Mama duck with babies laying eggs again

[Luv Ducks]

def normal ducks arent like chickens. they will lay wherever they happen to be at the time.. only when they want to hatch the eggs they make a nest. atleast in my experiance.

My Rouen, Mallard and Muscovy all seem to lay in a nest. My Runners are hopeless and usually lay wherever they feel like it, lol.

 

[deer trail duck farms]

My Rouen, Mallard and Muscovy all seem to lay in a nest. My Runners are hopeless and usually lay wherever they feel like it, lol.

consider yourself lucky! the Easter egg hunt every morning is def a labor of love! i will note that my pekins and khakis are the worst. the cayugas seem to prefer atleast laying them on bedding. LOL

 

[Luv Ducks]

consider yourself lucky! the Easter egg hunt every morning is def a labor of love! i will note that my pekins and khakis are the worst. the cayugas seem to prefer atleast laying them on bedding. LOL

Oh when I said in a nest, it's who knows where and buried in their pine shavings so it really is an Easter Egg Hunt. Very few are visible and I usually get 8 a day that I have to hunt for. That makes it fun, right? LOL

 

[EndlessSummer]

I need advice about what to do with three ducklings that are in our boat cockpit along with their mama, who is sitting a nest of six eggs. The ducklings are not being taken into the river for water or food. Mama duck is either away from the nest or sitting the nest. I took saucers of water and minced romaine lettuce and minced carrots and rolled oats to the ducklings, and they ate and drank. I’m going to get some duckling crumbles for them. They seemed cold so I took small terry cloth towels to the cockpit. Unfortunately I don’t have the time to be a foster duck mom. A few more days, but not the amount of time needed to really care for them. How long will Mama duck concentrate on her new eggs and not the ducklings? We’d like to use our boat, but won’t until the eggs are hatched and the newest ducklings are stable, and the older ducklings are able to fend for themselves. Any advice what I should do? Thanks.

 

[Miss Lydia]

So sweet of you to care. Welcome to BYC. So these 3 ducklings have Hatched and mama is still sitting on her nest. This is pretty normal hopefully the rest will be hatching soon. Duckling crumbles would be best since they haven't been able to get any grit so don't feed them anything else but the crumble and plenty of water. Once they all hatch she'll probably stay a few more days before her and the ducklings leave for good. Bless you for letting them stay. Let us know how it goes. Can they easily get out of the boat into the water? One thing to say when giving newly hatched ducklings water make sure they can't climb in and drown.

 

[EndlessSummer]

So sweet of you to care. Welcome to BYC. So these 3 ducklings have Hatched and mama is still sitting on her nest. This is pretty normal hopefully the rest will be hatching soon. Duckling crumbles would be best since they haven't been able to get any grit so don't feed them anything else but the crumble and plenty of water. Once they all hatch she'll probably stay a few more days before her and the ducklings leave for good. Bless you for letting them stay. Let us know how it goes. Can they easily get out of the boat into the water? One thing to say when giving newly hatched ducklings water make sure they can't climb in and drown.

The water is in shallow saucers. I’ll only feed them duckling crumbles. The ducklings were hatched in the boat, and they can’t easily get out of the boat. I don’t know how old they are. They fit in the palm of my hand, which is small. I really don’t know how Mama duck is going to get them out of the boat, which is up on a boat lift. Will she use the scruff of their neck? She flies into the boat cockpit, so will she have to fly them out? Should we take them out into a safe place in our yard? After all the rest hatch? When Mama duck is watching so she knows where they go? I’m worried because there’s a fox in the community and now a groundhog has appeared in our yard. There isn’t a real safe place in the yard unless Mama duck is with them at all times. My husband is going along with everything now, but he wants to clean the boat in order to use it, so this situation needs to resolve soon. I don’t want to do anything that will cause them harm, but I’m at a loss as to what to do.

So sweet of you to care. Welcome to BYC. So these 3 ducklings have Hatched and mama is still sitting on her nest. This is pretty normal hopefully the rest will be hatching soon. Duckling crumbles would be best since they haven't been able to get any grit so don't feed them anything else but the crumble and plenty of water. Once they all hatch she'll probably stay a few more days before her and the ducklings leave for good. Bless you for letting them stay. Let us know how it goes. Can they easily get out of the boat into the water? One thing to say when giving newly hatched ducklings water make sure they can't climb in and drown.

