my 2 pekin ducks are now mating, I am getting eggs but how would I know if they have been fertilized ?? sorry if thats a dumb question but this is my 1st 2 ducks I have owned and cant find any info

There is no way of actually knowing whether the eggs have been fertilized, the only way you will know is if you incubate them for 7 days and then candling them, to see if an embryo is developing inside the egg. It will look like red veins and spider legs inside.

If you don't own an incubator then there is no real way of knowing, if your duck goes broody you will just have to wait and see, the first time you have some ducklings cooking the incubation period seems to last forever, even more annoying when you want to know if you've got any at all! lol.

Heather

thank you, I dont really want ducklings just dont want to kill any would be babies.. lol xx

The eggs will almost certainly be fertilised, you can check by cracking the egg and looking at the yolk, it will have a tiny cream/white bullseye dot which is the site of fertilisation. Nearly all eggs are fertilised if you look nowadays.

thank you for your replies