Either the Easter Bunny stopped by or I have ducks that lack parenting skills living in my pond

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Pecan; it may very well be against the law to interfere with little Eggbert, Many if not most states (and provinces) have laws restricting what you can do with any wildlife, even if it IS in your own back yard. We'd hate to lose your input here for 2 to 4 years!!!
John

I am letting nature take it's course whatever nature chooses. I wont be going away for 2-4 yrs! I wouldn't do well at all in jail!!!

So far Momma Stratojet and Poppa Northrop have not returned to little Eggbert. I sure hope they come back and take on the responsibility of being good parents.
 

addy1

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I had mallards lay in my back yard in arizona, 17 chicks, they only did it the one year. They must have found better pastures.
 

lindsayanng

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I am not sure if you guys are aware, but female ducks drop eggs whether they are fertile or not. You can check to see if it's fertile by holding it up to a bright light and looking for a dark spot inside the yolk area.

When I was a kid we raised ducks from eggs and it was an AMAZING experience. There's nothing better than being imprinted as momma by a duckling, but this may not even have a duck.

How long was it left alone and how warm is it where you are?
 
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The ducks have been back but have not showed any interested in the egg. Then last night two pairs showed up at the same time and there was an all out duck fight in the pond. I am not sure which couple the egg belongs to but one couple chased the other away. The egg whether fertile or not I am afraid is a lost cause at this point. No attention and little friend eggs for a week.

Lindsay, we have been cold and hot here. It was 80 on Saturday and got down to 30 and snowed on Sunday. Now it is about 70 for the next week.
 

lindsayanng

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Yea chances are that egg was unfertilized. A duck will NOT leve a fertilized egg for ANYTHING. It's still early in the season so the duck is probably "in heat" and pairing off with a male and deciding if your pond is going to be the place they make the nursery. The fact that there was another pair means that your pond is a good mating area but also could mean that this original couple may not stay because of territorial issues and the inability to defend their location. See if you can keep track of the couples to see who "wins".

With this activity, don't be surprised when you do have fertile eggs more in the warmer months. The mother will leave the eggs for short periods of time but always sleep on them overnight. If she is hatching eggs, try and keep your distance so she isn't too stressed. Maybe put some extra food out if you are welcoming to her being there. Having baby ducks around is sooooo much fun. When I was a kid we used to buy duck eggs and hatch them in an incubator and raise them.
 

Mmathis

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Reminds me of the time a Killdeer layed eggs & actually SAT on them, on the concrete, in the middle of the hospital parking lot where I worked! After a day or 2 mom and the eggs disappeared -- never knew details. But that goofy bird didn't need to pass on her genes!
 

j.w

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The Killdeer kept doing that here along the edge of our road for a few yrs and the darn crows kept getting the eggs. Finally after a few yrs they got the idea that it was not a good place for a nest. Went to a yard sale once and the people had Killdeer nesting right in the middle of their gravel driveway. The people built a little fence around the nest so people would drive around it and the Killdeer raised the family safely.............lucky birds!
 

addy1

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Neat jw, would love to have seen that.

I built up protection around a wrens nest to keep those darn brown headed cow birds from laying eggs in their nest.
 

j.w

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What? You have birds there that are too lazy to build their own nests? Nice of you to help the little Wren bird!
 
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These ducks are now my buddies. Every time I am out there working on the yard they are hanging out with me (the egg is still untouched). I was in the pond today with them and they stayed about 10' away but did not seem to really mind me moving pots around.

Silly birds, they don't even mind the Chihuahua. He tried going after them the first time, but they just stayed in the water and all he could do was run around the pond. But now he doesn't even pay them any attention. They sleep in the flower bed in the back yard and he goes out to do his business and doesn't even act like they are there. They don't seem scared of him either.

I do believe they moved in.

That is crazy birds laying eggs in parking lots. I read that to my husband who is from OK. He told me a story of a killdear who laid eggs in the parking lot at the church he went to as a little boy. Seems like killdear really could learn something about proper locations for nest.
 

addy1

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What? You have birds there that are too lazy to build their own nests? Nice of you to help the little Wren bird!

lol jw it had built a great nest, right outside our door. Those darn cowbirds lay eggs in the wrens nest, the cowbirds are then raised by the poor little wrens. So I made it so the cowbird could not reach their nest, they are a lot bigger bird than a wren. We watched the cowbird attempt to get in the nest, we scared it away then built protection for the wren.
 

Mmathis

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I love wrens! I have little baskets, wooden craft houses, clay pots -- you name it -- all over the yard. Right now there is a chickadee family in one of the wooden houses. There has been a tufted titmouse raise multiple families over the past 3 years in the top of our basketball goal -- in the post itself, totally exposed to the elements, no cover. It's there now and the first brood of the season is close to fledging. The robins are going crazy ever since we dug in the yard. I have a special plant saucer out that I put grubs in (can't stand them, but the turtles & birds love 'm!) and the robins watch for me. A few days ago I watched a robin & a mocking bird get into it over my grub tray!
 

sissy

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I had a cat as a kid and we had chickens and she could not have kittens and the chickens laid eggs all over she sat on chicken eggs and she was a chicken mom .Fuzzy the cat even stole a neighbors new puppies when the mom was not there and would steal neighbors cats kittens all the time .When babies disapeared people in the neighborhood knew right where to come to get them back .She even stole our chihuahuas puppies when ever she got the chance .No baby was off limits to Fuzzy .
 

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