So sweet of you to care. Welcome to BYC. So these 3 ducklings have Hatched and mama is still sitting on her nest. This is pretty normal hopefully the rest will be hatching soon. Duckling crumbles would be best since they haven't been able to get any grit so don't feed them anything else but the crumble and plenty of water. Once they all hatch she'll probably stay a few more days before her and the ducklings leave for good. Bless you for letting them stay. Let us know how it goes. Can they easily get out of the boat into the water? One thing to say when giving newly hatched ducklings water make sure they can't climb in and drown.

I’ll feed them only the duckling crumbles and lots of water in shallow saucers. The boat is up on a lift and Mama duck flies into the cockpit. The ducklings were hatched on the boat and haven’t been off the boat. I don’t think they’re getting any water or food, except what I’ve given them. I don’t know how they’re going to get off the boat. Maybe Mama duck takes them by the scruff of the neck and flies them off the boat? Should we move them off to someplace in our yard when all have been hatched? Making sure Mama sees where we take them? Problem is there’re a few foxes in the community and a groundhog has recently appeared in our yard. If they’re in the yard, Mama duck will have to be with them all the time. My husband is going along with the situation, but he’s ready to clean the boat to use it. So, the situation needs to resolve soon. What should I do?

 

[Luv Ducks]

That is really a tough call. If you move them she might desert them and it was not good of her to make a nest where she did. I don't know how she expected to get them out of there unless she thought they would stay until they were able to fly which is around 6 weeks at least. Also they eat on their own so she would have not been able to feed them. I think I would wait a few more days and see if any more hatch and then when she is watching move them into the yard and see if she takes to them. If not look for a wildlife rehab place or be prepared to try to raise them the next six weeks yourself. Bless you for caring about them. I have raised wild birds for 3 months before and one stayed with me for 9 years! This is just my opinion and hopefully someone else has a better one for you.

 

[Miss Lydia]

These Mallards are crazy where they will build a nest on top of building in large cities where good people help the mama and ducklings get safely away once they get down off the roof I saw a video where a man working at a bank watched these ducklings hatch and when it came time to leave he was on the sidewalk and caught each one as they jumped down to the sidewalk you can imagine how that would have turned out if he hadn't helped. Is there any way you can make temporary steps that the ducklings can use to get out of the boat and jump into the water while mama is waiting for them? She'll take them to water right off if she can.

 

[EndlessSummer]

That is really a tough call. If you move them she might desert them and it was not good of her to make a nest where she did. I don't know how she expected to get them out of there unless she thought they would stay until they were able to fly which is around 6 weeks at least. Also they eat on their own so she would have not been able to feed them. I think I would wait a few more days and see if any more hatch and then when she is watching move them into the yard and see if she takes to them. If not look for a wildlife rehab place or be prepared to try to raise them the next six weeks yourself. Bless you for caring about them. I have raised wild birds for 3 months before and one stayed with me for 9 years! This is just my opinion and hopefully someone else has a better one for you.

Thanks for your reply. I’m going to ask my husband to build a crate, or buy one, that can wedge between the back of our shed and the neighbor’s fence. I have leftover boat canvas that could be fashioned to keep the rain out and hide the nest. Our yard is wide open-no real place to hide. If this doesn’t work, or Mama duck abandons the nest and the three ducklings, I’ll call a wildlife rescue group to come get the three ducklings and the nest and eggs. Unfortunately I just don’t have the time to be a foster duck mom for another 6 weeks.

 

[Luv Ducks]

That's a g

These Mallards are crazy where they will build a nest on top of building in large cities where good people help the mama and ducklings get safely away once they get down off the roof I saw a video where a man working at a bank watched these ducklings hatch and when it came time to leave he was on the sidewalk and caught each one as they jumped down to the sidewalk you can imagine how that would have turned out if he hadn't helped. Is there any way you can make temporary steps that the ducklings can use to get out of the boat and jump into the water while mama is waiting for them? She'll take them to water right off if she can.

That's a great idea. My Muscovy climbed a steep ramp to get to the top of the chicken house in order to make her nest where I would not find it. She and anything she hatches will come down this ramp. Even a board that she and her ducklings could climb up would work if that is at all possible. Good Luck.