Everyday is an Easter egg hunt at our place LOL! I haven't died them but have marked them with permanent markers so I know which ones are old then snitch the fresh ones from the nest. Some ducks don't like the marker tho and kick the eggs out. Most ducks lay them any old place! We actually have a yearly egg hunt on my 2 and a half acres but we use plastic eggs and no chocolate(FLORIDA SUN AND fireants!) this year Im thinking of making a prize box and they can turn in the eggs for prizes,,,still thinking

Look on the Internet to find out if Magpie ducks will incubate (set on) their own eggs. As long as they are not in with a lot of other birds, I suspect that she would succeed in hatching her own. Sometimes they lay an egg every other day, until they reach what they consider to be a full clutch. Before they are actually starting to set on the eggs seriously, you'll notice that she will start building the nest and lining it with fluff from her own breast. This is, of course, if she will set on her own. I reckon that those eggs will be good for at least two weeks, while she gathers more. If you decide to use an incubator, I'd recommend one with a thermostat, hydrometer, forced air and egg turner; that is if you can afford it. I used to purchase the Styrofoam cheapo incubators, about every 12 months. They would get contaminated during hatching and after a couple of uses there was no way to use them successfully, as the eggs would become contaminated and cause sick, deformed chicks. Ducks require a bit more humidit'y for incubation, so you'd have to research that. I have hatched duck eggs under a broody hen. That works. But once they hatch, you have to take the ducklings and raise them yourself. The hen doesn't "speak the same language" as the ducklings. They don't communicate well and the ducklings abandon the hen after less than a day. Hope this helps, George

It is a very common problem. Are they penned at nights? If so, make sure not to release them until at least two hours after daybreak, by which time the duck will almost certainly have laid - probably in a corner of the shed. If they are not shedded and they spend the night on the pond, then it sems she is just laying where she is rather than leave her companions. You probably need to pen them to get any eggs. Despite many years' exerience and a few hundred ducks, I have never had any success in getting ducks to lay in a box. Tens of thousands of hens yes, but ducks, no. It is likely to be the Rouen, because a pure mallard would not normally be laying eggs at this time of year. Old McDonald.

Hi There's no need to put the post holding the box actually IN the pond...assuming you have somewhere on land to mount it...the one caveat being that boxes on land need to be higher than boxes over water (at least 10 ft. in most cases) and absolutely need a predator guard intstalled around the base of the post/tree to thwart coons and sundry other critters that will be tempted to investigate a potential meal. A sheet of lightweight metal, of the type used for autorepair, will work just fine, assuming the tree or post has no connection with other trees above ground (interlocking canopy, etc.) The metal prevents critters from getting a grip on the post. I've maintained up to 50 wood duck boxes over the last 20 years...I've had woodies nest as far as a quarter mile from the pond, and I've seen them in natural cavities 60 feet up in an old silver maple...that particular hole has produced broods of ducklings every year since I was a kid. Good luck and enjoy your pond.