I have a muscovy hen who has been sitting on a clutch for a few weeks already. This morning when I went to unlock the coop ( I allow everyone to free range during the day. 2 hens are sitting in this coop, 2 hens are dropping in to lay and 3 drakes come visiting as well. One hen sitting in the guinea coop, go figure, and sitting ducks can all go out to bath, eat and return), I found the one hen had decided that the clutch which was due on 5/24 was not looking as good as the nest with old duck eggs and a crap load of guinea eggs. I had recently cleared out 12 duck eggs and put them in the incubator in the house which now I wished I hadn't but there were so many eggs in this one nest ( 2 ducks plus 4 guineas using it). I also have about 50 guinea eggs in an incubator so I dont have room to rescue the eggs the hen WAS sitting on. Why do they do this? this was the preferred nest by most. the one hen is nesting in a tote, 2 more totes have eggs and no one sitting on them yet, the area under the bale of straw was just abandoned ( it was the prefered nest), and the nest the hen moved to has no roof, it is just a 12X12 plastic box with straw in it. GRRRRR.
