Broody Ducks Leaving Nests at Night

[FionaCheech]

Hi All. We have 5 ducks and two have gone broody. One created a nest under a big pine tree and the other in the middle of a poppy bed. Anyway, we have a shed for our ducks to protect them at night. They have been leaving their nests and going to bed with the rest of the flock at night. I find this odd. I would think they would stay on their nest 24x7. Is this normal? I am wondering if, with this behavior, they eggs with hatch. They nests are large, so I am sure they are done laying. They are Khaki Campbells. Thanks.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Sounds like she's not fully broody. The eggs won't hatch if she's leaving them that long that often

 

[FionaCheech]

Sounds like she's not fully broody. The eggs won't hatch if she's leaving them that long that often

Thanks. Is there an amount of time, from the time she lays, that the eggs can still be sat and hatched? I am just trying to determine if they are probably all just bad eggs at this point.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Pick up the eggs and take them inside the coop see if they take the bait. They may not but you don't want them sitting outside were they will becomes someone dinner.
candle them to determine if they are alive.

 

[FionaCheech]

Thanks. We are going to candle them tonight.

 

[Porpie Pie]

I'm actually going through something similar with my Pekin duck. She'll lay on her eggs at night and for half a day but then she'll co.e out for a good couple hrs or more and returns to her nest when I got out to out everyone in for the night. I went over to her thinking if she was broody she hiss at me or try to pinch me but she was sweet as can be. Actually sweeter than when she's not in her nest. I thought maybe it was the start of going broody and maybe she wasn't done laying all her eggs but it's been a few weeks now and she still doing the same thing. I'm trying to figure out of she's going to sit or not and if not I want to get the eggs in my incubator.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I'm actually going through something similar with my Pekin duck. She'll lay on her eggs at night and for half a day but then she'll co.e out for a good couple hrs or more and returns to her nest when I got out to out everyone in for the night. I went over to her thinking if she was broody she hiss at me or try to pinch me but she was sweet as can be. Actually sweeter than when she's not in her nest. I thought maybe it was the start of going broody and maybe she wasn't done laying all her eggs but it's been a few weeks now and she still doing the same thing. I'm trying to figure out of she's going to sit or not and if not I want to get the eggs in my incubator.

If it's been a couple of weeks you should candle the eggs to see if anything is going on. With her only sitting part-time there may not be anything going on.
I have a bantam hen who wants no part of me but when she is broody I can pet her all I want. lol

 

[JoJoM]

Mine was doing the same thing for a couple of weeks she’s sit through the day for a few hours and then leave and sleep in the coop. I thought she was broken. She is now sitting full time and all eggs are progressing (she actually had 24 eggs in the nest…she now has 8).

 

[Miss Lydia]

Have you candled to make sure they are viable?

 

[Awaytome]

I think the duck will leave the nest for long periods until she is done laying and starts incubating. This is how the hatching is synchronized so the ducklings come within a day or two of each other. My duck left the nest overnight for a while, too. Then she got down to business and we seldom saw her until the ducklings came bouncing out of the nest, all within 24 hours of the first ones appearing.