How to break a broody duck?

[RogerTheChicken]

my black Cayuga named daffy was found sitting on 5 golf balls one duck egg and 1 Easter egg, no clue how she moved the decoy eggs, they were in different nest lol. She is hissing and fluffing up at me, I don't have a drake so none will hatch, how do I break her broodiness?

 

[jennyman]

I know this is an older thread but looking for some help. Have a very broody duck. (No males) three ducks lay in the same spot and she will sit on all three. Not sure if the other ducks lay first. We don't have nesting boxes. They build in their own nests in the coop. We have been moving her everyday and destroying the nest for over a week. Every morning she builds again. Not sure what I should do! Should I put in some fake duck eggs?

 

[Miss Lydia]

I broke her nest up, went out there this morning and she has built a new one, she is being really mean lol, and she has been sitting for 4 days now

Last year one of my Muscovy ducks would not give up for nothing so since she was the first one to go broody this year and we can't have ducklings [no room] I was ready for her I gave her fake goose eggs[ Premier 1] she is now sitting on 2 of them and happy as a clam, I marked the calender and when her 35 days are up hopefully she'll get up and enjoy her summer. The goose eggs are just a little bigger than duck eggs so they work perfectly.

 

[LadyIsadora]

I blew coffee through my nose when I read the OP.
Thanks. LOL
I so sorry, I know its a serious issue for you but the mental Image of -your aptly named "daffy"- sitting on golf balls & Easter eggs conjured up old loony tunes cartoons whith that old broody chicken. OMG! Soooo funny in my head.

I'm new to this whole raising ducks thing and have been surfing this forum for general info, tips, tricks and the like. so I had no frame of reference for this broody problem. thanks for sharing, so people like me can learn.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I blew coffee through my nose when I read the OP.
Thanks. LOL
I so sorry, I know its a serious issue for you but the mental Image of -your aptly named "daffy"- sitting on golf balls & Easter eggs conjured up old loony tunes cartoons whith that old broody chicken. OMG! Soooo funny in my head.

I'm new to this whole raising ducks thing and have been surfing this forum for general info, tips, tricks and the like. so I had no frame of reference for this broody problem. thanks for sharing, so people like me can learn.

Welcome to BYC It can be similar to Looney Tunes

 

[Miss Lydia]

I have 2 broody Muscovy right now. Over the years I have tried locking them out of their coop destroying the nest they make in their shavings. I haven't found anything that works. My 2 have been going strong for close to 5 weeks now. My 3rd broody makes her nest in the main coop and because I keep it closed during the day I have to quickly pick her up and get her out before she does that disgusting broody poop inside, walking fast with butt facing away from me. I destroyed her nest and paced a heavy wooden box over top, so she just went over to the other side of the room and settled down there. I just have to let it run it's course. I also have 5 broody hens, all these girls aren't even on eggs either. They all come out daily to eat drink and act nutty before going back inside. That is the main thing we need to worry about making sure they are taking care of themselves. Give the chick to the silkie.

 

[MrsTush]

I have 2 broody Muscovy right now. Over the years I have tried locking them out of their coop destroying the nest they make in their shavings. I haven't found anything that works. My 2 have been going strong for close to 5 weeks now. My 3rd broody makes her nest in the main coop and because I keep it closed during the day I have to quickly pick her up and get her out before she does that disgusting broody poop inside, walking fast with butt facing away from me. I destroyed her nest and paced a heavy wooden box over top, so she just went over to the other side of the room and settled down there. I just have to let it run it's course. I also have 5 broody hens, all these girls aren't even on eggs either. They all come out daily to eat drink and act nutty before going back inside. That is the main thing we need to worry about making sure they are taking care of themselves. Give the chick to the silkie.

I'd never tell my chickens but I like my ducks more...but they are so much more stubborn!!

 

[Orca5094]

Take away all her "eggs" and break up (or completely remove) her nest. Do you have other birds who are sitting on eggs you DO want incubated? That might make it harder to break her broodiness if she has access to other nests or eggs. Do you have nest boxes, or did she make the nest herself? Usually they will get the hint if you remove all their eggs and completely break apart their nest, though. They might linger there for about a day, but after that they usually give up on their nest and move on with their lives.

 

[RogerTheChicken]

No, I don't have any eggs ready to be incubated, she was making her own nest but now she uses the nest box

 

[Orca5094]

Ok, well how long has she been broody? I really just interfere with broodiness if they've been sitting a long time (full incubation cycle of 28 days) and STILL want to keep sitting. Incubating any longer is very hard on their bodies as they don't eat or do much else during incubation and tend to lose alot of weight. Sometimes they kind of need to go through an incubation cycle though, even if the eggs aren't fertile and won't hatch. It's a natural process.

So you have two options, really: Remove all eggs and block access (or remove) all nest boxes, or let her sit for 28 days and then remove all eggs and block or remove the nest boxes at that time. I think it's good for them to go through an incubation cycle now and again, especially if it seems they obviously want to. Just allowing them to sit longer than that can become detrimental to their health.

It's really up to you how you want to handle it though, this is all just my opinion on the matter.