Stephanie Lester
In the Brooder
I have a Muscovy that has been laying eggs in the pen for a while now. She's up to about a dozen eggs now. About 2 weeks ago she would sit on the nest at night, all night for about a week. But then she stopped sitting at night, but would still lay her eggs there. I read where that was normal until her clutch was complete. Last night she stayed out all night (which is highly unusual for her) and this morning she was waiting at the pen to be let in. I let the others out & her in. She's been sitting on her nest ever since. Now let me give you some history:
We have 3 Pekins, 3 Cayugas, 1 mallard, 1 African goose, 1 brown Chinese goose, and 1 Muscovy. What can I say, I like a variety LOL! They are all roughy 8 months old. We live on a private lake so during the day they have free range of the yard, lake, and wherever else they want to go (like the neighbors yards ). There has been A LOT of breeding going on (obviously some cross breeding). In the evening they come back to the house and pen up. I do this to protect them. The pen is 8x8 and has a roof, the ducks and geese pen up together at night (they were all raised together and the geese will typically freak out when 1 is missing from the pen at night). They get food and water in the pen at night. There are 2 large Rubbermaid tubs turned on the side (easy clean up when there are no nests), this is where the nest is.
Here are my questions (I'm sure I'll have more though
):
1. Is she actually setting now? I got all excited when she was sitting at night and then she stopped. This emotional roller coaster is killing me LOL.
2. How long does it take to lay just 1 egg? Maybe that's what she's doing in there right now (she's been in there for about 2 hours).
3. Should I build a quick pen and separate her and the nest from the other ducks and geese? This would be easy since the nest is contained in the tub. They have never bothered her or her nest.
Any advice or shared experience would be greatly appreciated! I've never had a duck with a nest before. This is all so exciting!
We have 3 Pekins, 3 Cayugas, 1 mallard, 1 African goose, 1 brown Chinese goose, and 1 Muscovy. What can I say, I like a variety LOL! They are all roughy 8 months old. We live on a private lake so during the day they have free range of the yard, lake, and wherever else they want to go (like the neighbors yards ). There has been A LOT of breeding going on (obviously some cross breeding). In the evening they come back to the house and pen up. I do this to protect them. The pen is 8x8 and has a roof, the ducks and geese pen up together at night (they were all raised together and the geese will typically freak out when 1 is missing from the pen at night). They get food and water in the pen at night. There are 2 large Rubbermaid tubs turned on the side (easy clean up when there are no nests), this is where the nest is.
Here are my questions (I'm sure I'll have more though
):1. Is she actually setting now? I got all excited when she was sitting at night and then she stopped. This emotional roller coaster is killing me LOL.
2. How long does it take to lay just 1 egg? Maybe that's what she's doing in there right now (she's been in there for about 2 hours).
3. Should I build a quick pen and separate her and the nest from the other ducks and geese? This would be easy since the nest is contained in the tub. They have never bothered her or her nest.
Any advice or shared experience would be greatly appreciated! I've never had a duck with a nest before. This is all so exciting!
Sounds as if she is about to go broody. Understand that fertility levels when mallard derived drakes breed Muscovy hens can be low. Candle her eggs after a week or so to assure that she is not wasting her time setting on them.
