Ducklings still haven't hatched--it's been 31 days--what should I do?

We've had a crazy time with our ancona and her eggs. She hatched out one duckling on the 28th, but the other two eggs that are under her still haven't hatched. She's still sitting faithfully on the eggs, which have been under her for 30-31 days (I noticed her broody on one of her eggs and some chicken eggs May 31st, and added green eggs from another duck under her on the 31st, as well as the 1st of June). There were two times during the month, however, that some eggs had gotten pushed out from under Mama during the night by our chicken who wanted to lay there and moved the eggs out. After candling, I put them back under Mama duck, and she's been sitting faithfully on them.

Mama has the nesting box, and I have food and drinking water for both her and the duckling less that a foot from Mama. The duckling seems to stay under mama most of the time, but has come out to eat. During the day, they are latched into the duck house by themselves, and during the night I close them off from the other ducks.

How long should I let Mama sit on the eggs? Is there any chance they might still hatch?

Thanks!

If the duck wasn't on the eggs over night it isn't likely they are still viable. If chicken eggs cool off they die, I imagine ducks are the same. But, since duck egg incubation is from 21 to 31 days, wait a bit and see what happens. Some water fowl will actually die from lack of food from sitting on the nest beyond what they should, so I wouldn't wait too long.
http://www.ducks.org/conservation/waterfowl-research-science/the-incubation-period

I'd let HER make the decision on when to leave the nest. As long as she has food and water, she'll be fine. Has she been eating/drinking? She won't let anything happen to the duckling she has.

We normally let them sit on the eggs until she pushes the eggs out or breaks them open and eats them. (which is normal) sometime she just leaves with her babies. (and sometime we steal her babies to be raised by Silkies)

Eggs get laid in our ducks nest many time during the nest building time. Guineas will even sneak eggs in. So....

I think it's safe to bet the eggs most likely wont hatch, but what does it hurt to let her try.

Cheers

Thank you all for your replies! Mama Duck is still sitting on her eggs. Baby duck seems to be doing well. Sometimes at night she escapes from their barracaded portion of the duck house...and then nestles under a different duck that wants to be broody. She did that the night she hatched out, as well as last night. Both times I placed her successfully back with Mama Duck.

I don't know if Mama Duck is eating. There's food and water very close for both her and baby, so hopefully she's eating. This morning when I checked on them, she stood up and I saw that one of the eggs had a little hole pecked in it! But, when I checked again a few hours later, I couldn't see the hole and the duckling still hasn't hatched. Is it normal for Mama duck to rotate an egg that's hatching?

I'm going to let her keep sitting on those eggs for a few more days, just in case. Hopefully at least one will hatch out with another duck!

Well, after yesterday's good news, I have to report some sad news. I went to check on Mama and Baby today and noticed Mama half off of her eggs, and couldn't see Baby. I went into the coop to find Baby duck dead, about a foot from Mama duck. We didn't notice any bite marks or exterior damage. She's just dead. My heart is rather broken.

Mama duck seems to still be eating, as there was a giant, broody-stinky poop in the coop. I just checked on her again. She's still on the eggs. At this point, she might just hatch out the other egg in there that got laid the day Baby duck hatched out (I didn't touch it because I didn't want to disturb the nest). One of the green eggs is turning blue inside. Pretty sure it's rotten. I'm just lost as to what I should do...

Oh dear! So sad about the duckling. Fingers crossed another egg hatches.

This is exactly what happened with my ducks a couple years ago.  A hen laid 6 eggs, hatched 3 then threw the other eggs out of the nest.  I figured she was done with them so I took the bad eggs off to the compost pile.  I'm glad I did, because when they broke open I nearly passed out from the smell.  It's not a smell that you want hanging around in the coop, so it may be advised to remove them.  
None of the ducklings survived either.  The other hens in the coop harassed the mother duck off the nest and the ducklings got pecked to death.  Sad.  

Next time I'll move any broody birds to a private space to have some peace and quiet.  I've always had better luck doing it that way.  

Sorry to hear that it hasn't worked out yet.  If she's still broody maybe you could try again?  
Best wishes

Can anyone tell me what to do if you have a Perkins duck egg in a incubator that hasn't hatch at day 33.  I hate so bad to disgaurd it. There is and or was a duck inside the egg.  

Hi Wendy, and welcome to Permies!

After 33 days it's not going to hatch.  Sometimes they just don't, even if everything else is fine.  The only reason to keep it longer is if it's possible it was a Pekin-Muscovy cross, as they might take 35 days.

I usually only give the eggs two extra days, counting the first as day zero.

They are not cross, I only have Perkins ducks.  I have taken it out of the incubator.  Should I have left it in there?

No, it's way past the hatch date.  Sorry.

That is what I am afraid of.  Thank you! Also normally I have been able to see how the duck is progressing by putting it under the light.  I can see through a pocket in the egg where the light shines through.  But I have one where it is dark in there and unable to see.  The egg was crack during incubation,  but I have seen movement.  The duck is due in 2 days. Does it sound like the duck is okay? Sorry I am new at this.  

No worries about asking questions, Wendy.  If there's been movement it's a very good sign.  All you can do is wait but the good news is you'll know in a couple of days.

