Breeding advice please

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coalcluff7

coalcluff7

Hatching
Nov 3, 2015
6
0
9
Cornwall England
Hiya everyone !
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I'm new to backyard chickens , this is my first post.
I have 3 Indian runners, 2 call ducks and 1 Muscovy , all young , eldest is 8 months old, youngest 1 month ish.
I want to incubate next year when they breed, so I have a few questions...
1, what time and how long is breeding season (I don't know if it makes a difference but I'm from Cornwall England uk)
2. I've read up that homemade incubators are the best, better than brinseas ! ? Advice anyone?
3. I did hear that breeding season is from April to September , but If that's true surely you wouldn't know when eggs are fertile or able to eat all during that time with males around.
Thank you . Jade
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Hi :welcome Jade from Yorkshire

Glad you could join the flock! I'm afraid I'm not a duck person but the duck section would be a great place for you to ask your duck questions, here is the link for the duck section ~https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/42/ducks
I'm sure your ducks will mate as soon as they are mature enough. Chickens do and then mate all year round. So your eggs should be fertile when they have mated. You are safe to eat fertile eggs, an embryo would only develop if the egg was to be incubated.

Good luck with your ducks in the future, love the pic you have posted of them!!

Enjoy BYC :frow
 
coalcluff7 said:
Hiya everyone !
1f61d.png

I'm new to backyard chickens , this is my first post.
I have 3 Indian runners, 2 call ducks and 1 Muscovy , all young , eldest is 8 months old, youngest 1 month ish.
I want to incubate next year when they breed, so I have a few questions...
1, what time and how long is breeding season (I don't know if it makes a difference but I'm from Cornwall England uk)
2. I've read up that homemade incubators are the best, better than brinseas ! ? Advice anyone?
3. I did hear that breeding season is from April to September , but If that's true surely you wouldn't know when eggs are fertile or able to eat all during that time with males around.
Thank you . Jade
1f60b.png
Click to expand...
Welcome to BYC!

Depends on breed of duck. Indian Runners' have a long breeding season since the hen could be laying from February to November. So far that's how long my hen has been laying and all of her eggs are fertile. Breeding season for almost all breeds would be when the frost ends-when the frost begins. What I mean by that is when weather stops freezing is when breeding season starts- when the weather begins to start freezing. Where I'm at in Idaho we've had a couple mornings freeze but my Indian Runner hen is still laying surprisingly. Average Indian Runner duck hen will lay 300 eggs annually; if you get a good egg laying strain, right nutrition to promote egg laying and no ducklings. That's if you're aiming for eggs but since you're aiming for duckling expect eggs ready for incubation to be from March to September in the Northern hemisphere for most breeds during most years.

I use a Styrofoam incubator that I bought from a local hatchery and it works perfectly for me.

You can eat duck eggs if they are fertile or not. If your duck has ducklings with her she'll stop laying.

These ducklings my hen hatched out on her own last year.
 
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@Birdrain92 & @Yorkshire coop those ducks are gorgeous, finally someone to talk and help out with ducks! thank you, i was also wondering, will my male runner attempt to mate with my muscovy female??
 
Welcome to BYC. Glad you decided to join our flock. I never had much success with homemade incubators. I've mostly used the HovaBator styrofoam incubators with forced air fan and auto egg turner, and had a very good hatch rate with them. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Cheers.
 
coalcluff7 said:
@Birdrain92 & @Yorkshire coop those ducks are gorgeous, finally someone to talk and help out with ducks! thank you, i was also wondering, will my male runner attempt to mate with my muscovy female??
Click to expand...

I would guess the drake will still try to breed a Muscovy hen.
 

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