hegg burying ducks...grrr!!!

[heathersboers]

Does anyone else have a problem with their ducks burying their eggs? I have broken at least 3 this week by accidentally stepping on them...why do they do that????

 

[BirdBrain]

Do you have secluded nesting boxes for them? If not, that might help. Fill them with hay and throw in few golf balls. I would think they would figure out where you want them.

 

[sourland]

Initially, ducks were seasonal layers starting early in the spring so that the young would have a chance to mature by autumn. In order to get an early start on "family raising" these ducks would start laying when there was the possibility that their eggs might freeze. Those hens who covered their eggs with vegetation which conserved/created heat and hid the nest from predators were most likely to succeed and their genes were more likely to be passed on. Many domestics have this "nest hiding" instinct bred into them.