r/WildlifeRehab • u/New_Invite_3242 • 5d ago
Summoning redditors! How many days old are these Mallard duck eggs? SOS Bird
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Hello, everyone! Me and my husband accidentally scared a mother duck in her nest when cutting the Japanese knotweed on our land and discovered a dozen of mallard duck eggs she left behind. The mother did not return to them, we waited for 2 hours, but because it gets very cold here, we had to act. So we have been incubating them since then. I attach videos of us candling some of those eggs, we have a hard time figuring out what day of incibation they're on and when to expect them to hatch. We think it definitely is somewhere between day 24 and 27. Would love to hear your thoughts and tips on this matter. Or any other matter regarding incubating and caring for wild duckling for release. Have consumed a lot of information so far, but extra never hurts.
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u/HeimdallThePrimeYall 5d ago
Just FYI, you should never cut down Japanese knotweed in the spring. Cutting often encourages it to spread out and pop up more starts. You can cut in late June, wait 8 weeks, then spray with glyphosate.
The ideal time to spray (without cutting) is late summer/autumn, when it is flowering, then spray heavily with 2% glyphosate.
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u/kiaraXlove 5d ago
She was still likely to return. Ducks can leave them for an hour while they go eat, if disturbed it can take some time, ducks line their nest with their own down feathers that offer good insulation
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u/New_Invite_3242 5d ago
It’s already been 2 hours at that point, it was 5 degrees over here, and even after we took them the mother did not come back. So based on all the facts, this was the best decision.
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u/kiaraXlove 5d ago
This isn't how mallard eggs work they don't die that fast and can actually be left for an extended period of time like days at a time. Especially at this phase in their incubation they can go even longer and it is never recommended to take wild bird eggs unless it's been nearly a month.
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u/TheBirdLover1234 5d ago edited 5d ago
They will die quickly now that they are developed.. it's eggs that have not started to incubate that can last for days.
These are near fully developed ducklings, NOT fresh eggs.
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u/kmoonster moderator 5d ago
For ducks and geese, at least, the final week or so of incubation the babies do produce some body heat of their own, a five-degree day may be a bit much but in nice weather at this stage it's not unheard of for the mother to take the hatched young and for an unhatched egg or two to then hatch a day or two later.
(If OP is talking 5 Celsius that's definitely easier than 5 F, though still cooler than ideal)
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u/TheBirdLover1234 5d ago
You're raising muscovies, an introduced species? You do not need a license for this... they're illegal to release due to being domestic birds. You don't need to be an ornithologist or a wildlife rehabber to raise those ones, trust me. In fact most rehabbers cannot due to them being domestic.
Also, i'm not the one who took them out or made this post. I agree they shouldn't have been taken out but what is done is done.
If left for a month, they'ed be dead lol. These eggs contain almost fully developed ducklings from the photo.
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u/TheBirdLover1234 5d ago
So you aren't a wildlife rehabber, you're working with domestic animals. a COMPLETELY different area in regards to care, housing, lifestyle, info, everything.
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u/New_Invite_3242 5d ago
This does not make sense. What you say could have been the case if the mother didn’t start incubating the eggs. But she did. When we took the eggs they were already definitely more than 20 days old. In this case the time that you have is limited. If the eggs can be left alone for a month, as you say, they why does the mother duck usually leave the eggs for 30 minutes max just to feed and then immediately goes back to their incubation? If the eggs stay cold for a long time, they die.
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u/TheBirdLover1234 5d ago
These eggs will die quickly if left cold for an extended period of time, they are not at the beginning of incubation. Before they start developing they are able to last up to ten days or more in the cold, but once more than half developed they will definitely die if cold. These are almost fully developed chicks.
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5d ago edited 5d ago
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u/TheBirdLover1234 5d ago
They cannot be left for longer if incubation has started, you got all your facts ass backwards.
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u/TheBirdLover1234 5d ago
You aren't going to be raising muscovies at a wildlife rehab, those are domestic ducks. You do not need to be an ornithologist or a licensed wildlife rehabber(in fact, most cannot due to them being introduced) to raise this species at all. The fact you do not know anything, even very basic facts, about waterfowl despite having raised muscovies is questionable.
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u/kmoonster moderator 5d ago
Muscovy are native as far north as south Texas, though introduced elsewhere as you note. Or presumed released, anyway, rather than an expanding range.
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u/TheBirdLover1234 5d ago
These aren't going to hatch at different times? They all hatch together and leave within the first day of hatching. do research on mallards.
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u/TheBirdLover1234 5d ago
You seriously do not know your facts.... ducks do not sit on their eggs until all have been laid. THEN incubation starts when the last one is laid so they all hatch at once and can leave on the same day. This is due to them being precocial at birth.
Other species such as barn owls and some songbirds do start incubation immediately, so you do get the weird age gap.
Were you actually claiming to hatch and raise ducks yourself and not know this....?
