Another Broody Duck!

[shawluvsbirds]

Btw I have never heard a duck cry quite like that. I'd have given in too.

But... I'm easy

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

What about Gracie ?

How did you come up with this name? - Just like to have some background info here…

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Wow, she's determined! How many ducks will this be if most of them hatch?

She has seven eggs in the nest and i will check daily (if she permits!) and remove new ones. Those seven eggs are being marked with a board marker.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

You think you got broody business goin on...holy smokes the broody dust hit hard at my place.
7 on nests now and one clutch is hatching right now that I didn't expect for a few more days yet

Just a sample..View attachment 2126385View attachment 2126390View attachment 2126392View attachment 2126394View attachment 2126396View attachment 2126402

Aren't broody ducks adorable and exemplary?!
Love your Duckies! - What are you going to do with so many duck[ling]s?

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Btw I have never heard a duck cry quite like that. I'd have given in too.

But... I'm easy

You should have heart her when i meant business! It was really heartbreaking!

But she trusts me now! She is taking cat-food from my hands and i can carefully crawl her neck while she is sitting.

 

[shawluvsbirds]

Aren't broody ducks adorable and exemplary?!
Love your Duckies! - What are you going to do with so many duck[ling]s?

I was getting texts right and left from people wanting call ducks last summer and fall I could not hatch enough!


If I wind up with a bunch of extra Drakes I will process and eat those.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

I was getting texts right and left from people wanting call ducks last summer and fall I could not hatch enough!
If I wind up with a bunch of extra Drakes I will process and eat those.

Good that you have the ability to do that! I can't…

 

[Beaglegal]

Good that you have the ability to do that! I can't…

I can process roosters but I doubt I could process a drake. Ducks are somehow different for me. This is why I am having a big internal debate on if I should let my duck go broody. She tried with a nest under the ferns next to the house, but I made her leave. If she sets up in the barn, I may let her stay....

 

[Beaglegal]

I observed the tell tale signs for over a week: A duck carefully covering the two eggs in her nest every morning before running out of the house with the rest of the flock…
I removed the two eggs that were laid early in the morning every day, leaving only the one wooden egg…
Monday morning i noticed that she remained on her nest and ignored all calls to breakfast…
She sat on her nest the whole day, even ignored me when i came to collect the other duck's eggs and clean the duck house…

Until late afternoon, when i decided it would be too risky having more drakes hatched under a broody duck, went into the duck palace to remove her from the nest.

But I had done the math without the considering that duck's strong will !!!

When reaching out for her she started to cry like i have never heart a duck crying!
She knew what i wanted to do and she would do everything a duck can to stop me!
She stood over her clutch of eggs, crying, snapping at my hands, pushing me back!

And to me it felt like somebody just pushed a dagger into my heart, no it was a dull spoon, more painful than pointed dagger, and with every attempt to grab that duck the pain grew more intense until…

i caved in!

Apologized to the duck and offering her some rare meal-worms as a gift of peace. - She accepted the worms, so i think we have a treaty now?

---

For those Nay-Sayer's who claim »i would have shown that duck… [whatever]« watch the videos below, i recorded yesterday in the afternoon when i gave her two additional eggs and imagine her crying 100 times worse:

The first egg (green) is from one of Katharina's daughters and the second egg is from one of the White Layers, just curious what will hatch there.

Man I get it, I would have caved too. She just wants to hatch babies!

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

I candled the eggs yesterday, while »Momma« was messing up the outside: There is development i n all seven! I saw veins and tiny beating hearts!
And just finished in time before she came back inside and jumped straight back on her nest. She got some meal worms out of my hand today because she is such a good mama.
Here is the carefully covered nest:

And here is Momma Duck having day-dreams of little ducklings, you see how blurry everything around the nest becomes when she is sitting:

And here is a closeup of her on the nest from Wednesday: