Hello! My name is McKenna and I am the owner of 2 cayuga ducks (a male((maggie)) and a female((aggie)))... they are my favorite animals but I am developing some inquiries about my females behavior because it looks like it is distressing. They are approaching their first birthday in late april/early may so they are still young.
My current set up for a cage is a coop with a ramp with a dog fence around them and I take them out throughout the day to play in the swamp outside my house and explore the yard.
Recently within the past 3 weeks aggie started laying in the coop and has laid about 1 egg every other day since then. I monitor them from inside and she does not sit on the eggs at all in the day but as an experiment to see if she sat on them at night I covered them in hay and when I would come back in the morning the hay would be brushed off so I am assuming she is sitting on them at night. About after a week of laying eggs when I would go to let them out of the coop she began violently quacking (whole breast shaking, hair on back of neck up, overall distress stance/tone) as if she is in distress and has kept up this behavior every time I go outside to refresh water/feed/put them in the coop, but makes minimal noise when nobody is out there. The quacking is so loud that you can hear it about a block away and I am worried that neighbors are going to start investigating or other canines in the area.
I am stressed for this reason because she seems to be in pain or distress constantly and I do not want her life to be like this and I am genuinely sad. I also fear that she will call in other animals who are hungry and try to get in the coop or a neighbor will file a noise complaint. Do you think she is trying to keep me away from her eggs? What can I do to reduce her stress? Is there something I should do to help her begin sitting on the eggs during the day (locking her in the coop)?
I do not care if she chooses to sit on her eggs or not I just want for her to be happy and play in the leaves like she used to! Please any insight or help would be helpful right now I just want what's best for her!
Thank you
McKenna
My current set up for a cage is a coop with a ramp with a dog fence around them and I take them out throughout the day to play in the swamp outside my house and explore the yard.
Recently within the past 3 weeks aggie started laying in the coop and has laid about 1 egg every other day since then. I monitor them from inside and she does not sit on the eggs at all in the day but as an experiment to see if she sat on them at night I covered them in hay and when I would come back in the morning the hay would be brushed off so I am assuming she is sitting on them at night. About after a week of laying eggs when I would go to let them out of the coop she began violently quacking (whole breast shaking, hair on back of neck up, overall distress stance/tone) as if she is in distress and has kept up this behavior every time I go outside to refresh water/feed/put them in the coop, but makes minimal noise when nobody is out there. The quacking is so loud that you can hear it about a block away and I am worried that neighbors are going to start investigating or other canines in the area.
I am stressed for this reason because she seems to be in pain or distress constantly and I do not want her life to be like this and I am genuinely sad. I also fear that she will call in other animals who are hungry and try to get in the coop or a neighbor will file a noise complaint. Do you think she is trying to keep me away from her eggs? What can I do to reduce her stress? Is there something I should do to help her begin sitting on the eggs during the day (locking her in the coop)?
I do not care if she chooses to sit on her eggs or not I just want for her to be happy and play in the leaves like she used to! Please any insight or help would be helpful right now I just want what's best for her!
Thank you
McKenna
