911 help!!!! Please!! Muscovy mom just hatched out clutch, won't leave nest and is laying an egg a day again!!

[Cr8zybirbl8dy]

Hi everybody I have an urgent situation I can't find any info on the internet about. So a few days ago my beautiful Muscovy hatched out her first clutch. It was her first ever eggs laid and since we have a drake Campbell they were fertile and boy was she eager to incubate. So i let her and we got 5 babies that survived. Now, a little back story to show her behavior is when she had a nest of 6 she sat to incubate but continued to lay eggs for three more days while sitting on the nest. I thought I was strange but since it was her first time EVER laying eggs I thought she was just getting the hang of things. Fast forward almost 40 days and we have five beautiful babies. Momma is keeping them warm and fed but she will not leave the nest. The gets up to eat and drink but goes right back on. And even since the very first baby hatched she has been laying new eggs. It's been day four since hatch day and she is still on the nest laying an egg a day on top her babies. She also has horrible smelling diarrhea that she has had her whole incubation. I gave her hen probiotics and electrolytes as well as feed and fruits n veggies even cat food at times she loves it but never solid stool. So today I thought I am putting an end to this, and I picked her up to put her out in the corral.with her drake mate and the couple chickens we have. It where she was raised 8t has her pool, she hasn't been for a swim in over a month so I thought I just gotta get her out there. Well as soon as I picked her up she exploded butt water all over my legs and splashed into my face and eyes. Then she proceeded to viciously attack her mate our Campbell drake who she's been mates with her whole life. She absolutely panicked until I put her back in the coop with her nest. I attached a pick of her nest a d coop setup that she will not leave this was during incubation. I tried uploading pics of the babies but the won't load. Please ANY ADVICE WILL HELP!!!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Is she your only hen?

Muscovy hens sometimes stay near the nest for a week or so before slowly moving farther away. I would remove any new or old eggs at this point. You can freshen up the bedding. She still wants a safe comfortable place to sit with her ducklings until they get a bit bigger.

It's normal for her to defend them from other ducks, including the drake. Muscovy aren't a breed that pairs up, so the drake is just a drake to her. He could hurt them, so she's doing what she's supposed to do.

Most broody muscovy hens have the worse smelling watery poop. That's normal. Give he a place to bathe. Looks like there's one in your photo. That's enough for a muscovy.

 

[Cr8zybirbl8dy]

Any clue as so why she is laying eggs again already? she's been doing it everyday since the first baby hatched?

 

[Cr8zybirbl8dy]

Is she your only hen?

Muscovy hens sometimes stay near the nest for a week or so before slowly moving farther away. I would remove any new or old eggs at this point. You can freshen up the bedding. She still wants a safe comfortable place to sit with her ducklings until they get a bit bigger.

It's normal for her to defend them from other ducks, including the drake. Muscovy aren't a breed that pairs up, so the drake is just a drake to her. He could hurt them, so she's doing what she's supposed to do.

Most broody muscovy hens have the worse smelling watery poop. That's normal. Give he a place to bathe. Looks like there's one in your photo. That's enough for a muscovy.

And yes she is my only hen
I have just one hen and one drake.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Any clue as so why she is laying eggs again already? she's been doing it everyday since the first baby hatched?

Never seen that before personally so I can't answer that. Didn't even know that was possible.

 

[Cr8zybirbl8dy]

Never seen that before personally so I can't answer that. Didn't even know that was possible.

Neither did I but she has laid one a day everyday since. It's like she's not associating the eggs with the babies, but since they are

 

[fowltemptress]

That happened to me this year, except my girl started laying eggs before her eggs had even hatched. She was confined away from my other birds, so there was no question as to who was laying the eggs. She started laying eggs again at about 25 days in. I kept removing the new eggs, and once her original eggs hatched, she kept laying for about another week. I just continued removing the eggs and she eventually stopped laying. It took all my muscovies about a week to finally wander a bit from their nest after their respective hatches. The aggression sounds normal to me: she has ducklings to protect, after all. The watery poop sounds normal to me, as well. Few things are more putrid than broody muscovy poop. I'd collect the eggs and let her leave the nest when she feels like it. As long as she's still eating and drinking and keeping the young ones warm and fed, it doesn't sound like there's a problem.