Help! Muscovy duck behaviour

[Josie20]

Hi everyone, my Muscovy duck is about 7-8
months old and has started creating nests in the nesting box but she leaves them once she’s created them. Do they leave their nest and come back to lay when they’re ready or should she be laying once she’s finished making the nest (straight away)? My runner ducks are also currently doing the same thing and this has been happening for roughly 2 weeks now. Any help on this would be greatly appreciated as I’m new to having ducks lay and I’m uncertain as to what to expect. Any help on getting them to lay would also be great also

 

[Mtviking]

I’ve been thinking about getting ducks, other than the issues your having with the laying, how do you like having ducks? Harder or easier than chickens? What made you decide on the breed you picked?

 

[CuddleNest]

I’ve been thinking about getting ducks, other than the issues your having with the laying, how do you like having ducks? Harder or easier than chickens? What made you decide on the breed you picked?

Hi, I added ducklings to my chicken flock recently. I love them, and they are very different from chickens despite having many things in common. It's important to know that ducks are messy eaters, have very different poop than chickens (more liquidy) and depending on the breed, require more space and different coop bedding. Ducks are somehow generally messier than chickens, but they like to play in water, which both adds to the messiness and helps them stay clean! Ducks also require different food or at least niacin supplemented food, which is well documented by @Isaac 0 on his niacin deficiency sticky topics in the duck forum.

I didn't know what breed I was getting but ended up with big muscovies. I like them because they are quiet and big in my arms (I'm a large dog person, too). But this breed is big, and there are many kinds of ducks and most are much smaller, I've learned. Also, most other breeds quack and make noises. If you can choose the breed, I recommend basing your decision on if you plan to raise them for meat or as pets. Space and neighborhood tolerance are important. And, similar to chickens, how you want to enjoy and take care of your ducks might help you choose the breed. There is a lot of info on the duck forum about the breeds and what they look like. By the way, my ducks and chickens don't sleep together but they get along really well all day. It appears normal for people to "progress" to ducks... It's critical that you don't get just 1 duck. They need to have at least 1 buddy or more!

I'm interested in whatever answer @Josie20 gets about nesting because my ducks are not quite 11 weeks old, and I suspect the female will be making nests this fall or so. I also don't know much about duck egg laying, nesting, etc. but am really looking forward to the eggs!

 

[Josie20]

I’ve been thinking about getting ducks, other than the issues your having with the laying, how do you like having ducks? Harder or easier than chickens? What made you decide on the breed you picked?

This will be a big read, my apologies.

I raised a 2 day old abandoned duckling found on a railway line by my dad. I had no prior experience in raising ducks but I gave it a try and now I have 8 ducks (5 Muscovys and 3 Indian runner ducks). The little duckling turned out to be a drake and because I didn’t get him any friends until he was about 2-3 months old he now attacks me and tries to bite me quite often and has no interest in any of the girl ducks. When they’re little they aren’t as messy and don’t require much food but having so many full grown ducks now they go through a lot of food and require a lot of cleaning. They have a pond that they go swimming in daily and two kid pools in their pen that I clean 2-3 times a week. They have 2 large nesting boxes that I also have to clean once a week (I use straw to cover the flooring). It’s been challenging, I’ve had one duck die from a dog attack, my original duck lost his water proofing, my drake was picking on my original duck a lot (I fixed that by getting him two more females as I only had one). It’s helpful to know Muscovys are independent and don’t like other breeds. I had issues when I first got my runner ducks but after about 2 months they stayed clear of each other and now they get along fine. They are certainly messy when it comes to their poo (they’re certainly not house trained) and so it’s very important to try and keep their area clean for their health. I’m still learning more about them every day but I definitely love them and personally believe they’re better than chooks. I do have chooks and they’re super easy to maintain but they don’t have as much personality as my ducks. I haven’t once regretted anything with my ducks and would highly recommend getting them as they all have individual personalities, especially my Muscovys. Although they don’t like being touched they’re still so interesting and pleasing to have.
Certainly harder than chickens But the hard work pays off