Muskovy duck laying eggs up high

[Gmilojev]

Hi there. I have a Muscovy duck that is sitting on one egg. I checked the egg tonight and it looks viable and is around 20 plus days. The duck is laying the egg on a shelf higher up in the coop. If the egg hatches should I move the nest down so the duckling doesn’t fall from the shelf?

 

[Ratchnick]

Hi there. I have a Muscovy duck that is sitting on one egg. I checked the egg tonight and it looks viable and is around 20 plus days. The duck is laying the egg on a shelf higher up in the coop. If the egg hatches should I move the nest down so the duckling doesn’t fall from the shelf?

You dont have to move the duckling, it will jump and be just fine, hopefully they have soft bedding to land in? For clarity, they jump in the wild.

 

[Gmilojev]

You dont have to move the duckling, it will jump and be just fine, hopefully they have soft bedding to land in? For clarity, they jump in the wild.

Okay thanks for the information.

 

[Isaac 0]

To be precautious, it would be best to move the nest closer to the ground. Injuries can occur even with ducklings after falling long heights; it's something we see on here various times throughout the year.

If you have other birds, a lone duckling on the ground without its mother can attract a lot of attention - that attention from the other birds can often be fatal, unfortunately.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/duckling-fell-and-cant-move.1074501/#post-16413514
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/duckling-fell-acting-weird-now.1248309/#post-20026295
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/duckling-fell-need-help-asap.1105732/#post-17011957
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/my-duckling-is-hurt-and-can-not-walk.1368437/#post-22528451

Broodies should always have a protected spot with access to feed, and water. I use a dog kennel for mine wrapped in hardware cloth to prevent the ducklings from escaping.

 

[Gmilojev]

Thank you for the info, we have one other female and a drake, these two are a bonded pair. The mother laying on the egg as not left the nest for more than a minute so I assume that if I move the nest down she will protect the duckling from the drake. It’s our first almost successful duckling hatch so I want to do what’s best but don’t know what to do either so any advice is much appreciated.