
I was gardening and accidentally broke an egg. Will this broken egg keep the duck from returning to the other eggs?
I live in a house where my back yard is a canal, where ducks live. We have about 6 ducks, they have chicks and lay eggs frequently. But today, my four-month old female puppy bought an egg to my backyard door. I picked up the egg gently and it had a tiny crack, but it was still warm, I looked everywhere in my yard, and I couldn't find a nest anywhere!
I went back inside and smelled the egg, it didn't smell bad at all. I put a wool sweater in a shoebox. I wrapped the egg in a warm towel and placed it in the box and put the box under a light. I also put tape on the crack. I have no idea what to do! Is there a possibility it's still alive?
If there are broken wild mallard duck eggs in a nest in my garden will the mother come back? She's laid about 10 eggs over almost 2 weeks. Then stayed on the nest for 2 days and left.
Now it's been just about 2 more days, and a few eggs are broken and we haven't seen her. Should I try to incubate? The temps are likely to be be in the high 30s tonight.The duck will come back after she has laid her last egg. If she doesn't come back, you could try putting the eggs in an incubator.
This is a page about incubation time for duck eggs. Wild ducks sometimes lay their eggs where we can watch them, sit and incubate the eggs, hoping to see the babies when they hatch.
Sometimes you may find what appears to be an abandoned duck nest. This is a page about an abandoned duck nest.
