Intermittent Broody Muscovy

[BigAspirations]

Dear fellow Muscovy owners,
I’m hoping for some advice please. In the last week or so, 2 of my Muscovy ducks started laying. One did the right thing and is laying in the duck house, the other decided under a bush is better and that is where the nest is. She has laid 9 eggs so far and early on I took one to check if they are fertile and it appears they are so I decided to let her be (we don’t have any predators in our yard other than snakes and they are a fact of life in rural Aus). She started looking broody, sitting for 5ish hours in a go, tail is fanned out and she is making a different squeaky noise, but she keeps leaving the nest for extended periods to play with the other ducks?? I mean, she leaves the eggs for an hour or so. Far longer than a snack and swim. If my incubator cut out after 5 hours I would be more than worried so should I also be worried about the ducks apparent lack of commitment to the eggs? I got her as an adult duck so don’t know if this is repeat behaviour. Wondering if I should just call it a day and take the eggs from her. It is summer here so the days are 30C at the moment (85F) but not sure that’s not still too cool between sitting sessions. The other female is still collecting eggs and hasn’t started sitting. Your suggestions are appreciated. Thanks!

 

[M-H-Fielding]

Dear fellow Muscovy owners,
I’m hoping for some advice please. In the last week or so, 2 of my Muscovy ducks started laying. One did the right thing and is laying in the duck house, the other decided under a bush is better and that is where the nest is. She has laid 9 eggs so far and early on I took one to check if they are fertile and it appears they are so I decided to let her be (we don’t have any predators in our yard other than snakes and they are a fact of life in rural Aus). She started looking broody, sitting for 5ish hours in a go, tail is fanned out and she is making a different squeaky noise, but she keeps leaving the nest for extended periods to play with the other ducks?? I mean, she leaves the eggs for an hour or so. Far longer than a snack and swim. If my incubator cut out after 5 hours I would be more than worried so should I also be worried about the ducks apparent lack of commitment to the eggs? I got her as an adult duck so don’t know if this is repeat behaviour. Wondering if I should just call it a day and take the eggs from her. It is summer here so the days are 30C at the moment (85F) but not sure that’s not still too cool between sitting sessions. The other female is still collecting eggs and hasn’t started sitting. Your suggestions are appreciated. Thanks!

I've had chickens that did that!
It sounds warm, enough, I would just let her be for a while. My hens would always run out every few hours for the first few days of brooding, but as time goes on they get more serious. After two weeks, they rarely(if ever) leave the nest.

 

[DukesDucks]

ok first stupid question. I'm assuming you have at least one drake?

Sometimes my Muscovy ducks don't take their nest sitting duties seriously until they have a big enough clutch. I don't know how they decide what is enough. Then they rarely leave the next except for food, water and a splash if you have a pool.
My suggestion is that, the next time you see her off the nest, go over and mark the eggs. I use a pencil enough to see but not dark. You could mark all the existing ones with an x since you don't know when they were laid, and after that put a date on any new eggs.
From my understanding, once she starts consistently staying on the nest, you can count that as day one. Muscovy duck have a long incubation period - around 32 days. I think you can candle at 10 days.
Can you plan some kind of enclosure to protect her and the ducklings?

 

[BigAspirations]

ok first stupid question. I'm assuming you have at least one drake?

Sometimes my Muscovy ducks don't take their nest sitting duties seriously until they have a big enough clutch. I don't know how they decide what is enough. Then they rarely leave the next except for food, water and a splash if you have a pool.
My suggestion is that, the next time you see her off the nest, go over and mark the eggs. I use a pencil enough to see but not dark. You could mark all the existing ones with an x since you don't know when they were laid, and after that put a date on any new eggs.
From my understanding, once she starts consistently staying on the nest, you can count that as day one. Muscovy duck have a long incubation period - around 32 days. I think you can candle at 10 days.
Can you plan some kind of enclosure to protect her and the ducklings?

Thanks for your input. Yes, I have a drake - and he isn’t shy about mating either. He hasn’t discovered her nest (yet) so maybe her temporary sitting is just to get a break from him too. She has left her nest again so I’ve marked the eggs. She hasn’t laid today but she has however, gone off to play for the afternoon!
If she does get to the stage of sitting and hatching, I can certainly put up fencing and housing. Here was me thinking broody duck hatch would be less stressful than indoor incubating. Thanks again.

 

[Quackwacker]

I had a broody Muscovy that would do that. I looked up some threads here on byc and learned that some ladies are just not as nurturing as others. Most people said the eggs still hatched but sometimes a week or two behind schedule. I guess because of the lack consistent “baking” . I let her be and most the babies hatched , it was closer to day 45 than day 32 though. Good luck.

 

[BigAspirations]

I had a broody Muscovy that would do that. I looked up some threads here on byc and learned that some ladies are just not as nurturing as others. Most people said the eggs still hatched but sometimes a week or two behind schedule. I guess because of the lack consistent “baking” . I let her be and most the babies hatched , it was closer to day 45 than day 32 though. Good luck.

Oh wow. That’s a real test of patience! I’ve put her food and water nearby to her nest and she hasn’t come out for a few days, not even during the thunder storm. She has rolled 2 eggs out which I will move from the nest as soon as she leaves long enough for me to grab them without upsetting her. I tried putting them back with the nest before and she rolled them out again so I take that as confirmation they are surplus/no good to her. I guess she knows what she is doing and I need to stop patrolling her (so so hard, but I am just as impatient with the indoor incubator - got caught so many times by the family shining a torch through the walls of the incubator “just to check”.)

 

[Quackwacker]

Oh wow. That’s a real test of patience! I’ve put her food and water nearby to her nest and she hasn’t come out for a few days, not even during the thunder storm. She has rolled 2 eggs out which I will move from the nest as soon as she leaves long enough for me to grab them without upsetting her. I tried putting them back with the nest before and she rolled them out again so I take that as confirmation they are surplus/no good to her. I guess she knows what she is doing and I need to stop patrolling her (so so hard, but I am just as impatient with the indoor incubator - got caught so many times by the family shining a torch through the walls of the incubator “just to check”.)

We learned when they roll the eggs out they are duds. We learned the hard way. We kept putting them back and eventually she broke it. Oh God the smell. It was rotten. Be patient. I did all he same things with my first broody. And was so exciting when i saw that first sweet little fluffy head pop out of her wings.

 

[ruthhope]

There are two well documented cases in the UK where supermarket bought duck eggs were successfully incubated in the purchasers' homes and ducklings hatched. In the UK eggs are on the open shelves and not in a chiller as eggs in the UK are not washed. This tells me that air temperature in warmer months -- and UK warmer months are not as warm as Australian! -- is fine until the duck has all her eggs ready to brood. And then it is important for the duck to stay on the nest and keep the eggs consistently warmer .

 

[bhaugh]

I've had ducks sit next to the eggs when they thought the eggs warm enough to not cook them. Some birds are more social need that " me time" You'll know if she abandons them because she will forget all about them and not go back at all.