Why Do Ducks Lay Eggs In Water?

I would second the advice to go to www.backyardchickens.com/forums .  There is a duck category there, and you will get quick, knowledgeable answers to your questions.

Ducks DO lay in water, but it's more an accidental thing. If they want to brood, they will lay in a nest. Most are not particularly broody and will lay wherever they happen to be. In fact, if you want the eggs, it's usually best to keep them in the coop in the early morning until they lay, so you will be able to collect them.

Birds don't get "pregnant". If the eggs are going to be fertilized, they are fertilized inside the female's body. Once the eggs are laid, they are either fertile and can hatch, or are not. Duck eggs will NOT hatch unless they are incubated. They don't begin to develop unless they are kept very warm and at proper humidity, usually under the mother duck or in an incubator.

A typical lay cycle for most ducks varies by breed, but will be anywhere from one per day (for Indian Runners and other laying breeds) to one every few days. Some ducks lay year-round (my runners did) and some lay seasonally. If they are going to brood (sit on the eggs) they will typically lay one egg at a time in the nest until they think they have enough, and then will begin setting on them and stop laying. Some types of ducks go through this cycle about 3x a year (muscovies, especially in places where it is not very hot year-round).

I had ducks for years and although mine never laid eggs in the water (I just had a kiddie pool) I'm not surprised to hear of people finding them there. If a duck isn't feeling "broody" she'll drop an egg wherever she happens to be.....in a field, the barn or the water if that's where she happens to be. Once she has made a nest and wants to hatch a brood, she'll beat it back to the nest every day to lay her egg, cover it over, until she decides she has enough eggs and then she'll start to incubate them so that they'll all hatch about the same time.

My call ducks have started to lay in a little kiddy pond, no idea why but she has made a nest and I move the egg outside her box and she rolls it in and covers it, what I'd like to know is can they successfully be incubated or have they been drastically effected by being underwater. I know they have this kind of membrane like casing to stop germs getting through the egg's pore but what about being underwater???Can she still sit on these eggs and hatch ducklings or will these all be duds? Should I remove the eggs and the kiddy pool and see where she starts to lay them and then will they be suitable for incubating and getting ducklings. There is a call duck drake beautiful fellow chases you when you turn your back on him.

I have one female and three males and they mates about 3 days before she layed them. She layed them in the water and has done for the last 2 years. However the first year she layed she made a nest in the reeds. Why is she laying them in the water, is it because she wasnt brought up with a mother? Do they survive in the water (she is not a call duck). We have taken them out of the pond thinking the duckling egg wont be able to be incubated.. Are we wrong?? Please answer if you know! I want to know if something is wrong with her or if they can survive in the water! I have made a nest for her and placed two of the five eggs inside it, is this the right thing to do? Please reply! X

I was looking for answers too!! AS we have a pond in our front yard and every year we have ducks visit early in the spring. They stay for a while and then disappear around end of May. I have never seen eggs before?? This year when walking around our pond I noticed an egg in the water near the edge...I thought my grandson may have taken an egg out for some reason....but a week later I walked around the pond and found another egg????
This is very strange and we would like to understand this better....

Ducks can be very careless where they lay.  They will lay in the pond if they are 'caught short' or they may lay at the edge of the pond and they then roll in.  It is not intentional as they obviously cannot hatch under water.  If you want a duck to sit, making a nest in a better place is the thing to do but there are no guarantees that she will then sit on them.  You cannot force a duck to sit if she doesn't want to without being cruel.

I do not know the the actually footage , but we currently have a Mallard that has laid 24 eggs about 400 feet and across the street from the water.  So I would think that they lay their eggs where they think they would be safe and hidden from  prey.  (hawks, humans, cats, and other critters) but close enough to the water they can go eat and get a drink and bathe.

I have had 5 ducks for about a year now (Khakis, Swedish, and a Runner). They have a kiddy pool and a hutch. They usually lay in the hutch or on the ground. I go almost daily to collect eggs. Twice I have found all 5 eggs in the kiddy pool. I'm dying to find out why. At least from reading all of your stories, we know its not that unusual.

I suggest to everyone if you need answers to go to www.backyardchickens.com/forums
there is a category there for you to get knowledgable answers to these questions. I have been a member for over a year and am the loving owner of over 20 ducks, 20 bobwhite quail. 20 chickens and lord knows what else I might end up with come spring. I would love to answer the questions above but there are too many to answer really. So if you need help go there, there are a lot of varied backyard poultry owners that can answer anything from a-z!

I am now wondering if they only lay in clear water.  The eggs referred to above were laid after we cleaned and refilled the pond, and it was easy to see to the bottom.  Now the ducks have muddied it up again (bless their cotton socks) and there have been no more eggs.

The same thing is happening at the very large clear water pond at my apartment complex. I walked by the water today and there had to be at least 8 eggs in the water near my apartment's 1/16th of the pond. I don't understand why. Both males and females are around, as well as geese and 1 swan.

We have a duck that keeps dropping eggs into the pool while flying over. Two were just shells and one was a mostly form duckling that the Shell was oozing out of. This is the 1st year they have done this and they come every year when the pol cover is on.y

My duck is laying eggs in a little kids pool I have for it--weird--I picked it up and was going to throw away and it dropped and broke and the duck ate every bit of it --shell and all  weird-I think they accidentally lay the eggs in water--it just happens that way--they don't mean to

I have the same problem.  I found a large egg in our tank and I had to go knee deep to get it out.  And there are egg around the edge half way in the water.  Could it be that they are too young to know what they are doing?

I tend to agree with the notion they are too young to know what they are doing.  I, too, have found six eggs in the pond (November) and it appears they were layed there intentionally.  This is something I've never seen before, but these ducks are only 6-7 months old.  Hopefully, they will get it figured out before spring gets here!

It is just a misconception. As according to my knowledge ducks do not lay their eggs in water. They are basically ground nesters. They lay their eggs in a nest on ground. The eggs you found must have been brought to the pond by some other animal or a human.

Ducks can't hold their eggs for long as hens. So sometimes the egg is laid down as in emergency.same happens sometimes with the pigeon when the lay down egg while not in the nest but it happens very rare

I think my duck is pregnant and I have a lot of rain for the last few days, my duck has disappeared and I can't find her? Could she left to go somewhere else to have her eggs? And what are ducks habits when they are pregnant????

We have pet ducks in a pond in our backyard. They did start to lay eggs in the water when they first began to lay eggs. Now one of them is nesting on higher ground near the pond.

I have the same prop a duck has layed eggs in my hedge and has moved here eggs now in to the pond I can not see them but see keeps moving around the pond and is not sitting in one place
please help us !

Don't know, but I have one that leaves them in the water and as she wanders around the yard.  Got'a watch where you step.