Can you help me save abandoned duck eggs!

By the way, I’m in the Miramar Florida area

If it was a wild duck, don’t do it yourself. It is a violation of federal migratory bird act. Call animal control or whatever your game wardens are called down there. Call them now.

You could try to put them under the other duck, but..dependent on how long they were left unattended they may no longer be viable.

An incubator would be the only other option, a box in the garage won’t cut it, and eggs need to be turned and incubated at around 95 degrees.

I see that you say it is 11:pm…waiting till morning would not work…and animal control is not going to take duck eggs as an emergency call at night. lol

Do you have a local wildlife rescue group you can call?

Oh, and btw….your scent on the eggs is a myth, as well as handling baby birds, waterfowl in general, birds have a poor sense of smell aside from vultures and seabirds…handling the eggs is not a concern.

You could try to set them up on a heating pad with a blanket in a confined area…til morning and checking with your local wildlife people.

How long as the mom been incubating the eggs? Duck eggs take around 28 days or so to hatch.

Nice you are trying but really, without an incubator asap it’s not looking good.

I don’t know how long it’s been. I just moved home and they’ve been here at least as long as I have (10 days)

I just called animal control and they didn’t answer. I guess I will try moving them to the other nest.

@westriverrat tha k you for the information, it is good, but I can’t consciously let 15 ducks die b/c “it’s the law.” it’s only 79 degrees so I doubt they will make it til morning when I can contact the appropriate sources :(

The eggs won’t go to waste, even if you can’t save them. Possum, raccoons, snakes and skunks have to eat too. They will make short work of the eggs. The cycle of life is seldom pretty or peaceful.

Yea, you are right!

I guess that’s what’s going to happen… There’s no way I’m gonna sneak them into another nest while the duck is sitting on top! LOL

Call your local Humane Society! I called them when baby ducks were trapped in a gutter and they had firemen come to the rescue to get them out. The mother was still alive. She was quacking like crazy while the firemen were rescuing her ducklings. She didn’t even fly away while there were human beings a foot next to her. It was an amazing experience. They’ll probably find a way to put the eggs under a light to keep them warm so they hatch. =]

We found abandoned duck eggs once and placed them in box with a towel wrapped around them under a lamp for heat. They all hatched and were sooo cute! We ended up taking them to a local park with a pond and they went free and an adult duck took them in and fed them! It was awesome but took a lot of work.

We found a couple of abandoned mallard duck eggs when I was a kid. We were away from home for the weekend, so my mom kept them warm in her bra. When we got home, she called the nearest zoo, and they said they would put the eggs in one of their incubators. Later they called to say only one egg was viable, and they would raise it with the other chicks and ducklings as part of the petting zoo.

If putting them into the other nest doesn’t work (and keep in mind if the two sets of eggs weren’t laid at the same time, they won’t hatch at the same time, and I don’t know what the adult ducks would do in that situation), just keep the eggs warm and make calls to bird rescue groups, a nearby zoo or petting farm, or even a veterinarian who might know of someone who takes in orphaned or injured birds. Good luck!