Hatch a Mallard Duck Egg

Mallard ducks are amazing animals. And sometimes you want to help them hatch. It's important to not remove wild ducks eggs from any nest without the proper cause; however, if the mother is confirmed missing for over a period of 48 hours, you may be able to help.

Steps

  1. Check your local wildlife laws. Depending on where you live, disturbing wildlife, including bird eggs, is likely illegal if you intend to sell the ducks later as pets or breed them, or intentionally harm them.
    • Do not try to raise them from the wild without notifying a local Fish and Game or Wildlife Officer first. Call your local office, and ask them if you can raise these wild ducks from eggs, in an incubator you bought, and release them in exactly 60-90 days, which is their fledging time (how long it takes to fly) to a nearby lake in your town. Notify them that the mother duck has been missing for 48 hours. They will advise you from there if that is okay to incubate the eggs, or not okay. Write down who you talked to, and their phone number if you have any more questions during the next 90 days
  2. Find a local store with an incubator or order one online. Your local feed store or County Co-Op can usually help with this or you can do a search for "poultry incubator" and order online. They start at around $100.00 plus S/H.
  3. Order fertile eggs online or find a local farmer with fertile eggs. Eggs should be collected and stored at room temperature for no more than 7 days at room temperature or at 55F and a humidity of 60% for 14 days, your cellar is a perfect spot for this. To increase your chances of a complete hatch the sooner you put them in to hatch the better. Before placing eggs in the incubator use a pencil and gently write an O on one side and an X on the other side (sides not top and bottom). This will help you keep track of where to turn the eggs next.
  4. Start incubator several hours before adding the eggs to make sure the temperature stabilizes at {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} and Humidity at 30-50%. I have found that starting my incubator 24 hours before usually allows plenty of time for all the minor adjustments to be made prior to incubation of the eggs.
  5. Place eggs in incubator with either the X or O on top.
  6. Rotate eggs at least three times a day, half turn each rotation. Always rotate an odd number of times so that the chick sleeps on a different side each night. If your incubator has an automatic egg rotator don't worry about turning your eggs as the incubator will do the turning for you. Never place the eggs small end up in the turning trays!
  7. You can check the eggs throughout the incubation process by holding a high powered flashlight up to them in a dark room. Some people recommend removing eggs if it is clear they are not fertile. If you begin to see an egg start to develop brown drops on the outside of the eggshell that egg is not fertile and needs to be removed.
  8. At day 25, decrease the temperature to 97-98F and increase the humidity level to 70%. This will aid in the hatching process and also help keep egg particles from sticking to your new chicks.
  9. Get ready for hatching. The eggs should begin to hatch at day 28. After hatching the chicks will need to dry off at least 75% of the way in the incubator before you move them to the brooder. Your brooder should be an area large enough to accommodate your ducklings, giving them at least 6 sq. in. per duckling.
    • Set your brooder up with a brooder lamp (also from your local feed store) or a heat lamp with a 75-100 watt bulb, dry hay, very shallow fresh water, and un-medicated duck starter food. A long Rubbermaid™ storage container works great. They need to be able to have a temperature gradient. If they pant and stay away from the bulb, decrease the heat either by raising the lamp or lowering the wattage of the bulb. If they huddle together under the bulb and cry, increase the temperature by lowering the lamp or increasing the wattage of the bulb (not to exceed 100). Allow them plenty of space so that if they do get too hot so they can move away from the lamp.
  10. Take care of them until it's time to release them. Provide them with plenty of fresh water and feed.
    • Try your best to read up on trustworthy websites how to raise up the ducks, and print that information out and have it next to the nest in a binder.
    • Keep the phone number to a veterinarian next to the nest, and your local wildlife officers phone number, just in case you need to contact those folks, for instance, if you have to go on an unforeseen trip.
  11. Release them into the wild when it's time.
    • Make very sure that you have scheduled a day off from work, in about 90 days to go to a lake with the ducks in your car, and one at a time, let them walk or fly into the water of the lake.
    • Some female ducks will not tolerate other ducklings in their area. Try to find a lake without any other ducks in it.

Tips

  • If you have never used an incubator before, try to do a test run for 30 days to make sure that the machine works and that you are comfortable with the buttons. Use some rocks and write O and X on each side, and see if you can turn them over without missing any times.
  • Do not touch the ducklings until three days of them adjusting to their brooder.

Warnings

  • Do net feed the ducklings human food.
  • Do not pick the ducks up by their legs or feet.
  • Do not hurt the ducklings.

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