Broody Ducks Leaving Nests at Night

[telandra2]

Mine was doing the same thing for a couple of weeks she’s sit through the day for a few hours and then leave and sleep in the coop. I thought she was broken. She is now sitting full time and all eggs are progressing (she actually had 24 eggs in the nest…she now has 8).

Same behavior for my 2 goose girls. They sat for 4-5 hours after laying an egg and slept on the nest at night last month. Now they are both sitting full time. Both are first timers.

One big difference is no feathers the first time. Now the nests are properly feather cushioned.

 

[Kimmyh51]

Hi All. We have 5 ducks and two have gone broody. One created a nest under a big pine tree and the other in the middle of a poppy bed. Anyway, we have a shed for our ducks to protect them at night. They have been leaving their nests and going to bed with the rest of the flock at night. I find this odd. I would think they would stay on their nest 24x7. Is this normal? I am wondering if, with this behavior, they eggs with hatch. They nests are large, so I am sure they are done laying. They are Khaki Campbells. Thanks.

I thought it was odd when I heard wild animals broody ducks off the nest at night, so I googled it... https://www.usgs.gov/centers/werc/n...es-nocturnal-nest-breaks-and-predation-events

 

[Kimmyh51]

Same behavior for my 2 goose girls. They sat for 4-5 hours after laying an egg and slept on the nest at night last month. Now they are both sitting full time. Both are first timers.

One big difference is no feathers the first time. Now the nests are properly feather cushioned.

Apparently if disturbed by a predator they stay off longer and dont cover the nest, and some will take planned short breaks near dawn where no predator is involved and they will cover the nest. This behaviour matches what i heard in my wild ducks tonight...

https://www.usgs.gov/renters/werc/n...es-nocturnal-nest-breaks-and-predation-events