Another broody question: to hatch or not to hatch?

MrsTush

Songster
Jun 10, 2020
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My 1 year old Muscovy has decided that her and her younger friend..known as the "snitch"..are going to collect a clutch of eggs no matter what I think about it.

The oldest, Yara, started getting broody a few weeks ago. At the time she was the only one sitting so I would wait until I saw her go outside to eat and I would grab the eggs. I left a couple of fake ones in the nest. She has now enlisted the help of Emma who is the yard snitch. She literally comes out of the coop complaining every morning. Now when Yara goes to eat Emma takes over. When I go into the coop she starts yelling for Yara who bee lines it back inside to call me every name in her duck book.

The last three days they have been really good about watching the house to see if I'm outside because I can't catch them in the yard. Now I'm torn...

I seriously doubt if more than a few of these eggs are fertilized because I've got my Drake on lockdown 90% of the time. I really don't want to incubate any eggs. What will happen if I just let these two ding a lings sit on the nest? I've got chicken eggs but I'm not entirely sure I want to give up the duck eggs.

I've always bought my ducks and chickens, never eggs so this part is all new to me
 
Well having Muscovy myself I can tell you that broodiness is something we all have to deal with. Since I have 17 waterfowl and 21 chickens I am not interested in having more ducks so I just go inside their coop and take the eggs away doesn't matter if they are on the nest or outside. I love having ducklings but I don't want to add to my flock right now or overcrowd my coops. Muscovy for the most part make wonderful mamas but this time of year can be rough on ducklings if it's getting cold where you are. Don't worry about hurting their feelings, they will get over it eventually. I can take eggs away and my Muscovy act like they still have them and keep right on sitting. :rolleyes:
 
Well having Muscovy myself I can tell you that broodiness is something we all have to deal with. Since I have 17 waterfowl and 21 chickens I am not interested in having more ducks so I just go inside their coop and take the eggs away doesn't matter if they are on the nest or outside. I love having ducklings but I don't want to add to my flock right now or overcrowd my coops. Muscovy for the most part make wonderful mamas but this time of year can be rough on ducklings if it's getting cold where you are. Don't worry about hurting their feelings, they will get over it eventually. I can take eggs away and my Muscovy act like they still have them and keep right on sitting. :rolleyes:
I was hoping someone would say that! It won't get below freezing here like some places but I would still be doing heat lamps and all that jazz. Honestly, I just don't feel like it! If it was spring then maybe but not now. I've got 4 new pullets coming this weekend and I don't want to deal with broody ducks too.

OK.. I'm going to be the bad guy and go get cussed out 😂😂

Also...do you think I'm doing more harm than good with the fake eggs?

Thank you!! You always have the answer! 😍
 
The fake eggs encourage broodiness. If you don't want anyone setting don't leave eggs of any type lying around. Hopefully no one hides the eggs where you can't find them. Just in case things don't go as planned. A hen can keep babies warm anytime of the year. I find the biggest challenge of winter babies is making sure their water is not frozen.
 
The fake eggs encourage broodiness. If you don't want anyone setting don't leave eggs of any type lying around. Hopefully no one hides the eggs where you can't find them. Just in case things don't go as planned. A hen can keep babies warm anytime of the year. I find the biggest challenge of winter babies is making sure their water is not frozen.
I was worried about actually causing broodiness. I bought them to get my chickens to use certain nesting boxes. I guess I'll be raiding nests tonight...
 
I certainly ”vote” for a nest raid, but also wanted to add that you will likely need to completely destroy the nest and place an object in its place if you want any hope of breaking this broody cycle. Yes, they are going to be very upset (my girls will occasionally shake with rage while watching me complete a raid), but they won’t hold a grudge. They may, however, start to look for a new, more secret, place to start their next clutch…
 
I had one broody all summer I kicked her out of the coop every morning along with her flock lock up the coop till evening she’d run right back in and make her nest all over again she just in the last week finally gave up. Now she is finally molting
Im not a fan of winter, in fact I hate it. However, it is a relief to see the girls take a break from the constant broodiness! i just discovered a secret nest that my white Muscovy had made in the hopes of creating one last clutch :rolleyes: I hope your girl enjoys her winter vacation!
 

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