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My duck Topaz just laid eggs and I have a Q about it.

18 years ago

Hey, now my duck Topaz is laying eggs. She has laid 3 so far. I am pretty sure they are fertile since we have boys here too. We really want them to hatch and since last time our girl Jake laid eggs something got them all but one, we thought about taking Topaz's eggs each time she lays them until she is finished laying them and then give them back so she can sit on them until they hatch. But, I have one question.. I have read where if you take a cockatiels eggs away when they lay them, if you don't leave them there until 20-21 days that they will keep laying more to replace the ones you took. Then they will get sick and possibly die because laying so many eggs robs them of calcium. So, is that the same with muscovies? Will it harm my duck to take her eggs as she lays them so nothing will get them, then give them back after she is finished?? Thanks, appreciate it. Genny

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Comments (4)

fancifowl
18 years ago
It won't harm the duck,some breeds lay in the hundreds, she may lay quite a few eggs before setting if you take them. Use a sharpie to date each egg, the when you get to a good clutch, say 12-14, keep the freshest and eat/toss the older eggs. When she becomes broody, set them.
Maggie_J
18 years ago
Genny, you may want to get some false eggs for her. Not everyone will agree but I feel it encourages birds to stop laying and go broody when there is something left in their nests.

You can likely find some plastic Easter eggs this time of year in a dollar store. Weight them with sand so they are about as heavy as a duck egg and glue or tape the halves together. When she goes broody, you take back the plastic eggs and give her the real ones. Don't worry about keeping the numbers the same... birds can't count.

My American Buff goose went broody just a couple of days after my sister put one marble goose-sized egg in the nest. It was a bit of a joke, because when I picked it up it was much heavier than a real goose egg and very smooth. I couldn't figure it out until I saw her laughing. LOL. Sisters! But it did the trick.
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Thanks for sharing your duck story 13 years ago. We just moved into an apartment with a duck pond 50' from our back porch and it's got all different kinds of ducks and geese. The ducks are nicer and there are different ones, ratty ones, mean ones, wussy ones, skinny ones, fat ones...very often a new gang of teenie tiny ones under mom's feets. They're always fighin for territory or humpin each other. It is quite the backyard reality show. The geese are another story, there is this one that looks different than the rest and he's always causing trouble with the ducks. He's the alpha goose and he doesn't let anyone forget it for a minute. Somebody needs to mess his 6.75lb feathered butt up. Alpha goose pic included.
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GennyM
Original Author
18 years ago
OK thanks!!!
chicken_ingenue
18 years ago
I don't know if ducks are the same as chickens but I just had a hen go broody because I left golf balls in the places I wanted them to nest in. I collected the eggs but I guess leaving the golf balls so long was to much of an encouragement, with it being spring and all too. LOL And we don't even have a roo! After I took up the golf balls she started to lay within a week to 10 days.

CI

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