Muscovy Duck - Egg Membrane Day 42

[MariskaKilian]

She was in the breeding box inside the coop and I didn't want to move her because I heard that she might also leave her eggs then. It is day 43 and she has 4 eggs that I thought was dead but yesterday they moved so I left them with her. One baby hatched and started fluffing up and this morning the baby is gone so I'm not sure if she ate it or what happened. And then I have two eggs in the house that is under a light. They were alive this morning when I left for work.

 

[healtyfeathers]

Ahh yes. I forgot that about ducks. You can't move them around after they go broody. You can move them after they start to lay though and they will fix on a new nest. Chickens are much more accommodating in that area. Do you think that you may have snakes or rats??? Both of them will snatch the babies right out from under the mamas.

 

[WVduckchick]

She was in the breeding box inside the coop and I didn't want to move her because I heard that she might also leave her eggs then. It is day 43 and she has 4 eggs that I thought was dead but yesterday they moved so I left them with her. One baby hatched and started fluffing up and this morning the baby is gone so I'm not sure if she ate it or what happened. And then I have two eggs in the house that is under a light. They were alive this morning when I left for work.

I hope you just missed the live one this morning... Could it have been hiding under her? And I'm hoping for the best with the others! Hard to believe they are still alive at this point, but they always find ways to amaze me! Thanks for the update, and I'm sorry about the ones you've lost so far.

 

[MariskaKilian]

That mother totally lost it yesterday, the eggs that I made a little hole in to check the membrane..... she grabbed them and ripped them open and started eating them so I had to grab what I can. So the two eggs with a hole in them is now in the house. I started to wonder if she maybe eats the eggs and lay new ones and that is why they are not on the right size. For all I know she laid those eggs two weeks ago after eating the ones I thought was 4 or 5 weeks. Who knows... It just seems impossible that they still have that much yolk after being a week overdue. But then again they are large babies so not looking like two or three week olds. Will update as soon as I get home. Leaving for home now.

 

[WVduckchick]

Wow, that's another possibility! Candle the ones you have inside and take a pic if you can!

 

[healtyfeathers]

Since the baby disappeared, it makes me wonder the same thing. Maybe the first batch she started setting on were eaten by a rat or snake or something and then she laid more. Do you have more than one duck?

 

[MariskaKilian]

The two babies inside the house made it through the day, they are still alive. There is only one egg under mom that is alive, the other three doesn't look alive.

 

[MariskaKilian]

Yes I have about 70 chickens, 4 Geese, 15 Muscovys, 2 Ducks and 4 Bunnys, all together. Here are some picks

Last pick you can see there is a fence from the chickens to the wall. This is where I keep my Hens with babies from hatch to about 6-8 weeks.

 

[WVduckchick]

Wow! You have a lovely setup and very beautiful babies!!! I love the tree stump... do they climb up on that? and the idea with the blue barrels is awesome. What do they use them for? I might have to steal that idea! Fabulous!!

 

[MariskaKilian]

Thank you, yes they do climb on the stumps. There is a few in the camp for them to climb on. They use the barrels for breeding boxes. I also stole the Idea from on of the web sites. They took about 6 weeks to get used to it but now they love it.