Duck is playing Hide & Seek...

[Duckfarmer1]

I wouldn't do that! - Eggs are an appetizer and duck might be the main course…
No food, no eggs, no kitchen scraps are left outside here, so predators hopefully conclude: "Nothing to get there."

Just remember Muscovy hatch 35-37 days Mallard derived 28-30 just in case you let your Muscovy hatch out Pekin ducklings

It wouldn’t hurt any of the pekin ducklings, other than I’d have to take them out, right?

 

[Miss Lydia]

Right you’d need to take the first ones away so mama will continue to sit.

 

[quackiemama]

I wouldn't do that! - Eggs are an appetizer and duck might be the main course…
No food, no eggs, no kitchen scraps are left outside here, so predators hopefully conclude: "Nothing to get there."

I normally wouldn't do that but I have some ravens that devour anything I toss out. They watch for me to come out. The second I am out the door they are hovering and I like them around. They keep the hawks away!

 

[Duckfarmer1]

It wouldn’t hurt any of the pekin ducklings, other than I’d have to take them out, right?

I decided to bring the eggs in and not let them hatch....we have a ton going on with two does due at the end of the month and two rabbits due any day..plus a new pig. Clearly the eggs will keep coming and the Muscovies will want to set?

 

[DuckyDonna]

I decided to bring the eggs in and not let them hatch....we have a ton going on with two does due at the end of the month and two rabbits due any day..plus a new pig. Clearly the eggs will keep coming and the Muscovies will want to set?

In my opinion, this is a lousy time for hatching anyway. It's just too stinking cold out and then you've got to worry about keeping them warm, you can't really let them go out and play much and it's just a lot more work.

 

[mc79]

My Khaki Campbells stopped laying eggs for about a 2 week stretch of time...or so I thought. Turns out they dug out an "egg hole" and were burying them in a really hard to get to spot under the chicken coop. My remedy was to get an old nesting box that wasn't being used, and I put it in an easy to collect place. I saved one of their eggs and marked it with a "T" in sharpie, to signify it as a trainer egg, and left it in the nesting box. Haven't had a single issue since. They've been laying in that nesting box every day without fail. Each day I collect their eggs and leave the trainer in there.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

I normally wouldn't do that but I have some ravens that devour anything I toss out. They watch for me to come out. The second I am out the door they are hovering and I like them around. They keep the hawks away!

Ravens and Ducks are fine, but ravens and ducklings are not a good combination.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

In my opinion, this is a lousy time for hatching anyway. It's just too stinking cold out and then you've got to worry about keeping them warm, you can't really let them go out and play much and it's just a lot more work.

Hatching ducklings under a broody in Winter is a bad idea. (Imho!) But having cute little ducklings in the house during the cold season ist - just cute!
-> https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/2019-spring-ducklings-are-here.1289838/page-3#post-20922836

 

[Duckfarmer1]

Hatching ducklings under a broody in Winter is a bad idea. (Imho!) But having cute little ducklings in the house during the cold season ist - just cute!
-> https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/2019-spring-ducklings-are-here.1289838/page-3#post-20922836

Yeah, that’s what I was thinking, but I’ve got my hands pretty full with goat kids and baby bunnies , sooo I’ll just wait a month

 

[quackiemama]

Ravens and Ducks are fine, but ravens and ducklings are not a good combination.

100% agree with that!