Do Broody Ducks sit on the first egg?

[Feather Lady]

I got a new pair of ducks yesterday that are a year old and found an egg in the coop this morning. How do you know when they are broody? I took the egg because she wasn't sitting on it but now I'm not sure if that is correct? Do I need to leave eggs outside for a few days to see if she sits on them, or would she have already been sitting on it if she wanted to?

Thank you!

 

[duckluv]

From what I've heard, most ducks lay several eggs before they begin to sit - keeps them all hatching at the same time, instead of one hatching one day, another a different day, and so on. What breed of ducks did you get? Some breeds might lay well but not sit well (such as Indian Runners).

 

[learycow]

Different breeds do different things. My Muscovy laid 6 eggs before she decided to sit on them. Them she would lay an egg a day and sit on them periodically. Now, she's about a week away from hatching, and she doesn't get off the eggs at all. The last time she got up, I counted 14 eggs under her.

And I have 2 khaki campbells on eggs. They had about 12 eggs each in their nests before they started laying on them.

I would wait and see what yours does. If she makes a nest and lays her eggs in it every day, wait to see if she'll start sitting. One of my other Muscovy ducks has 12 in her neat, but hasn't shown any interest in hatching them. So it all depends on the birds.

 

[Feather Lady]

Quote:
She's a swedish duck. I'll leave the eggs alone for a few days and see what she does with them. I know she's had babies before since we saw them at the show we bought the adult pair from, but I never thought to ask if she hatched them or if it was an incubator. This is our first year with ducks, I know how to keep them watered, protected and feed.. so now I'm trying to figure out the baby parts!!



Thank you!!