duck on 16 eggs

[chickfan]

I have a Muscovy (I think) female that has mated with a Rouen male. We have hatched babies from her once before, (in the incubator) and they are the only two ducks I have, so......I would have bet that she would not have fertilized eggs, but where there is a will.......
I found where she had "hidden" a nest the other day. She was on 10 eggs. DH was saving other random eggs we had found from her, to put in the incubator. He decided to just add them to the ones she was sitting on.
My question....I know that animals naturally know what to do, but I have noticed she doesn't sit on these eggs very often. Sometimes she will sit on them all night, sometimes not. Usually she is out most of the day with the other duck. I have to assume these eggs will NOT hatch, but I'm wondering why she just sits on them part of the time? When we have chickens on eggs, they seldom leave the eggs for any time at all.
I know this is a crazy question, but I'm confused. Maybe ducks don't have to sit on eggs all the time? She has pulled down from her body, to cover the nest, and I assume that is to "protect" the eggs while she isn't there.
Any ideas will be appreciated! Thanks!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Quote:
when my muscovy girls are laying their eggs they wait till they have enough before actually sitting full time, they will sit on them at night and some during the day, but not until they have their full clutch will they really hunker down and start brooding. I'd just leave he alone and see what se does. If she has 10 and ya'll added some more she should be close. Good luck

 

[chickfan]

Thanks so much! This does make sense. I sort of thought she would wait for a full batch, but since there were 10, I thought that was probably enough. Then we added 6 more. She doesn't even have a size 16 butt! LOL
I will watch. It just really seemed odd to me, but have only 2 ducks so really haven't been able to watch closely. We have 13 guineas who probably laying eggs all over the place, but we don't see them like we have in the past. Then we have about 36 chickens. I just can't keep up with all of them.
I feel better now! Thanks again!