I've hatched out a fair number of eggs and I still have problems.  Raising animals is very difficult and takes practice like everything else.  Good luck!

Hello. There is a duck that laid her eggs and it's been 3 months and she is still laying on them. Any idea what to do. I feel so bad for her.

Hello,
We found a wild duck nest but not the duck. we haven’t seen in in so long we’ll anyway my hopes got lost about her because it was snowing and the snow got on the eggs but it wasn’t below freezing it was about 34to 35F I don’t know if they are still viable.

Ann Strider wrote:Hello,
We found a wild duck nest but not the duck. we haven’t seen in in so long we’ll anyway my hopes got lost about her because it was snowing and the snow got on the eggs but it wasn’t below freezing it was about 34to 35F I don’t know if they are still viable.

Welcome to permies Ann.

I admit this doesn't sound good. Normally, a duck will hide the eggs by covering them with leaves or straw. They will only come to the nest once a day or so to lay, and then go away again. When they decide they have enough eggs, then they'll start sitting.

However, not all ducks do cover the eggs. Have you counted the eggs? If after 24 hours, there are one or two more eggs than there were, then it is understandable that you aren't seeing the mom. If the number is staying the same, then there's a good chance that the mom was sitting and a predator got her. If the eggs had started to develop, once they get chilled, they will be dead, so an incubator won't help. There is a chance she was killed before incubating them, so if the number of eggs is staying the same or decreasing, you could try candling the eggs. However, incubating wild duck egg is a big responsibility and the birds will never cope in the wild as they won't have been raised by a duck mom. Our Khaki Campbell ducks aren't good at setting, so we try to get our Muscovy to set and brood the Khakis. They don't quite speak the same language, but they do learn about predators and foraging.

Hi! I was away from home for a few months and when I came back, a duck had made a nest beside my driveway. I visited home 10 days before I officially moved back and she wasn't there yet so I can't say for sure how many days the eggs have been there but at the very least I have been home for 31 days. She sits on the eggs most of the time, only leaves to find food for less than 1 hour per day but in the time she was gone I saw that there are 17 eggs!! Online I saw that it takes 30 days for a muscovy duck egg to hatch and now it has been more than that...is it possible that all 17 eggs will not hatch? Keep in mind it is possible she laid them as much as 9 days before I got home which would make the eggs closer to 40 days

Welcome to permies, Stephanie!

This is complicated. A bird may "sit" to add an egg to a nest, and "sit" to protect that nest, and sit to incubate those eggs.

1. So if the number of eggs went up, if there were fewer eggs when you first saw the nest than now, you may find that the 'clock' only started when she'd decided to stop laying.
2. Are you sure there aren't other Muscovy ducks adding eggs to that nest (which tends to make a mess of the whole process).
3. I don't where you got the "30 days", but my Muscovy reliably take 5 weeks which is 35 days (except when they were just "guarding" the eggs rather than incubating them in which case it takes longer and every time I've tried to second guess them when I couldn't see flies or smell bad smells, I've regretted it).
4. Do you care? Muscovy are pretty opinionated - if they think there's something there which will hatch, and you have no reason to mess with her, I'd let her be for at least a couple more weeks. Alternatively, if you've got a really good flashlight, you could try candling the eggs when she goes off for food. I expect you'd have to be quite discrete about it, but there's a "hatch-along" thread here on permies with pictures from candling eggs which would give you some idea. Personally, I'd wait at least another 7 days before doing that. If you decide you want to candle and can't find the thread, say so here and I'll go hunting for it.
5. She's going to be one *very* busy mom if they all hatch! The best we've ever done was 13.

Whenever I think eggs are ready to hatch,  I can candle them ( look into them with a flashlight in a dark closet)
put the egg on top of a toilet paper roll tube and shine the flashlight in.  If the egg is moving inside and it is time to hatch, I break the shell on the end where the bubble of air is to let fresh air in and look at the baby
chick or duck.  I may or may not remove more shell it if looks like the baby needs help.

30 days + after seeing nest. 1 Muscovy duck hatched 5 days ago. 14 more she’s sitting on. What’s likelihood of them hatching.
When & how to dispose of nest. It’s next to my house don’t want rotten egg smell

Eila Wells wrote:30 days + after seeing nest. 1 Muscovy duck hatched 5 days ago. 14 more she’s sitting on. What’s likelihood of them hatching.
When & how to dispose of nest. It’s next to my house don’t want rotten egg smell

Muscovy eggs should hatch by day 36 and you know it's been 30 minimum so it should be close.

One sign of rotten eggs are house flies buzzing the nest. However, Mom will see flies as free food and many Muscovy are *very* good fly catchers. (I have a Muscovy whose short name is Venus - her full name is Venus Flytrap - she doesn't miss often)

Have you observed the mom coming off the nest at times? If she comes off to get water, that would be the time to swipe an egg or 3. If the egg acts like it's all liquidy, at 30 days, it's rotten. If it smells rotten, it's likely rotten. If it's making peeping noises, carefully put it back in the same orientation you picked it up in!!!

This is a very tough call. There is no one right answer. She could have taken over from another mom and so the early hatchling may not mean the rest won't hatch, but the clock is definitely ticking...