Show off your house ducks!

[AmandaVirginia]

kathy - thank you! you are always very kind!

 

[napdognewfie]

I looked under my setter and

had a surprise this morning. So far only the one.

 

[duckies1230]

What's the difference between a duck just sitting on her eggs in her nest and a duck being broody? How can you tell if a girl is broody? My sweet Lily plopped out 9 eggs in 7 days. I candled them and see nothing. She's been on her nest a lot lately. But she has no problem getting up for treats, to eat, to go outside, etc. I thought she was broody about a month ago and she wasn't. I guess I don't understand the actual concept, I dunno...

 

[caesargirl]

I looked under my setter and

had a surprise this morning. So far only the one.

Wow! What a punkin! What kind!?

 

[duckies1230]

I looked under my setter and

had a surprise this morning. So far only the one.

I wanna black Duckie, look how cute! What a nice surprise!

 

[Amiga]

What's the difference between a duck just sitting on her eggs in her nest and a duck being broody? How can you tell if a girl is broody? My sweet Lily plopped out 9 eggs in 7 days. I candled them and see nothing. She's been on her nest a lot lately. But she has no problem getting up for treats, to eat, to go outside, etc. I thought she was broody about a month ago and she wasn't. I guess I don't understand the actual concept, I dunno...

Broody Romy, taking a quick break off the nest.

Right now she's broody. Some days, won't get up off the nest. Flattens out like Jabba the Hut on the nest. Hisses.

 

[napdognewfie]

The duckling is a runner. My black drake and cumberland blue duck.

 

[duckies1230]

Broody Romy, taking a quick break off the nest. Right now she's broody. Some days, won't get up off the nest. Flattens out like Jabba the Hut on the nest. Hisses.

Is she a pekin?

 

[Amiga]

She is a Buff Orpington.

 

[Tevyes Dad]

What's the difference between a duck just sitting on her eggs in her nest and a duck being broody? How can you tell if a girl is broody? My sweet Lily plopped out 9 eggs in 7 days. I candled them and see nothing. She's been on her nest a lot lately. But she has no problem getting up for treats, to eat, to go outside, etc. I thought she was broody about a month ago and she wasn't. I guess I don't understand the actual concept, I dunno...

Not broody: drops an egg and is done with it... In the wild, the duck would be building a clutch since they can only lay one/day typically and they usually want to hatch like 4 - 12.
Broody: readying the nest for the little ones and sitting on it/guarding it - also when a duck is broody it will stop laying new eggs - normally until after its brood gets feathered and becomes independent... With domestic ducks, broody isn't a set thing. For some ducks broody means they sit on the eggs until they get hungry or thirsty then they get up and forget about them completely (bad moms). On the other extreme some ducks will be very reluctant to get up even when they are very hungry or thirsty and you may have to entice them by setting them up with water/food very near the nest or they will suffer from starvation and dehydration. They might sit on the nest hissing until you actually pick them up. Frequently they will pull out many of their feathers so that the little ones will have a softer warmer nest when they hatch. (super moms). Most ducks are somewhere in between where they will get up briefly to eat, drink and poop. But spend most of their time on the nest. (good moms). I have seen the gamut in my flock since I have a variety of breeds and mothering varies by both breed and individual - even though I have never given my ducks eggs to hatch (some times multiple ducks lay in the same nest so even in 1 day I end up with 4-6 eggs in a nest and a duck that thinks she is hatching them on top) once I let one of my ducks sit on golf balls because I thought I was giving her a break from laying, but she was one of those super moms and didn't eat so after almost two weeks, I destroyed her nest and took the golf balls. She returned to normal pretty quick.

If I got any of this wrong... You experts can correct me but between what I have experienced in my flock and read, I think I got it mostly right.

Broody Romy, taking a quick break off the nest.

Right now she's broody. Some days, won't get up off the nest. Flattens out like Jabba the Hut on the nest. Hisses.

Nice example video! Romy is such a sweety (maybe not now

).