So a few of you followed the drama over hatching the "one egg left". Whew! Glad it ended well. But there was a lot of heartache before we reached the last egg point, and if we ever decide to let Lady Duck sit on eggs again, I'd like to have things turn out better. Can you help us learn?
Here's what I've managed to figure out...
1. If you even suspect there might be a rodent in a 10 mile radius, shock and awe is the way to go. Hold nothing back and keep going until you certain that the rats in the neighboring cities are quaking in their nasty little rat boots. And in the meantime, lock those eggs up tight! (With the mama duck and food/water for her, of course.)
2. The drake shouldn't be allowed near the nest. He doesn't get it, even if he's being very sweet and sitting in the house with her to keep mama company. (But starting when should I keep him out?)
That's about all I've come up with, though. I suspect that the very hot, dry weather that hit here right at hatching time was part of the problem, given the eggs that were pipping all on one side. Their house is cedar, and raised about 3 inches off the ground - I sprinkled water on the roof and on the ground underneath the house to help keep it a little cooler, but I don't know if I could have done anything else about the humidity. At one point when I looked at an outdoor meter, it was 97 degrees in the shade and 22% humidity. Lady Duck got up for a swim twice a day - not sure if more often would have made a difference. 22% is pretty low to overcome, even for a wet duck.
They have straw in there, and that's what she uses to make a nest. Is it possible that there wasn't enough, so she was squishing the ducklings on the wood bottom? She did not line the nest with feathers - do they normally?
This was her first clutch - is she not a "natural mama," did she just not understand, or were the odds too stacked against her due to un-knowledgeable owners? Do you think she'd get it right if she tried again (next spring at the earliest!)?
What'd'y'all think?
Mrs. Duck
Here's what I've managed to figure out...
1. If you even suspect there might be a rodent in a 10 mile radius, shock and awe is the way to go. Hold nothing back and keep going until you certain that the rats in the neighboring cities are quaking in their nasty little rat boots. And in the meantime, lock those eggs up tight! (With the mama duck and food/water for her, of course.)
2. The drake shouldn't be allowed near the nest. He doesn't get it, even if he's being very sweet and sitting in the house with her to keep mama company. (But starting when should I keep him out?)
That's about all I've come up with, though. I suspect that the very hot, dry weather that hit here right at hatching time was part of the problem, given the eggs that were pipping all on one side. Their house is cedar, and raised about 3 inches off the ground - I sprinkled water on the roof and on the ground underneath the house to help keep it a little cooler, but I don't know if I could have done anything else about the humidity. At one point when I looked at an outdoor meter, it was 97 degrees in the shade and 22% humidity. Lady Duck got up for a swim twice a day - not sure if more often would have made a difference. 22% is pretty low to overcome, even for a wet duck.
They have straw in there, and that's what she uses to make a nest. Is it possible that there wasn't enough, so she was squishing the ducklings on the wood bottom? She did not line the nest with feathers - do they normally?
This was her first clutch - is she not a "natural mama," did she just not understand, or were the odds too stacked against her due to un-knowledgeable owners? Do you think she'd get it right if she tried again (next spring at the earliest!)?
What'd'y'all think?
Mrs. Duck
