Hi lovely people - I'm torn. My white campbell Bella produces an egg every day. She has made huge nests in her coop but never sat on them (20 eggs). Twice recently a crow got to her eggs and took all of them (we used to leave the big coop door open all day but now close it daily to keep out the crow - I forgot one time and husband forgot the other time).
We have a large garden and pond, in the countryside, and the two ducks are free range but put away at dusk, usually let out around 8.30.
For three days now Bella has spent the day sitting on eggs in an earth scrape under a dense, thorny bush. She's chosen a really good spot (it took us a while to find it and we know she's used the spot before - I took the eggs last time). She's smart to avoid the crow risk (which should go away now we know we have to shut the door every day) - overall, she's being pretty smart.
But should I discourage this given we do have foxes and mink (and crows) in the neighbourhood? It is over a year since I lost a duck to them, and I haven't seen a fox this year, but I lost 4 ducks to foxes last year - they nested right by the water and were easy to see.
I feel mean spoiling Bella's clever nest but she'll need to be safe for say 7 weeks to hatch her eggs, won't she - 3 to lay and 4 to sit? And I'm so fond of the feisty little sausage. Her mate seems to have lost track of where she is, he's lurking at the edge of the pond and calling her. He is scared of the water but during the day he is probably pretty safe there (he's a young cayuga, she bosses him around).
Should I take her eggs and continue locking her away at night? Or hope she stays safe outside for a few weeks?
Would appreciate advice from more experienced duck-keepers, please. We'd love her to hatch a few ducklings (we currently have 8 almost fully grown wild mallard ducklings on our pond).
We have a large garden and pond, in the countryside, and the two ducks are free range but put away at dusk, usually let out around 8.30.
For three days now Bella has spent the day sitting on eggs in an earth scrape under a dense, thorny bush. She's chosen a really good spot (it took us a while to find it and we know she's used the spot before - I took the eggs last time). She's smart to avoid the crow risk (which should go away now we know we have to shut the door every day) - overall, she's being pretty smart.
But should I discourage this given we do have foxes and mink (and crows) in the neighbourhood? It is over a year since I lost a duck to them, and I haven't seen a fox this year, but I lost 4 ducks to foxes last year - they nested right by the water and were easy to see.
I feel mean spoiling Bella's clever nest but she'll need to be safe for say 7 weeks to hatch her eggs, won't she - 3 to lay and 4 to sit? And I'm so fond of the feisty little sausage. Her mate seems to have lost track of where she is, he's lurking at the edge of the pond and calling her. He is scared of the water but during the day he is probably pretty safe there (he's a young cayuga, she bosses him around).
Should I take her eggs and continue locking her away at night? Or hope she stays safe outside for a few weeks?
Would appreciate advice from more experienced duck-keepers, please. We'd love her to hatch a few ducklings (we currently have 8 almost fully grown wild mallard ducklings on our pond).
