my neighbor has a duck nest along the side of her house, under some bushes. There are 7 eggs in the nest. She is worried that her dog may scare the mother duck away. Also, the yard has a chain-link fence, and she is wondering if the ducklings will be trapped inside the yard. How long does it take for the ducklings to fly? Thanks for your help

I am going to guess that it is a Mallard duck nest. They lay an average of 8 to 12 eggs. The hen will start incubating the eggs once the clutch is complete. Once she has started incubating the eggs there is little that would cause her to abandon the nest. However, the dog should be kept away from that area of the yard so that it does not go after the hen or destroy the nest. Once incubation has begun it typically takes about 26 days (give or take a couple days) for the ducklings to hatch. They will all hatch within 24 hours of each other and will be ready to leave the nest. They should be able to make it through a chain link fence. The hen will move them to water soon after they are hatched. They won't stay at the nest site.