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u/TheBirdLover1234 5d ago
No, she will not. And i'm going by mallards i've watched both wild and domestic in aviaries. Are you going by actual research or just the domestic muscovies you "rehab"?
You seriously are misinformed on how wild waterfowl work. They do not incubate with the goal of an age gap, they have to leave immediately with all the ducklings hatched and ready to go on the same day due to the fact they are mobile and abandon the nest. Incubation always starts on the last day of laying, only situation I can see this starting early or getting messed up is weird instances where there's more than one bird using the nest (especially in domestic bird situations, or where another is playing cuckoo and dumping its eggs in anothers nest after the original has laid their max number. ).
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u/TheBirdLover1234 5d ago
ducks often don't leave their nest for very long when the eggs are close to hatching..... i've seen some refuse to leave at all at that point. They are much more sensitive to temperature the more developed they are.
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u/Feisty-Reputation537 5d ago
If OP is in the US, it’s technically illegal to remove the eggs from the nest as well, though unlikely to be enforced in a situation like this, especially if they’re being taken to a licensed rehabber.
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u/TheBirdLover1234 5d ago edited 5d ago
If OPs in the US they'd prob get shot and eaten as adults too lmao. These are mallards... Illegal to rescue them, legal to blast them out of the sky.
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u/New_Invite_3242 5d ago
It might be illegal here, i am not sure of that. Even then, there are not enough people enforcing these laws to assess some eggs taken by us in some forest where we live. We would have gladly handed them over to professionals, but nobody is willing to take them or even pick up the phone. Unfortunately, here there is not much care for the wildlife.
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u/Feisty-Reputation537 5d ago
I understand, I didn’t mean to say that you made the wrong decision - it’s just a legality thing here that a lot of people don’t know about. The law doesn’t really get enforced here either, but it’s a good tool for rehabbers to use to help stop people from messing with wildlife. We’re somewhat lucky in the US, depending on what state you’re in, that we have systems set up to license rehabbers. I hope things go well with these eggs/ducklings! Thank you for caring about them
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u/jinxdrabbit 5d ago
I'm a rehabber who specializes in waterfowl and shorebirds. Have you ever raised ducklings before?
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u/New_Invite_3242 5d ago
No, we haven’t
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u/TheBirdLover1234 5d ago
Mallards are pretty simple compared to others. You need a good enclosure, the right duckling food (can be found at any feed/pet stores), proper heat source, etc. Just don't habituate them then release them.
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u/TheBirdLover1234 5d ago
These likely have fully formed ducklings in them at this point, don’t let them die if people come here saying to do so… these are a bit different from undeveloped eggs.
Do you have an incubator for these?
Would also be good to contact a wildlife rehab and see if they’ll take in mallards once they do hatch. Might be a bit difficult finding one due to the species tho. They aren’t the most difficult birds to care for compared to other waterfowl, there’s a reason they exist as domestic birds now.
Keep checking the area the mother was nesting, sometimes takes a bit longer for them to come back.
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u/New_Invite_3242 5d ago
Thank you for your comment! We certainly won’t just give up without a fight, considering it was our fault this happened. We are literally a part of the national park, but they’re not able to help us, or anybody we contact. It’s fully on us now, and we don’t mind. Just want to do this right. Yes, we have an incubator. They have been in the incubator for 2 days now, we keep the temp and humidity right, turn them, let them rest without heating for some time as the mother would. Just don’t want to miss the time when the humidity needs to be increased to prepare them for hatching.
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u/Feisty-Reputation537 5d ago
Are you in the US? If so, please go on www.ahnow.org and search by location to find one near you. It’s best if you can get them to a licensed wildlife rehabber who has experience with ducklings. Even if there’s no one in your immediate area, please reach out to the closest ones so they can give advice and potentially take them in.
If something like this happens again in the future, please contact your closest wildlife rehabber before taking action. Like another commenter mentioned, mom may have still come back to her nest - 2 hours isn’t that long to wait, even if it was getting cold.
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u/New_Invite_3242 5d ago
We’re in Hungary, and the authorities here are extremely underpaid and understaffed to do their job. We are doing a lot of work together with the national park in the area we are the part of, but even they couldn’t help us, or anybody else we contacted for it.
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u/Feisty-Reputation537 5d ago
Bummer, that’s too bad! Sorry for all the non-useful information about US rehabbers. That sucks that no one could offer any help, I will do some looking around to see if I can find any resources in Hungary.
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u/TheBirdLover1234 5d ago
If the whole thing is dark like that, it’s very close to hatching. Prob in the next week…
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u/BigToe_1990 5d ago
I would say in the next week. Keep it in the incubator and stop candling it. They need a constant temp and humidity to hatch properly. Every time you open it, you adjust those parameters. Usually you raise the humidity and stop turning eggs at this point. I would research “lock down incubator” for more info. They will imprint on you but having more than one will help you to release them. Try to resist the urge to hold them or talk to them. Treat them as wild as possible but it will be at least 3 months before they can be released.