KathiQuacks
Crowing
Before anyone asks, yes, he is a drake, no doubt about it.
Most drakes, from what I hear, will simply hang out near the nest while his hen does her thing. Some will stand guard over the nest, and very rarely, drakes will actually sit on the nest themselves. My drake has gone a little beyond the sitting part and is acting completely broody now
My drake, Cherry, has always had a fascination with eggs. I remember the first time I put fake eggs in the coop to see what he’d think. He curiously walked over, chattered softly, and stood guard in front of them. It was so sweet!
Herbert on the left, with my current drake, Cherry, on the right - both guarding fake eggs.
Now that I have two hens laying, he’s been exposed to real eggs in a real nest. At first, he was simply curious again. He would hang out near the nest and occasionally stand guard over it while his girls were away.
He talks about the nest a lot, trying to call his girls over to sit - his girls, however, do not care for the nest at all
and since his girls won’t sit, he seems to’ve taken it upon himself to sit for them!
In the last few weeks, he’s claimed the nest as his own and sits on it All. Day. Long. Well, almost all day. He’ll get off the nest so the girls can lay their daily eggs, and he’ll leave with the girls for a couple hours to free-range and swim in the lake, but any other time, he’s sat firmly on the nest.
A few days ago, I went to go collect the daily eggs, and there he was, on the nest. I reached out my hand to move him out of the way, and he puffed up real big, hissed, and tried to bite me for it
Now today, I went outside to check on my ducks, and Cherry was in the coop all alone. This is the first day the girls have left to free-range, and instead of joining them, he chose to stay behind and sit!
It makes me wonder, with how dedicated he is, if he could actually incubate the eggs or not. Maybe I’ll have to let him try in the future
For now, though, I know that broodiness takes a lot out of a hen, so as sweet as he is, I will be kicking him off during the day so he can put his energy into actually being a drake!
Does anyone else have a drake / roo / gander / tom / etc. that’s acted this broody before?
Most drakes, from what I hear, will simply hang out near the nest while his hen does her thing. Some will stand guard over the nest, and very rarely, drakes will actually sit on the nest themselves. My drake has gone a little beyond the sitting part and is acting completely broody now
My drake, Cherry, has always had a fascination with eggs. I remember the first time I put fake eggs in the coop to see what he’d think. He curiously walked over, chattered softly, and stood guard in front of them. It was so sweet!
Herbert on the left, with my current drake, Cherry, on the right - both guarding fake eggs.
Now that I have two hens laying, he’s been exposed to real eggs in a real nest. At first, he was simply curious again. He would hang out near the nest and occasionally stand guard over it while his girls were away.
He talks about the nest a lot, trying to call his girls over to sit - his girls, however, do not care for the nest at all
and since his girls won’t sit, he seems to’ve taken it upon himself to sit for them!In the last few weeks, he’s claimed the nest as his own and sits on it All. Day. Long. Well, almost all day. He’ll get off the nest so the girls can lay their daily eggs, and he’ll leave with the girls for a couple hours to free-range and swim in the lake, but any other time, he’s sat firmly on the nest.
A few days ago, I went to go collect the daily eggs, and there he was, on the nest. I reached out my hand to move him out of the way, and he puffed up real big, hissed, and tried to bite me for it
Now today, I went outside to check on my ducks, and Cherry was in the coop all alone. This is the first day the girls have left to free-range, and instead of joining them, he chose to stay behind and sit!
It makes me wonder, with how dedicated he is, if he could actually incubate the eggs or not. Maybe I’ll have to let him try in the future
For now, though, I know that broodiness takes a lot out of a hen, so as sweet as he is, I will be kicking him off during the day so he can put his energy into actually being a drake!Does anyone else have a drake / roo / gander / tom / etc. that’s acted this broody before?
I’ve not really exposed my older ducks to ducklings, but I did show Cherry the first ducklings I ever hatched when they were around 6 weeks old. He could not stop wagging his tail at them 
