I've got a mallard hen that has a nest of 6 or 8 eggs. She's flow off a few times when I spooked her by feeding my fish and usually circles back but this evening she seemed to be gone quite a while.

How long can the eggs go unattended (naturally incubated) until they go bad?

As you can see I know nothing about birds.

From what I've heard if the hen hasn't started to incubate the eggs yet she can leave them unattended for quite some time, if she is incubating maybe a couple hours depending on temp.

That sums it up... If she only has that small a number of eggs, she is probably not done laying yet.

That a small number of eggs? I thought that was a lot! Darn things look as big as chicken eggs! How many do they lay for God's sake?

Cecil I believe the average is 10 to 12 eggs.

She's hunkered down in the nest now and not leaving. Obviously the eggs are incubating now. How long will it be until they hatch?

I'm staying away from her to leave her undisturbed.

Here's a pic of her on her nest in stealth mode. If you look close you can see the brown feathers. This is between my two back production ponds. One is full and one is mostly empty.

28 days

Thanks RAH!

Now if the raccoon I spotted last fall doesn't come around, and my neighbors two dogs stay away she'll be successful.

Any idea if a paintball gun will harm a slightly bigger than lap size dog? Maybe if my neighbor sees his white dog all colored up he will get the message.

Nope, no harm unless you freeze the paintballs. Then they'll hurt like heck!!!

A multi-polka dot white dog would be worthy of a close up pic.

If only my department would let me take some pepperballs home. They're like paint balls but instead of paint, they're filled with OC pepper powder. Nasty little things!

Well the duck is history and eggs are scattered and broken by my neighbor's two dogs. Not sure what I will do as I've already had a talk with him and his dogs just keep coming back. He has no control over his dogs and is rarely home. I want to finish my privacy fence in the back but don't have the funds yet.

What really concerns me is my Akita, that is at least 6 times bigger, gets really upset when she's on the deck and they taunt her. If she jumps off the deck she'll probably chase them back to their house and might even kill them. (They're both little Bichons). She's killed muskrats with one snap of the neck.

I've considered whacking them with a paintball gun until I get my fence completely up as I said earlier in the thread. I was thinking that would serve a two fold purpose: Negative reinforcement and the paint will show the dogs are once again where they shouldn't be.

CB1 - no leash law in your area? Check with the sheriff or the county dog warden.

Cecil, can you put the dogs in a kennel? I wonder what the Noble County animal shelter would do if you dropped them off - "they were wandering on my property".?

CB1 - look to see if the dogs have tags or check with the warden to see if they are licensed. The warden can quickly tell you this info. It would be interesting to see what would happen if those dogs do not have a license!

Cecil, often a Deputy Sheriff will drop a wandering dog in it's tracks when called and then ther is no recourse for the owner against you.

Cecil have you considered an electric fence, when you take your dog outside just turn it off.

I like the paintball gun idea.

Thanks all for your suggestions.

One of my best customers is a local cop and I will have a talk with him.

The thing is I don't want to raise too much of a stink as there is always a possibility my three back ponds could become an issue if someone wanted revenge. There are no permits required for ponds in my county, but they are very steep sided and could be considered a danger if someone wanted to make an issue of it. And I'm not technically zoned for farming here.

Most of the back yard has a privacy fence except for one side, which I've been meaning to finish. That opening is where the dogs are coming in.

I like the idea of an electric fence until I get the rest of the fence up. I've priced them and they are not too bad.

You can see the privacy fence covers the entire back property except on the right.

Cecil, the electric fence is the cheapest route to take, and is the least permanent. I'll bet you could run one complete (controller, wire and stakes) for less than $100.

I think you're right. It might even be entertaining to wait for them to touch the fence!

At least the eggs didn't go to waste. My resident crows are cleaning them up!

Cecil, how close is your neighbor?

Cecil, the mallard that nested on the island lost her nest due to the rising waters. All the eggs were floating in the pond a couple of days ago, now they are all gone.

Their property borders the back of my property but the house is probably 400 feet back.

Sounds like you have some options (paintballs/electric fence), but you might consider some firecrackers or roman candles? Surely that would scare them?