Broody Question

[Goose_Willis]

I have Buffs and Cayugas that are almost a year old and I have some questions about duck broodiness.

To preface, I had a pair of Rouens growing up but I don't think my experience with them was typical. The female hatched and drowned two large clutches of ducklings then drowned her drake. Her and her one surviving daughter took turns sitting their eggs for the rest of their lives and they were both aggressive about egg collection so I always assumed that ducks are just mean, broody birds but I now I think that was incorrect.

I've read through some past threads about broody ducks and I have some questions:

1) The number of eggs in a clutch seems to be the main trigger for their hormones and I've seen people say to stop collecting eggs for two weeks to see if any of the hens decide to sit them. I'm not sure I understand how the eggs are still viable after two weeks without the constant heat from being sat on? Does the behavior of burying their eggs help them incubate somehow? My girls lay in the same nests but they only sit in those areas when their napping.

2) Are there any other triggers for broodiness like season, ambient temperature, diet, etc?

3) I have 7 girls so leaving eggs for 2 weeks would create a clutch of about 98 eggs which I know is waaay too many. How many eggs typically trigger that hormonal shift (I've read 5-20)? Could I allow the eggs to build to a specific number, mark them, and then start collecting new eggs and leave the marked ones for two weeks?

4) My current ducks are easily upset by egg collection. They switch their nest up on me once a week. Are they still likely to want to lay in the same spot if I'm rummaging around in their nest daily to keep track of all of these eggs?

 

[KathiQuacks]

I agree, that’s not normal behavior for your first Rouens.

1. Eggs can safely sit in stasis for up to 2 weeks, and will not make any development whatsoever until a hen sits and properly incubates them. Storing after 2 weeks, or inconsistent heating after proper incubation, will reduce viability.

2. Spring is the best / most favorable time for broodiness, although hens have been seen brooding year-round. A dry, dark, bedded area, with adequate lighting during the day would increase broodiness. I’m not sure if diet would affect broodiness, but it will affect egg-quality and development. Some hens also won’t brood in their first year and will instead wait until next Spring.

3. 5 - 20 is accurate. It really depends on the hen - a rare few may even brood with no eggs. Marking and collecting new eggs is best. You’ll want to do this with a broody hen too, as some broody hens will continue to lay after sitting, or other hens may lay in the broody’s nest.

4. Mark / collect eggs while the ducks are out of the coop and can’t see what you’re doing. For future collecting, leave an egg or two behind, or put in some fake, ceramic eggs. My ducks only move their nests around when I take all of their eggs, and are indifferent to collecting otherwise.

It’s also important to note that nest building ≠ broodiness. Some hens are very broody, some may never brood. You can’t make a hen broody, you can only give them what they need and hope they decide to brood on their own.

 

[Goose_Willis]

I agree, that’s not normal behavior for your first Rouens.

1. Eggs can safely sit in stasis for up to 2 weeks, and will not make any development whatsoever until a hen sits and properly incubates them. Storing after 2 weeks, or inconsistent heating after proper incubation, will reduce viability.

2. Spring is the best / most favorable time for broodiness, although hens have been seen brooding year-round. A dry, dark, bedded area, with adequate lighting during the day would increase broodiness. I’m not sure if diet would affect broodiness, but it will affect egg-quality and development. Some hens also won’t brood in their first year and will instead wait until next Spring.

3. 5 - 20 is accurate. It really depends on the hen - a rare few may even brood with no eggs. Marking and collecting new eggs is best. You’ll want to do this with a broody hen too, as some broody hens will continue to lay after sitting, or other hens may lay in the broody’s nest.

4. Mark / collect eggs while the ducks are out of the coop and can’t see what you’re doing. For future collecting, leave an egg or two behind, or put in some fake, ceramic eggs. My ducks only move their nests around when I take all of their eggs, and are indifferent to collecting otherwise.

It’s also important to note that nest building ≠ broodiness. Some hens are very broody, some may never brood. You can’t make a hen broody, you can only give them what they need and hope they decide to brood on their own.

Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions, I really appreciate it.

Yeah, the Rouens were odd, we had raised male pekins as meat birds for years and I really wanted to try duck eggs so our neighbor gifted us the rouens but I think it may have been more of a gift to the neighbor for being able to rehome the hen.

My Rouen mama/daughter pair would take turns sitting their nest, it seemed like the mom was the one that was always broody and she had her daughter sit the nest when she was hungry or thirsty, is that a typical duck behavior within flocks or was that a weird thing too? I've had broody chickens but I've never seen them take turns. I've read that geese will co-incubate within breeding pairs but I didn't think ducks exhibited that type of pair-bonding.

As for the diet question, I was thinking maybe they get something extra from foraging in the spring that helps them make that hormonal shift like fresh greens or bugs. My degree is in human nutrition so I'm forever trying to make connections between the diets of my animals and their quality of life.

Is there anything I need to do with ceramic eggs to get the girls to accept them or do they just see an egg shaped thing and go 'yep, that's mine'? They have a particular rock that they keep putting in an empty nest. I thought they must be putting it there to trick me but is it possible they are doing it because the rock is almost the same shape as an egg?

If they don't go broody on me this year, it's no big deal but I've noticed some changes in behavior in a few of the ducks over the past month which prompted this post. I know I can't force them one way or the other but I do want to be prepared if it does happen.

I have one cayuga hen (Karen) that has been reluctant to leave the run for long periods of time over the past few weeks. I have a tiny door on the run that I open for the ducks to free range during the day and they run in there if they see something scary but Karen loiters around the door of the run or inside of the run for most of the day. She doesn't sit in the nest all day but she keeps it within her sight. The whole flock recently made a new nest that I couldn't find for a few days and when I did find it I also found Karen stuck and wedged into this tiny space with the eggs. I had to pull a section off the run to get her out and she's fine but she's also the only hen acting like that.

My drakes have both changed their behaviors too. My buff drake has started attacking my dogs and cats when he thinks they're too close to the flock. He'll even stand off with the livestock guardian dog and tell him what's what. He's protective of the nesting area too, he's always either sitting at the door of their house or on the roof of their house as a lookout.

My cayuga drake will leave the flock to escort wayward hens on their way to the nesting area. He'll sit with the hens while they lay their eggs and his favorite place to sleep is on the eggs. I think he's just laying there because it's warm and draft free but he seeks out the nests with eggs and doesn't sleep in the empty nests.