First Eggs!

[Laura6544]

Cleaned out the duck house this morning and found some eggs! My babies are 4 and 1/2 months old and I was keeping an eye out for the first lay, I had noticed a few days ago that one of them had made a nest but there wasn't any eggs in there. I have the straw in there quite deep and it appears she laid them then very neatly covered them over before morning, I feel quite bad that I hadn't spotted them sooner but wasn't expecting them to be so well hidden, at least I now know I'll have to have a good feel through the bed each morning to find them. I feel quite bad though because she was very vocal about me taking them and when I let the pop hole back down she went straight in to look for them. I don't think she has been sitting on them, I have only seen her in the duck house at night. I did shine a light through them and it just looks like yolk in there, also we still don't know whether my other duck, Minkie, is a boy or a girl, no drake feather yet. In the last week Minkie has started to drop her wings, sort of flatten her back and tip her bum in the air when I stroke her back (she is very brave and friendly and I have always been able to fuss and handle her easily), does this sound like female behaviour?







This is the beautiful Bella, I think she has laid the eggs



My cheeky Minkie duck!

 

[jtbrown]

Congrats, I got my first yesterday!

I can't help you on sexing the little boogers, mine ant let me touch them. Even peas won't bring them close enough!

Good luck and congrats!

 

[jdywntr]

Minkie could be a female, sounds like what she is doing would be a willingness to mate. The easiest way, without a drake feather, is to see how many eggs are lain every day. Rarely will a duck lay 2 eggs in a day and if she does she won't do so repeatedly. They may lay in the same nest. You can mark one of the eggs (so that you know it was there and the age of it) or use something egg shaped or round (golfball) and put it back in the nest so that whoever is laying continues to lay there and not move areas because "something" stole the eggs. They may move nests if they think it isn't safe anymore. I have used golf balls and plastic easter eggs.

 

[jdywntr]

Also, if they are male and female since they are both crested your hatch rate wouldn't be great. Pekin don't make great setters and crests are a leathal gene. You would typically want to breed a crested to a non-crested.

 

[Laura6544]

I did think the behaviour Minkie was exhibiting was more what a female would do, I'll be over the moon if they are both girls as I don't want any babies. For one I don't think I could part with them and also because I had read about the dangers of breeding crested to crested. I have always thought Minkie may be a drake as she/he still rarely quacks just squeaks at me and is far braver and quite dominant over Bella.