Duck moving her eggs around.

[Jacob Duckman]

For some reason, my egg-laying Swedish-Crested-Mali duck has been laying her eggs in her duck house and then moving them one by one, down the 3ft. ramp, some twelve feet away to the other end of the duck run into a nest she dug.

The Duck-Run itself is about 8ft x 12ft, wood frame with chicken wire on two sides and the top (A lot of hawks in this area).

The duck house itself extends out of one end of it. The duck house is 4ft x 4ft cedar and sits about a foot high. The rest of the enclosure is exposed to the elements, but for some reason my duck chose to build her nest in the corner. I placed a piece of plywood on top of it to give it SOME protection but it still gets wet when it rains.

She has laid 14 eggs and counting but I'm afraid all this moving may be hurting the developing duckling. Does anyone know why she may be doing that and how to avoid it in the future? thx

 

[Amiga]

Ah, the inscrutable mind of a duck.... she may simply like the other spot better. Alba has dug herself a nest underneath the hazel bushes. It's not even in their day pen - it's in the extended duck run area that we use when I am outdoors with them. But that's where she put a little nest. I take the eggs out of it. Well, I did leave one in there today because it seems to have been there for at least a couple of days... I'll compost it after a while. There's no drake with that flock.

Anyway, why Alba wants to be in a corner under the hazels instead of in a corner of the day pen I cannot fathom.

I am sure there is a very good duck reason, though.