We found a DUCK麓s egg - out of its nest What to do

Last week in the park my daughter found what we think to be a duck`s egg in the grass, close to a pond. She carried it around for a while to keep it warm - I know it shouldn麓t be touched normally, but this was before I knew about it. After a while we found the nest (we think) beside the pond, hidden in grass, but with no Mommy in sight, and no other eggs. We washed it in the pond (to try to get some of our scent off - I know - a feeble attempt, but we didn麓t know what else to do), and laid it back in the nest. Of course my daughter wanted to take it home and take care of it, because she thought the nest had been abandoned (maybe weasels or something had taken the other eggs, and had left this behind by mistake).

Never mind that I counldn麓t raise a duck at home (in our apt.), but was this right? Do ducks leave their nests during the day? Or should we have kept it warm and given it to the nearby bird/ conservation area? My daughter would like to know what to do if this happens again :-)

It's quite possible that the eggs was shoved out of the nest `because it was infertile, or that an inexperienced hen laid it and didn't know what to do with it. or it got cold and it was rejected by the hen. Another possibility is that the hen had just started laying and as you suggested, a predator wandered off with it and got distracted.

I wouldn't wash off the eggs next time. Most birds have a terrible sense of smell and wouldn't have noticed if it was touched or washed. Ducks and Geese are very visual creatures. They would have panicked more if they saw you than if you had left your scent. Washing also clogs the pores in the egg, which the embryo needs to breathe.