Need advice on Mandarin ducks!

[4-H chicken mom]

My Mandarin started to lay for the first time yesterday. I need your advice on, can I pull the egg from the box everyday? Will she continue to lay or will taking her eggs cause her to stop laying? Should I leave the eggs until she has more, then take. I don't want her to set right now. In fact, will she even set her first year? I want to hatch some with my BEI's eggs. I am a first timer with Mandarin eggs. I got them as ducklings last year and ended with a pair.

Thanks for any advice on them you can give me.

 

[4-H chicken mom]

Anyone out there.

 

[La Mike]

I havent had any issues with removing the eggs. You can get porcelin eggs to replace hers and she shouldnt even notice. That way a newbie hen wont change direction on you.

 

[4-H chicken mom]

Thanks.

Anyone else?

 

[destinduck]

What do you want out of your manderin hen exactly? You do know mandies are hard to hatch from day1 in an incubator? Alot different from hatching mallard-derived ducks. I assume you want the most eggs you can get . Its called double clutching and since you are a first timer at this your best bet is to let her lay about 8 eggs( older birds lay more eggs) and pull them all at once.(If you pull 1 a day you may screw her up). Then put them all under a broodie. Then redo the box with new chips,hay or straw. She may lay again she may not. Depends on the bird.Most likely Yes(but a much better chance this way than if she already goes to 'Set") Also helps to have two boxes per pr just in case she gets freaked from losing her eggs in the original box. All of this is the quick easy beginer version of course. Since you are a first timer with wild type ducks. I reccomend the slow and learning experience route and let her set her own eggs the first time.Experience is the best teacher unless you just have to have alot of eggs. The migratory and exotic waterfowl thread by BBB will also help you alot on the advanced parts. Most all set first year. Also next time you buy birds ask the person all you can about them, Most want you to do well with them and will help you any way they can. Hope this helps too.

Also there is a thread in ornamental fowl on manderins right now that would answer most all your questions on these beautiful birds. Good luck with em.

 

[4-H chicken mom]

Thank you destinduck. Yes I know they are hard to hatch. I just would rather try myself or eat them. I can't let her hatch her own because she and her mate are in a 12 X 32 covered avairy with my 8 BEI's. If she were to hatch her own, I would be afraid the BEI's would hurt the babies. I did read all 115 pages of the waterfowl thread, but, would pulling eggs cause a problem for mandarins was never mentioned. I have no problem learning from experience, I just don't want to learn from a bad experience and do harm to them. Thanks again for your help.

 

[destinduck]

To put your mind at ease the BEIs probably wouldnt even care about em and If you added cover even less worry. Plus the MAIN fact. Have you ever seen a duck defend and /or protect her offspring? Even if you dont know the exact hatch date( around 28 days) you could pull em at at least 14 days of mom setting and then still have a great success in the incubator. Either way you choose is fine though so dont worry to much.

They are great birds and easy to work with. They all have their little quirks for success. Also If it helps I tried the first day in an incubator thing lots and lots times on wild ducks just to see if the impossible can be done. The best hatch rate I ever got was about 30 %. Yes, it can be done. This took me years and lots and lots of eggs to figure this out. So the ONLY reason ANYWAY I would use this would be if I didnt have a broody nohow. It was just one of my own personal quest things. I reccomend not going there and I dont want to go there for nothing or nobody. Well... maybe lots and lots of money.

 

[4-H chicken mom]

Quote:
Thanks I didn't realize that about the BEI's. In fact, I was looking at cover plants and stuff today. I did put her eggs back in the box and she laid another one today. They are pretty comfy with me, because I am the worm lady. The Mandarins now take the worms from my hand, another accomplishment.