Broody call ducks what do I do?

[gysygirl]

Hi Guys have a large pen with four hens and one drake (all calls) My magpie went broody on the 28th of April and is sat on 10 eggs I candled them last weekend and all of them are fertile and looking good! My black decided this was a good idea and decided to build herself a nest and is also broody sitting on 10 eggs also! My poor drake Donald is wondering around wanting to know where all his girls went and when the appear again why they are now crazy!

Now my questions are will they be ok just left to it? They seem to be taking it very seriously and when they come off the nests briefly each day are in full psycho mode running around with beaks open eating as much as possible and shouting at the others

. My magpie (Smudge) her nest is outside under their old house hidden by a plastic tub the enclosure is very well fenced with bird netting overhead, So I have allowed her to stay out as I'm not arguing with that

The black (Buttons) she has nested in their shed, At least one had a brain! I was not planning on hatching any eggs and have been giving the others to my friend at work who breeds calls for showing which is where the doubt comes in, He told me a few days ago that you should only let them have the eggs until three days before they are due and then put them in an incubator? Now I do not own an incubator and do not really want them separated in the house and would prefer if the mother looked after them as they are outside straight away then surely she must know what she is doing?

Has anyone left their calls to it and what problems/success's did you have?

The other things I am wondering is will I be able to move her and the ducklings into the shed with the others straight away as I do not like them being out at night Smudge is ok as you cannot see her on the nest but a load of ducklings running around may invite unwanted attention and even though it is well fenced we do have badgers and foxes around and back onto woodland.

We also have a pond with waterfall in their pen and as I said another four ducks will they all be ok? any input is welcomed I cannot wait for new ducklings

and luckily their pen/shed could house about 50 ducks! Yes they are spoiled rotten

 

[sherrik9]

Only my second year doing this so take what I say with a grain on salt. I have totally left them alone until hatch. The first year I left babies with mom for the first week or until I felt the Mom couldn't take care of them. I them put babies in barn/brooder until feathered. This year I had an extra pen and have been able to put drakes away from ducks. So far so good. So my suggestions is let the moms do their thing and then take babies to safe place. The duck may take the change with the babies or you may have to brood. Good luck.

 

[gysygirl]

Thank you for replying I will leave them alone and if needed I can always put a heat lamp in their shed

 

[sayyadina]

My first group of call ducklings just started to hatch. My duck laid and went broody last year, but none of them survived. This year, she has 2 little ducklings so far.

I've just let her be, and made sure she had food and water. She has a nice big nest box, and she made a nice nest for herself out of hay and feathers.

With water, you need to make sure the little ones can easily get out.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Thank you for replying I will leave them alone and if needed I can always put a heat lamp in their shed

Unless your having really cold temps you won't need a heat lamp, Mama duck has lots of down under her feathers she'll keep the babies nice and toasty.

 

[gysygirl]

Great thanks for both of your replies it's good to know she should be ok with them, The pond has concrete sloping edges and the water's nearly up to the top at the moment so should be ok for the babies. My poor drake will be glad when his girls are talking to him again I think he's feeling pretty lonely