muscovy hatching question!

[riley17]

We were gifted with a drake and 2 hens two Sundays ago. We love them, they are very quiet compared to our pekins!! We put them in our sheep shelter temporarily until we get a duck house built. The sheep are in another field right now. The one hen has made a nest in the hay!! We are so excited! I have been browsing the forum and understand that it is normal for her to sit at night and not during the day. I noticed her doing this last week, but now she has stopped? She still buries all the eggs under the hay during the day, and the other hen is laying there too....I see them being mated sometimes. Could that be preventing her from going broody? Should I separate the drake? I would like to mark the eggs because I saw to do that in another post, but I do not want to disturb her either so she won't set. What should I do? how much disturbance will they tolerate? I try not to hang around too much, but we do pick up their fencing and put it back every day. (We need to borrow it to move the sheep) so maybe there's too much activity around? Their pen is 8 foot long by 4 feet wide. It has a metal roof and 2 wooden sides and 2 chicken wire sides . Any advice would be appreciated! This is our first time trying to hatch babies.
Thank you!

 

[Buck Oakes]

Ok first of all this is my most common advice today , they don't like being confined , they don't do well being inside

They need a bathing pool or else their feathers will loose their natural oils and become to silkie, the oils also help them prevent infection

About the male and other female their fine I their mating then the female on the eggs sees on oppurtunity for another ducks to lay and sit on her nest so she want have to , and if the eggs are truly fertile the females won't leave them aloe she'll be off of them but won't go fat, she will go and sit on her eggs for an hour or two and come back half an hour or so later.

Don't mark the eggs with markers , the toxins can sink into the pores use a simple pencil , but not a led pencil or a color pencil, just a granite pencil will do , also don't use pen.

 

[Buck Oakes]

The females can also share nest and the male will stand away from the nest but protect females just incase

 

[riley17]

Thanks, they were only being confined until our electric chicken netting came in the mail. They're allowed out now and they have a swimmy pool that they like. Still not sitting though, so I threw the eggs out. They were ice cold. Hopefully she will start a new one.

 

[Buck Oakes]

I hope so to