My Cayuga is Brooding! Need advice On What To Do (pictures included!).

[Ibicella]

Thanks guys, you've given me some great insight! That was my great worry about moving the nest, so I haven't touched it. I'm in the middle of suburbia and we have very few predators around here, plus she's pretty difficult to see in that dead bush (as you can see in the pictures, she's a black duck that looks like a shadow and she freezes if I come near). She stands a good chance of getting through the month with her nest without a predator coming by or being disturbed...Of course, we all know those could be famous last words too, right? I'll consult with my husband to see if we can't figure out a way to shore up her location to make her safer without frightening her off the nest.

Also, do mother ducks spend more time off their nests than chickens? I know broody chickens only get up once daily to eat, drink, and poop, but she gets off her nest frequently to go for a walk, forage, swim, or sit and socialize with our other hen and the drake. I don't know if this is normal for ducks or whether she's only partially serious about hatching her eggs. I hope this is normal, I do not have an incubator or way to hatch out these ducklings myself.

Thank you for your insights, you guys are really being a huge help!!!!

 

[JadeComputerGal]

Thanks guys, you've given me some great insight! That was my great worry about moving the nest, so I haven't touched it. I'm in the middle of suburbia and we have very few predators around here, plus she's pretty difficult to see in that dead bush (as you can see in the pictures, she's a black duck that looks like a shadow and she freezes if I come near). She stands a good chance of getting through the month with her nest without a predator coming by or being disturbed...Of course, we all know those could be famous last words too, right? I'll consult with my husband to see if we can't figure out a way to shore up her location to make her safer without frightening her off the nest.

Also, do mother ducks spend more time off their nests than chickens? I know broody chickens only get up once daily to eat, drink, and poop, but she gets off her nest frequently to go for a walk, forage, swim, or sit and socialize with our other hen and the drake. I don't know if this is normal for ducks or whether she's only partially serious about hatching her eggs. I hope this is normal, I do not have an incubator or way to hatch out these ducklings myself.

Thank you for your insights, you guys are really being a huge help!!!!

No, I wouldn't say that's at all normal. Some of mine do that when they're toying with the idea of being broody, but not once they actually start setting. They don't budge other than once in the morning and once in the afternoon/early evening, and that's when they do the things you mentioned. Mine, of any breed, don't usually stay off the nest more than 20 minutes at a time, and that's sometimes only once per day instead of twice.