I am still a rookie to most of this stuff.
One of our Muscovy ducks hatched her first batch of eggs, about 6 days ago. She had 15 new babies. On their first walk with mom, one was taken by a crow. I was only 20' away, but there was nothing I could do.
Yesterday, while within their predator proof yard, a few of our chickens (all layer hens) made it into their fenced area. The chickens had not been a problem before. I had been with them, but I had to go into the house for about an hour. When I returned, the chickens had killed all but 3 of the babies. I'm a tough guy, but seeing 11 dead baby duckies about floored me. I immediately decided to raise the 3 that survived in a box in the house. The poor mom spent much of the next few hours searching the yards calling for and looking for her babies.
What I would like to know is............. about when might I expect her to go back to starting another family?
She's already being bred, as one of our two drakes has already chased her down and raped her, twice. I was about to make this drake into dog food, but I then read that this is common for Muscovies. Perhaps I'll get used to it, but I sure hate this part of the experience.
Thank you,
Dan
One of our Muscovy ducks hatched her first batch of eggs, about 6 days ago. She had 15 new babies. On their first walk with mom, one was taken by a crow. I was only 20' away, but there was nothing I could do.
Yesterday, while within their predator proof yard, a few of our chickens (all layer hens) made it into their fenced area. The chickens had not been a problem before. I had been with them, but I had to go into the house for about an hour. When I returned, the chickens had killed all but 3 of the babies. I'm a tough guy, but seeing 11 dead baby duckies about floored me. I immediately decided to raise the 3 that survived in a box in the house. The poor mom spent much of the next few hours searching the yards calling for and looking for her babies.
What I would like to know is............. about when might I expect her to go back to starting another family?
She's already being bred, as one of our two drakes has already chased her down and raped her, twice. I was about to make this drake into dog food, but I then read that this is common for Muscovies. Perhaps I'll get used to it, but I sure hate this part of the experience.
Thank you,
Dan
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