Egg gathering? every day? but she gets mad......

[ohiofarmgirl]

Be warned that muscovies are known to steal eggs from other birds. Sooner or later most will go broody even if she doesn't have a full nest.

oh hey Goosedragon! good to hear from you


so she'll brood even later in the year!?! i'm asking b/c our other hen didnt even remotely brood or lay last fall so we're a little surprised by this year's brood-a-thon

also - will she set a clutch of turkey eggs!?! would she raise them? our BR turk hens are a little crazy right now and what we need is another brood of poults before it gets too late in the year

and whew! i'm not the only one who's softhearted and finds this upsetting? i'll toughen up i'm sure but i'm such a sucker for her. i rule the other poultry with an iron fist but i'm all gaa-gaa over little Dash...


thanks for everyone's suggestions
​

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

ok i took up her egg today after getting them all yesterday. she didnt fall for the golf balls at all

 

[Soccer Mom]

Quote:
Clearly your duck is smarter than I am. I picked a golf ball up out of a nest and brought it up to the house to wash. At least I didn't try to fry it.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

hee hee heee thats very funny!

well i've been outsmarted by poultry at every turn... hee hee hee

can i just say again how cute she is? her entire brood has figured out that the flappy things on their sides allow them to FLY down to the pond... but she just walks her happy little self down there. i'm completely smitten.

but golly i need to do something so they dont fly directly over to the neighbors pond

;-)

 

[goosedragon]

Quote:
oh hey Goosedragon! good to hear from you


so she'll brood even later in the year!?! i'm asking b/c our other hen didnt even remotely brood or lay last fall so we're a little surprised by this year's brood-a-thon

also - will she set a clutch of turkey eggs!?! would she raise them? our BR turk hens are a little crazy right now and what we need is another brood of poults before it gets too late in the year

and whew! i'm not the only one who's softhearted and finds this upsetting? i'll toughen up i'm sure but i'm such a sucker for her. i rule the other poultry with an iron fist but i'm all gaa-gaa over little Dash...


thanks for everyone's suggestions


She MIGHT it is not unusual for muscovy to brood 3 cluches a year. They never had the migration problem in their warm native area so didn't need to produce ducklings early so they would be ready to fly back South in the fall. They are warm weather ducks and usually start later in the spring. We used to raise them for eggs since they tend to keep producing eggs, Out of the roughly 100 ducks we would carry over we would have about 3/week that would go broody in Nov/Dec(in western NY cold) (No drake so we would "break" the broody cycle to try to get them back to laying)
We have used them to hatch turkey eggs with mixed results, some ducks would realize that the poults weren't ducklings and kill (and eat) them as they hatched. Others were so proud and happy at being mamas that they would try and raise them (do not supply swimming water or you will have drowned poults on your hands LOL!) I won't recommend it, but it is possible. Depends on how much you will risk to get a clutch of poults. I hope this is some help, all ducks are individuals and I won't try to predict what they will do.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

thanks goosedragon!

i think i remember a post about a poult falling into a pond and swimming... i was thinking about that when i herded the ducks down today and wondering if she'd know they werent ducklings!



i'd love to keep her laying so i'll work on breaking her broodiness. in the meantime i'll meditate on my turkey momma's getting their act together.

100 ducks!?!?? wowza! um.. so how many pieces of poultry do you have??!

 

[goosedragon]

Quote:
Zero, none, nill, I am retired into town and I miss having birds badly! Posting gives me a chance to relive the good times and pass on my knowledge and experience to people looking for answers

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

great googley moogly!

well that gives me hope that

1. i can break my poultry addiction at some point
2. we can rely on your excellent advice!