do ducks need a special nesting box

[marys hen house]

do ducks need a special nesting box and how do you know if they are going to hatch the eggs that they lay

 

[chicks & ducks]

This is just MY experience but my female ducks will lay eggs all over the yard. One day one of the ducks started laying in a hidden spot(no nesting box, just dirt and sticks) and she kept laying eggs in this spot and eventually sat on them. I'm wishing now that I had provided her a nesting box, but both she and another of my females have found their own little space tucked away and started laying. Depending on the duck, if they start spending all their time(apart from eating and a quick dip for water) on the eggs then you know that in about 28 you'll likely have lil ducks.

 

[chicks & ducks]

Also wanted to add that they don't start sitting on them until they think they have a sufficient amount of eggs. If you see two or three eggs in a spot but mama's not sitting on them don't panic! =)

 

[RouenDuck]

I lock my ducks up every evening for the night and they just have a crate with hay in it to lay in. During the night they lay in the crate but sometimes in the day I will see them laying in the bushes.

 

[Chickenkate17]

I had the same experience as chicks & ducks....my girls made nests in random hidden places....