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About Jonathan Wright
Expertise
I can answer questions about wild mammals, as well as other wild animals. I can also answer questions on extinct animals and zoos. PLEASE DON'T SEND ME ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT PETS. IF YOU ARE REALLY WORRIED, YOU SHOULD CONTACT A VETERINARIAN. PLEASE DO NOT ASSUME THAT UNPAID PEOPLE ON ALLEXPERTS ARE AVAILABLE 24 HOURS A DAY AND WILL PROVIDE YOU WITH ADVICE THE MOMENT YOUR ANIMAL GETS ILL. Find out how to look after a pet before you get it. It is unfair to keep an animal in inappropriate conditions and give it the wrong food. If you can't keep an animal in good conditions, please don't bring it into your home. I'm not a vet and I don't have any expertise in animal medicine and care. I don't agree with people taking animals out of the wild and then expecting other people to give free advice on how to look after them. It is cruel to take animals away from their parents, who are able to look after the babies and may look for them, while putting their other babies at risk. You may need a licence to look after some animals. You may be breaking the law by keeping wild animals; please check with a local wildlife organisation. IF YOU FIND AN INJURED ANIMAL, PLEASE CONTACT A WILDLIFE VETERINARIAN OR CHARITY AND LET TRAINED STAFF LOOK AFTER THE ANIMAL. DO NOT TRY TO LOOK AFTER AN INJURED ANIMAL IF YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING. Please do not remove eggs from nests. The mother birds will know the right temperature for the eggs and will not sit on them if the temperature is warm enough for them to develop naturally. It is illegal to remove eggs of some species and, unless you have an incubator or a broody hen, the egg may not develop. If you are allowed to touch the eggs, you can candle them (check details on websites) to see if the eggs are fertile. If the eggs are not fertile, they will not hatch. I do not agree with fights between different animals. Please do not ask me questions about them.

Experience
I have a zoology degree and have been interested in animals since I was two years old. I am a zoo volunteer at London Zoo. I have appeared on a BBC Radio Quiz, 'Wildbrain'.

Organizations
World Wide Fund for Nature. Zoological Society of London. London Bat Group.

Publications
Newsletters of London Zoo volunteers and the London Bat Group

Education/Credentials
BSC degree in Zoology. 'A' levels in Zoology and Chemistry. 'O' Level in Biology.

You are here: Experts > Animals/Pets > Veterinary Medicine > Wild Animals > mallard Duck

Wild Animals - mallard Duck

Expert: Jonathan Wright - 11/2/2009

Question
I have a female mallard duck. I bought two for the children at Easter and something killed one. She is really attached to use, we have a pond below our house and she goes down there but she does not get in the water. But my question is she laid 4 eggs about 2 months ago and something got them. So the other day I was racking leaves and found her nest again she has 21 eggs. I don't know if they are fertile, what would you do? She is setting on them all the time but I don't wont her to keep setting of they are no good. Is that usual for them to lay that many eggs?

Thank you so much if you can help me.

Answer
Dear Marie

Thank you for your question. I also wish to thank the authors of the websites I used.

http://www.garden-birds.co.uk/birds/mallard.htm says that mallards lay 7-16 eggs, so 21 seems rather a lot. They may be more than one batch, so some of the eggs may be older than others.

http://www.garden-birds.co.uk/birds/mallard.htm and http://www.wikihow.com/Hatch-a-Mallard-Duck-Egg give advice on incubating the eggs. They take about 26-28 days to hatch.

http://www.minkhollow.ca/HatchingProgram/Candling/index.html and other sites give advice about how to candle eggs to see if they are fertile. If the eggs are fertile, you may as well leave them where they are unless you have an incubator. If the eggs are not fertile, it would be better to remove them. Please test each egg as some eggs may be fertile, while others may be infertile.

All the best

Jonathan

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