Do mother ducks leave the nest more when the ducklings are about to hatch?

[shawluvsbirds]

LOL - I have co-parents this year. Thelma (Pekin) is the fair weather parent. She takes a few hours every day off the nest. Lady (muscovy) is the real trooper. It will be fun to see who is the parent once the kids hatch. Sitting on 6 eggs.
Last year none hatched. We will find out next week ~ June 30th. Best of my calcuations, that will be 32 days. Most likely all muscovies as Fat Louie (muscovy drake) is partial to Lady

Well?

 

[Newbie6789]

We have a baby!!! Peeps is the name thus far. Hatched on July 2nd. No more yet - I will give them a few more days, then eliminate the eggs so the girls can get back to life.

 

[Newbie6789]

By the way - Peeps is a trooper. Off to venture into the world to see what is out there. The older ones pretty much leave it alone. I tried to catch it to put it back with Moms and WOW - - with no warning, Lady was outside the hutch in a flash to say "Leave my kid alone!!!"
I wasn't home for the hatching, so I wanted to try to cuddle. Guess that is off the table

 

[shawluvsbirds]

We have a baby!!! Peeps is the name thus far. Hatched on July 2nd. No more yet - I will give them a few more days, then eliminate the eggs so the girls can get back to life.

You might candle them and see before you toss them. I have had some hatch a week apart. Ducks are bad about adding eggs half way through incubation.