newbie aylesbury duck breeding

[Anonymous]

hi all

i have 2 aylesburys male and female, they are both around 10 months old. the hen has been laying now for 3 months and have had a steady supply of eggs, they have been at it like rabbits on and off the whole time and he is getting very noisy in the mornings, and he is getting very protective over her when i check on them even though they are both tame and easy to handle.

my question is, when will she start laying fertile eggs. i have left her with the eggs for the past week or so to see if she will start to sit on them but no luck yet, i checked around there pen this morning and found 9 eggs in a nest but 1 was broken and they where stone cold, another 2 in the corner of the pen and a fresh one laid randomly in the middle of the pen, is it still to early in the year for her to sit or could it be there is a problem

 

[Anonymous]

Hi,

Very likely you have very fertile eggs. I have some of my ducks first eggs in the inccy and theyre fertile so i have allowed her to keep some now to see if she will go broody, i have two laying in one nest, after several failed attempt to make two nests they keep ending back up in there, and there is currently 15 in there. The next egg after a sucessful mating will be fertile. Ducks lay anywhere, unlike a chicken, and then gather and sit when shes happy she has anough, from what i gather, i have only experience using incubators so, from what research i have read they can lay up to 18 eggs before sitting, but i don't know the truth in that.

If i was you i would get a few more females with your pair as if she does eventually sit and hatch out ducklings the drake will most probably kill them, he needs to be separated off with other girls at the time of this, or ducklings taken away and artificially brooded. My two week olds have just gone into the outdoor brooder pen, intoo the garage, with a electric hen. Good luck 17