Is this normal for ducks?

[Gotta love them chicks]

I have two female and two male Pekin ducks. At least I was told that they were all Pekin. One male and one female are white the other two are a buff color.they are just over a year old. The buff female has been broody three times this year already. She would sit on her nest but her eggs would not be in the nest. Sometimes I would find them several feet away. I let her keep like 6 eggs each time but, none ever hatched.

The last time she was broody the buff male would sit beside her all the time. There was a few days that he was actually on top of her just sitting there. I have included a picture of them like that. Is that normal for ducks? This is my first time raising ducks so I still trying to learn more about them also.

Yesterday I went out to feed and she was trying to hide her eggs like she did when she was broody. Today she is still sitting on the nest. So I think she may be trying to be broody again. She gets very vocal if you get near her nest. So far she is keeping her eggs under her this time. Should I let her try again to hatch some or try to break her from being broody? Is the fact she hasn't had any hatch be the reason she has been broody so many times in the last six months?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[KathiQuacks]

Those two are most definitely not Pekins - these are Buff Orpington ducks.

Are you certain she was broody in the past? Nest building doesn’t necessarily mean broodiness. All-day dedication to the nest and defending the nest is broodiness.

Not normal, but not necessarily bad either. If he’s not mounting her to mate, I’d guess he’s trying to help her nest (I’ve had two drakes act this way so far, one especially so). Most drakes will not participate in nest building or egg sitting, but it’s very sweet when they do.. Just make sure him ”helping” isn’t interfering with her nesting. I’d also get her some more nesting material.

 

[Gotta love them chicks]

Those two are most definitely not Pekins - these are Buff Orpington ducks.

Are you certain she was broody in the past? Nest building doesn’t necessarily mean broodiness. All-day dedication to the nest and defending the nest is broodiness.

Not normal, but not necessarily bad either. If he’s not mounting her to mate, I’d guess he’s trying to help her nest (I’ve had two drakes act this way so far, one especially so). Most drakes will not participate in nest building or egg sitting, but it’s very sweet when they do.. Just make sure him ”helping” isn’t interfering with her nesting. I’d also get her some more nesting material.

She seemed to be broody. She was always acting like she was hiding her eggs when she would get off the nest. Until then she had never been very vocal except when I went to feed. She would stay on the nest all day and only came off to eat or drink. She would not let anyone else near her nest except me and she didn't like it when I was near. She would get very loud and watch me constantly.

I tried to move her to an old dog house I had given them to lay in but, she would not have anything to do with it. I even tried moving her eggs in there with more nesting material and she kept going back to where she had started being broody. I have also tried giving her more nesting material but she will not use it. She seems to want to use her feathers only.

Any other ideas I can try. Before she never kept the eggs under her. They were always outside the nest. I would give them back to her and the next time I checked on her they were outside the nest again.

Thanks for the information I appreciate it.

 

[Bolfreak]

I have a Buff drake that goes and checks on the nest, will even sit nearby while everyone else is eating. I guess just observe to make sure he doesn’t break any eggs or try to mate her while she’s sitting.
None of mine have successfully hatched and I have Buffs, Cayugas and Cresteds. My Cayugas have occasionally come up missing to be sitting on a handful of eggs in the pasture where they would get eaten. I’ve allowed eggs to build up in the barn to see if someone will brood them, but over a dozen eggs and no ducks have sat. I do have a crazy turkey that likes to take over duck nests and she’s hatched several rounds of ducks this way.
If you’ve tried everything and she keeps returning to this spot, let her try if she’s safe while sitting. It’s possible the eggs she kicks out have something wrong. My turkeys take a few days to commit to the nest, sometimes off it all night and they hatch fine, it’s just hard to count days like if they are incubated.

 

[Bolfreak]

I have two female and two male Pekin ducks. At least I was told that they were all Pekin. One male and one female are white the other two are a buff color.they are just over a year old. The buff female has been broody three times this year already. She would sit on her nest but her eggs would not be in the nest. Sometimes I would find them several feet away. I let her keep like 6 eggs each time but, none ever hatched.

The last time she was broody the buff male would sit beside her all the time. There was a few days that he was actually on top of her just sitting there. I have included a picture of them like that. Is that normal for ducks? This is my first time raising ducks so I still trying to learn more about them also.

Yesterday I went out to feed and she was trying to hide her eggs like she did when she was broody. Today she is still sitting on the nest. So I think she may be trying to be broody again. She gets very vocal if you get near her nest. So far she is keeping her eggs under her this time. Should I let her try again to hatch some or try to break her from being broody? Is the fact she hasn't had any hatch be the reason she has been broody so many times in the last six months?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Actually zooming in to the picture, are you sure it’s a male and not two females? I can’t see a drake feather on them. That could also explain this behavior as two hens fighting over the same nest spot and kicking out eggs. You would also need at least one male to fertilize the eggs, sometimes the ratio of males to females needs to be adjusted if you have a monogamous drake or drakes that aren’t fertile.
What’s your male to female amount and have you cracked some eggs to check fertility, have you seen mating behavior? Don’t forget to give them access to swimming water to mate in.