Bad Mother Duck eating babies??! Help!

[jessylee]

The stress of you interferring can cause unusual behavior. My suggestion would be to leave her alone while incubating.

Clint

Yes I could see that, but she started hurting them before I got there, then after I left her for hours alone...she continued, when I peeked in they were gone. Maybe she would have "picked" her favorites and I could have left her...but seeing first hand the brutality in there, I could not bring myself to leave them.

 

[jessylee]

Also now that I think about it, there was blood in the nest on some of the eggs the day before all this happened, so I fear that maybe one hatched early and who knows what happend to it.... It is hard to say for certain, and I did not think much about it at the time but now, well I am not so sure.

 

[DurhamDuck]

Muscovies have a tendency to do this sometimes.

My Swedish duck killed one duckling, but it was older than the rest of hers (She was still sitting on the nest when this week-old duckling came up to her) and she broke his neck. She didn't eat him though.

I think sometimes when some ducklings hatch before others the mother sees them as intruders, and her instincts tell her to keep intruders out of her nest and away from the unhatched eggs at all costs. I think ducklings running around causes stress.

I don't know why muscovies eat them though- most other ducks might kill, but not eat.

 

[jessylee]

Muscovies have a tendency to do this sometimes.

My Swedish duck killed one duckling, but it was older than the rest of hers (She was still sitting on the nest when this week-old duckling came up to her) and she broke his neck. She didn't eat him though.

I think sometimes when some ducklings hatch before others the mother sees them as intruders, and her instincts tell her to keep intruders out of her nest and away from the unhatched eggs at all costs. I think ducklings running around causes stress.

I don't know why muscovies eat them though- most other ducks might kill, but not eat.

Thanks for your input, I did not think of it that way, she could have treated them as if they were a rodent because she has never had ducklings. And they do look a bit like mice when they first pop out, but then I think about mother instinct and the chirping. As well as the fact that one was fine. Maybe she figured it out by the third one, I have no clue. I will give it to you I never thought of her prospective: Here I am alone with my perfect eggs , life is good...what is that flopping around under me Ahh!! She is currently sitting in the nesting box where it all happened, on nothing...how sad.

 

[jessylee]

Update:
Hello again, I am back with an update and more questions, for all the pros out there. Eight of the ten that hatched so far are really active and healthy, like the one I found alive and well under the Momma duck. Two of them well, they were slow to come out of the shell and then they slept more than the others. I figured it was because they were half a day behind the rest of the group, but since one has passed

. The other seems dazed and flips to his back once in a while. It got me thinking maybe the Momma knew something I did not, which is, there is the fast way or the slow way. Now I am just not sure if she threw them out because there was something "wrong". I cant excuse the eating parts of them, but I am trying not to look at it though my human prospective. She is still sitting broody in her box and I am seriously considering letting her try again, with different eggs, Or will she accept these healthy ones? What do you all think?

 

[Miss Lydia]

Update:
Hello again, I am back with an update and more questions, for all the pros out there. Eight of the ten that hatched so far are really active and healthy, like the one I found alive and well under the Momma duck. Two of them well, they were slow to come out of the shell and then they slept more than the others. I figured it was because they were half a day behind the rest of the group, but since one has passed

. The other seems dazed and flips to his back once in a while. It got me thinking maybe the Momma knew something I did not, which is, there is the fast way or the slow way. Now I am just not sure if she threw them out because there was something "wrong". I cant excuse the eating parts of them, but I am trying not to look at it though my human prospective. She is still sitting broody in her box and I am seriously considering letting her try again, with different eggs, Or will she accept these healthy ones? What do you all think?

If you try putting these ducklings under her she may accept them then again she may try to kill them so you need to be ready to intervene asap. But will they imprint on her is a bigger question. all you can do is try. Take a couple out together. with your hand over top of one at a time so she can't see it then slip the duckling under her and step away and watch how she and the duckling act.

 

[Mashallaharabia]

My Muscovies have been excellent, protective mothers, and the drake is gentle with both the hens and the hatchlings. This cannabalism... could it be a diet deficiency? Are they free range so they can eat bugs, mice, weeds??

 

[Cassie Collins]

Many animals will kill their babies & at times eat their dead babies. It is a way of regaining some of the energy that was expended during the pregnancy/birth, but I've never heard of ducks doing it. I'm so sorry for all of your losses .

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

Giving ducklings back is tricky business. You might be able to do it also if she happens to give a little distance between her and the nest. Which is not likely. Try to bring along a helper to distract her a little, do as Miss Lydia said, and be ready to intervene.

 

[jessylee]

My Muscovies have been excellent, protective mothers, and the drake is gentle with both the hens and the hatchlings. This cannabalism... could it be a diet deficiency? Are they free range so they can eat bugs, mice, weeds??

They are free range and eat all the bugs and grass in my large yard as well as eating as much as they want of a really good food. Here is the brand and ingredients:
http://patriotfarmandfeed.com/product/grower/
as well as;
http://www.scratchandpeck.com/
and vegetable table scraps oatmeal noodle ect, so that cant be it. They are SPOILED!