Encouraging a Broody?

[wordgirl]

I've got a few Ancona ducks and I'd love to expand my flock this spring...they just started laying a few weeks ago and have gotten very regular - I've been getting two eggs from my two hens for a little while now. Neither one has really shown a desire to set yet, but I was wondering if there is anything I can do to encourage one of them to go broody? Should I leave a group of plastic eggs/infertile eggs out for them? I wish I had more than two hens to start with, because I'll have to set aside some eggs before they went broody to have any for them to set on!

Thanks!

 

[missnu01]

Just allow them to build up a clutch of eggs...then if someone is going to set they will and you don't have to worry with giving the eggs, or taking the eggs, or whatever...and egg hatching animals are more enticed with the look of a full nest, and they are more likely to feel the urge to set when faced with a number of eggs, as opposed to seeing one a day or whatever the case is. There really isn't any way to make it happen...but you can leave the eggs to collect and hope...Or get an incubator...

 

[wordgirl]

Just allow them to build up a clutch of eggs...then if someone is going to set they will and you don't have to worry with giving the eggs, or taking the eggs, or whatever...and egg hatching animals are more enticed with the look of a full nest, and they are more likely to feel the urge to set when faced with a number of eggs, as opposed to seeing one a day or whatever the case is. There really isn't any way to make it happen...but you can leave the eggs to collect and hope...Or get an incubator...

Hmmm...I may just try that!

Do I need to wait awhile since they just started to lay? They are plenty old enough - hens and drakes are both 10 months old.

 

[missnu01]

I would gather up the small eggs that are first laid, but perhaps replace the eggs with golf balls or something, or when more eggs are left take the small ones out for each larger egg laid. Sometimes ducks are secret nesters, so when you empty the nest they decide they must need to lay somewhere else. I have heard not to hatch the first few eggs if you can help it because chicks hatched from the smaller new eggs are more likely to have issues or possibly not hatch since the duck/chickens system has not quite found its rhythm yet