Is my muscovy getting broody?

[jdywntr]

So, my muscovy started laying about 2 weeks ago. I picked up the first week's eggs since some were small. After 1 mishap, (she made a bee line to the chicken coop one morning and I found her in their nest box where she laid her egg) I then put 2 eggs in her nest and left her in the run the next day until she had lain her next one. I want her to go broody so I started leaving them in the nest and marking them with the date.

There are now 6 eggs in the nest and this evening when I put the pair up she went in to sit on the nest. She only stayed on it for about 30 minutes.

She is not setting during the day, though I constantly find one or another of the chickens setting on them along with the occasional chicken egg

.

My questions:

Does this behavior mean she may go broody soon ( I know they typically lay a large #)?

The temps have been dipping into the 50's (I hate FL), will this cause a problem with fertility in the eggs that are out there?

I am thinking of setting up a broody nest for one of my chickens to sit on some scovy eggs, I'm not sure how fertile they will be since she just started laying, any tips for having a hen brood duck eggs?

Thanks!

 

[rainplace]

I have seen muscovies sit on as many as 20 something eggs. You don't need to do anything to encourage her, as they are great at all things broody.

 

[RavenStorm]

Scovies will sit when they sit. I've had one girl sit for her first time one just 9 eggs, and I've had a trio of sister ducks make a nest together in one lay box and hatched out all their babies with teamwork after they had collected about 30 eggs.

One sure sign that all of my ducks give when they are about to start sitting is they pull out their downy feathers from their chest to begin building their nest. Watch for tufts of those in a larger than normal amount, then give her something to build a nest out of and she'll let you know if it's really time.

 

[jdywntr]

Okay, thanks.

Anyone have answers to the questions about the cold and the chicken?

 

[FarmrGirl]

50 degrees is a great temperature to keep hatching eggs in storage until you're ready to set them so you should be fine. If you want to make extra sure, mark on side with an X and turn them daily. Mama will start doing that herself once she decides to set.