Another of my Muscovy hens is going broody.

[jdywntr]

So, I've got thirteen 8 week olds. Another hen that should be hatching towards the end of February. And tonight, when I went into their coop to remove some of the ducklings from one of the nests

, my black/white hen was nowhere to be seen.

I checked and she was on her nest. I seperated the eggs yesterday, the 2 that were laying were sharing a nest but the brn/white stopped wanting to use the nest she'd been laying in (kept catching her in the chicken coop) so I'd made another. So, miss black/white is on 9 eggs right now, she didn't stay at all today on there but this is how the others started.

So, come March, I'm going to be up to my eyeballs in ducklings.

I'm kind of excited as the current ducklings are all black barred/split to chocolate, so once they are grown, I can breed one of the drakelets to one of the chocolate barred females (not mom) and get some chocolate barred babies. Who I can then breed to chocolate barred (again not mom, or grandmom) and get just chocolate barred (if my playing with the genetics calculator is right).

I do want to get some French Whites though. I'll have to see how big these guys grow. The drakelets are now as big as their mom.

 

[Valntyn]

Congratulations! I can think of worse things... like having 8 adult females who AREN'T laying at ALL.

*sigh*

Can't wait to see pics of all your little fluffballs!!

 

[jdywntr]

Well, she popped right out of the coop this morning so I guess I'll have to see how it goes. The other 2 did start spenging nights on the nest before deciding to do it full time. Of course we had a freeze overnight. At 630am it was 26* with wind chill, felt like 15*. I may go ahead and take some eggs off of the other nest to see if she'll get going faster. She's at 10 in there this afternoon. Luckily no eggs froze overnight on the other nest.

I need to make enough nests for each to have their own, at least that way I would know whose eggs are whose.