Broody Duck Question

[Sfraker]

Hello: I have never had a duck go broody in the past. I collect eggs every morning and afternoon so I don't know if that is what prevented broodiness or not. I do find a duck sitting on some eggs some mornings but they walk away as soon as I come into the pen and they then spend the day out on the pasture with the flock.

I have one duck, Darlene, that has been sitting in a nest box for a couple weeks now. She does not have any eggs under her as I collected the two she was sitting on two weeks ago. At feeding time she leaves the nest and joins the rest of the flock for the feeding chaos. After they are done eating she goes back to her empty nest box and sits. She seems healthy so I think it's just broodiness.

Do I just let her be and she will eventually go back to joining the flock in the pasture? The pen doors are open all day so she can go out and join them at any time. I feel bad that she sits all alone on an empty nest.

I do have some eggs in my incubator due to hatch in 9 days. I'm tempted to put a few under her.

Thoughts?
Thanks!
Sara

 

[Amiga]

Well, when one of mine goes broody, I leave a few duds under her and let her sit - in a safe shelter, where she cannot be harmed by predators. I mark them in case anyone deposits other eggs there (happens often). I collect the unmarked eggs. Every few days I sniff the eggs and if they begin to smell a little off, I ditch the egg and replace it.

You might be able to put a few viable eggs under her . . . we won't know how she will do until you try it. We also don't know if she'll be aggressive when they hatch ... that can happen sometimes especially with first-timers, from what I read here.

 

[addarr]

So I hope no one minds but I've got a question as well.
(For the life of my I cannot figure out how to start a new post)
I have only had one broody hen in the past with no male in the flock so I always went out with my marker and poked them with dots one two and three and would rotate out eggs as I would take them.

But I'm hoping for some help. I have two new girls that went broody a khaki Campbell and my Cyuga female. I've only got one male my khaki Campbell. Anyhow, my Cyuga has been sitting for about 4 weeks and I'm a little excited for the new babe's to get here. I snuck one away and candled it. It's got to be around 22 days ish. Heavy completely dark except for the little air pocket. I was in a hurry because i didnt want her to catch me, but didn't feel or see any movement. So I'm thinking they should hatch in about days or less I'm thinking.
I've heard of 1st time mom's eating babies and drakes sometimes as well. Does he need to be pulled out of the flock for now? What can I do to keep them from being killed?