ok my duck has started sitting on her 6 eggs for her first time weeks past and lately Ive noticed that the drake started sleeping close to her nest now he sleeps rite next to her when shes sitting time by time when she gets off the eggs for her break i check on the eggs and the drake always chases and pecks me when im over their is he protecting them ? either ways he always attacks me when i go out side and im curious because they are already hatching and making little noise in side the eggs when the ducklings hatch will the drake attack them? And how long does it take for the ducklings to get out of the eggs after making a little crack?
I have had really poor luck leaving the ducklings with the parents, I have lost the ducklings every time. The past two hatches, I chose to "detain" (yeah, I work for social services) the babies and raise them in the brooder. I just cant help messing with nature. It may just be my set up, but if I were going to have a hen and chicks, I would isolate the hen and chicks from the rest of the flock for the chicks safety, just like with chickens. Tina
You need to seperate the drake a couple days before the ducklings hatch, otherwise the drake may kill the ducklings.
Quote:Well, it wasnt my drakes that killed the babies, I think it was the getting bumped around by everyone? They kept getting jostled by the other ducks, I could see it. The first time the babies died they were already 3 and 4 days old. Their yard is really good sized, but I guess having 10 Runner Ducks and 4-5 ducklings isnt a good mix?? Tina
I have bred mallards the natural way and the drake tried to kill some ducklings, he must have tried to kill the boys as rabbits do so i would strongly advise you to fence her off and make sure that theres no little holes where the ducklings can slip through. In my experience, If the drake does get hold of a duckling and you save it, it will usually not thrive and die either that day or up to 3 weeks later. I found that a duckling rescued from the drake didnt grow as fast as the others and just died. Maybe other breeds are different, however in the wild, the drake isnt so nasty and protects them. The duck leads the line of ducklings on the water while the drake swims behind them in the line. It looks so cute. Good luck.
