I was at work and there were three duck eggs, i took them home. I put them under a lamp. What else do i do?

Question

I work at a marine center and this guy i was bringing to his boat found 3 duck eggs in his boat. He told me to leave them on the dock for an animal to eat. I thought this was terrible so i brought them home. My dad is probably getting an incubator today but for now i put them under a lamp. What does it mean to turn the egg? And also, how do i know how hot it is under the lamp? any thing else i need to know

Answer 1

You didn't say if the eggs were still warm or cold. Cold means the little ducklings have probably died and the guy at the dock was right to leave them for some other animal's dinner. Warm means they still have a chance of hatching. Before you go to the trouble of getting the incubator, place the eggs in front of a lighted candle. If you see a shape silhouetted in the egg then there is a baby duck in there. However some eggs are not fertile and these ones will have not duckling outline in them. They obviously will not hatch. The following website has some great detailed info on the correct temperature and care for the eggs. And how to set up your own incubator, checking the temperature etc. Turning the eggs over means giving them the same amount of warmth all the way around. A mother duck would frequently rotate the eggs under her to keep all parts of the egg at the same temperature. This site also recommends you act responsible when the babies hatch. Are you prepared to care for these animals for the next 4 years or so?? Best of luck.

Answer 2

You should first probably be told taking or incubating wild duck eggs is illegal.If you still wish to do this duck eggs have to be incubated at 100 degrees for 28 days though it isn't as simple as just that.They also need to remain in 70% humidity.They need to be turned at least twice a day.This means take a pencil mark and x on one side and a circle on the other.Turn the egg so the x side is up then about every 4 to 8 hours roll the egg so the circle is up at one interval and the x is facing up for the next.I would suggest candling the egg after seven days of incubation to tell if the eggs are viable and the embryo is growing to do this you take a small box cut a hole half the size of the diameter of the egg.Then place the box over a lamp place the egg on the hole and be sure all other lights are turned off.This will allow you to see inside the egg.If you can see a dark spot with blood vessel reaching out from it the egg is good if the egg is cloudy then it is bad.

Answer 3

I don't think a normal lamp will help the eggs. There's a special kind of lamp you need, I can't think of the name of it, but it emits a red light. This is what will allow the duck inside the egg to develop and grow in a healthy manner. Any normal lamp will just rot the egg or make you an omelet. : )

Turn the egg every few hours so that every part of the surface can get a little heat/light. I'm no specialist, but that is what I would think when they say that.

Answer 4

Turning the egg is exactly that.. turning the egg so the yolk does not adhere to the membrane.
Do you know how old the eggs are? If they are more than a few days old, I recommend candling them in order to determine whether or not there is actually anything inside the eggs (A quick Google search will help you there). Chances are whatever ducklings the eggs might have contained are dead.

Depending on the species of duck, it may also be illegal for you to be in possession of them. I recommend bringing them in to a wildlife rehabilitation center. Good luck! :)

Answer 5

If they were found on a boat at a marina, they are most likely from a wild duck, not a domestic one. If you are in the US, it is illegal to keep most native wild birds, their nests, their eggs, or even their feathers.

http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/about/faqs/birds/feathers.htm

Since you do not know how long the eggs were there without the mother duck taking care of them, you don't know if the embryos are still viable. Chances are, you will not be able to hatch these eggs. If you are fortunate enough to hatch them, you still have the baby birds to deal with. In that case, you need to contact a licensed wildlife rehabilitation center. You should be able to find one here:
http://www.tc.umn.edu/~devo0028/contact.htm

If you have the idea that you will raise these baby birds youself, please read this:
"First of all, there are federal and state laws that prohibit keeping wild birds. And there are so many important but subtle elements to raising a wild bird that the job is only legally entrusted to licensed rehabilitators. Many well-meaning people raise baby birds or rescue birds from cats or after accidents, and sometimes they don't realize that the bird in their care is suffering from a serious dietary deficiency. Some of the problems aren't apparent to untrained people, but can cause death, or make the bird less likely to evade predators or to survive harsh natural weather conditions."
http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/robin/FAQBabies.html

Answer 6

They are probably already dead.

If the mother left them, there was something wrong. Even if she only left because you came, they still need constant heat and humidity. The small amount of time they spent getting cold and jostled around is enough to kill them.

Sorry.

By all means, try. You need an incubator.

Answer 7

turning them is just rolling them over so that the heat is evenly distributed through the egg. but they also need to be shaded and dampened on occation i would suggest a heating pad for now. temp needs to be between 98.6 F and 104.9F.

Answer 8

You probably should have left them on the dock.