Muscovy abandons nest

[CASDOG1]

I had two hens brooding clutches about 2 weeks apart from each other. They both had their nests in my feed room about ten feet apart. The first clutch hatched a week ago yesterday & it was her first clutch ever. Two days ago, the second hen, who was sitting on her second clutch (her first clutch she successfully hatched & raised 13), seems to have abandoned her eggs in favor of trying to mother the hatchlings from the first hen. She is no longer covering her eggs when she leaves her nest & she is only on it at night. She was a much more attentive & careful mother with her first clutch than the other hen with the current hatchlings is. Is this a common thing? Will I need to separate mothers who's eggs are not due to hatch close to the same time so the hen with the younger clutch does not abandon them before they hatch?

 

[quackingdom]

If your Muscovies do this, then, yes, you will need to separate individual mothers or only let one set at a time. I'm not sure of the frequency of this occurrence, however. If the one that has abandoned her nest is a better mother to the other one's babies, you might want to let her stay with them. Her original eggs may have died.