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What can I do to help save a wild duck nest with 3 eggs - just laid I egg is crackedWill the mother2007-11-24 17:17:00

Should I remove the damaged egg? She nested in a small planter outside my side door. The mother duck was here yesterday but I haven't seen her tonite and don't know if it is related to one of the eggs cracking. (I don't know how it cracked it was fine when I left the house this morning)

Answers:

Leave the nest alone, she will return and finish laying (she is not even close to being done) they generally lay all of their egg then they sit. This ensures that all of her babies will hatch at the same time and the babies will be the same age. If she sat as soon as she laied an egg, the first egg laied will be 12-15 days older then the last, meaning the baby will be 12-15 days older and will not survive because Mom can not leave the nest.

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im not sure,but i think the egg that is cracked is dead,there may be a website devoted to wild ducks.they may help you.but dont touch them or she may abandon the nest.

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You should see a new egg or two just about every day until there are 8 or 10. If you don't see any more eggs within a week after the first appeared, she is not coming back. Once she starts to set on the eggs, she is there just about all the time for 28 days. Ducks have been known to choose poor locations for their nests and abandon them when they find out that it is too close to people or predators. If she doesn't start to set on the eggs within 10 days of the first egg appearing or if the overnight temperature falls under 40 degrees before she starts to set, the emdryos will die.