Posted by debbie kaminski on April 27, 2007

Q: we have a mallard nest with 7 eggs under our tree, the eggs seem to all appear overnight which from information read seems unusual, we have surrounded the area with fence to stop cats and predators, the mother seems to spend most of her time away from the nest , we are at least 1.5 mile from our local pond and are worried about her taking the chicks if they survive to water? also how many eggs will she lay and is it possibkle for her to lay so many at once? any other help would be great. thanks

State: New York

A: Ducks only lay one egg per day. My guess is that she hads added an egg daily without you noticing. A typical Mallard nest can be from 8-12 eggs so she may still be laying her clutch. Ducks do not begin incubation until they have completed what they "think" is their full clutch. So, don't worry if she isn't nearby at any given time, she's probably still adding to the nest. Once she begins incubation, she'll spend most of her time on the nest with very short intervals away to get food and water.

Once the babies hatch I'd remove the fencing and allow her to move to the local pond. This is how it should work and although the babies are definitely vulnerable, nature works this way. You might want to decide on the best time of day to let her take her babies away. Oh yes, incubation takes from 26-30 days so this will give you a feel for when the eggs are ready to hatch (once she had begun incubation)

Hope this helps.

John Wiessinger ( April 28, 2007)