What is egg addling?
• Egg addling is a technique endorsed by the Humane Society of the United States and many wildlife organizations, as a means of controlling waterfowl populations. Eggs in a new nest are gently shaken to break the yolk within the egg and this ensures that the egg will not hatch out. Our Animal Control Officers are familiar with this practice and will again be addling nests on the lake property as nests are located. The eggs in the nest are marked to identify them as already being addled, but they are not removed so that the female duck will remain with the nest. This is important for the health of the female because if she abandons her nest or finds her nest removed, she will lay another clutch of eggs use up valuable nutrients from her own body in the process. • We DO NOT addle any nest where there is doubt about the age of the egg or where we know that the egg has developed past the embryo stage to the fetus stage.
