Old fashioned Broody thread for ducks 2013 edition

[Snownoir]

Eden your going to have to stop this stuttering.

Agreed


The girl under my shed with the mystery clutch has come out today and coaxed (literally) 16-17?? ducklings after her. I really don't know how many yet. But it was comical counting 3 of them run out, none follow, mom stuck her head under make some noise, walk away slowly, 1 more run out, her go back, all 4 run back under, her yell some more, 8 follow her out, her go back.... etc. CUTE!! Then they got confused and followed the bigger ducklings instead of their own brood.

Just want to hug em all!! I'm going to pinion for the first time tomorrow.....

 

[Miss Lydia]

Agreed


The girl under my shed with the mystery clutch has come out today and coaxed (literally) 16-17?? ducklings after her. I really don't know how many yet. But it was comical counting 3 of them run out, none follow, mom stuck her head under make some noise, walk away slowly, 1 more run out, her go back, all 4 run back under, her yell some more, 8 follow her out, her go back.... etc. CUTE!! Then they got confused and followed the bigger ducklings instead of their own brood.

Just want to hug em all!! I'm going to pinion for the first time tomorrow.....

Congrats on the awesome hatch, and let us know how that goes.

 

[lindisfarne]

Really excited about all your broody ducks

we have our runner, Chilli, who has been on 5 eggs for 21 days now....she seems to be doing everything right so far, just gotta wait another week!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Really excited about all your broody ducks

we have our runner, Chilli, who has been on 5 eggs for 21 days now....she seems to be doing everything right so far, just gotta wait another week!

keep us posted!!

 

[EdenCamp]

It's driving me nuts. Dunno what is up with double dipping on posts.

 

[EdenCamp]

It's driving me nuts. Dunno what is up with double dipping on posts.

 

[jdywntr]

I have some babies hatching, again. Unfortunately, the first didn't make it. Late yesterday I saw a chicken running around with part of an egg shell and membrane that didn't look fresh. I went into the coop to find a duckling about 4 feet away from the nest. He was covered in fire ants. I got the ants off and brought him inside but he died a short time later. Don't know if it was chilled or so much ant bites. Poor thing.

I then removed mom from the nest and moved her eggs, as there were ants in the nest and some were in the pips. I have the scars to show today as anyone will know who has muscovy. It didn't go well so instead I cleared out the nest, put some stuff in there to repel the ants, built up another nest and put the eggs back after killing any ants I saw. It took mom about 10 minutes but she went back.

This morning, there were a few fuzzy butts under her but I didn't want to stress her anymore since its her first time.

I love where we live but I swear the mountain we live on is really just a big fire ant mound!

 

[Miss Lydia]

I have some babies hatching, again. Unfortunately, the first didn't make it. Late yesterday I saw a chicken running around with part of an egg shell and membrane that didn't look fresh. I went into the coop to find a duckling about 4 feet away from the nest. He was covered in fire ants. I got the ants off and brought him inside but he died a short time later. Don't know if it was chilled or so much ant bites. Poor thing.

I then removed mom from the nest and moved her eggs, as there were ants in the nest and some were in the pips. I have the scars to show today as anyone will know who has muscovy. It didn't go well so instead I cleared out the nest, put some stuff in there to repel the ants, built up another nest and put the eggs back after killing any ants I saw. It took mom about 10 minutes but she went back.

This morning, there were a few fuzzy butts under her but I didn't want to stress her anymore since its her first time.

I love where we live but I swear the mountain we live on is really just a big fire ant mound!

Have you ever used un cooked rice for the ants? I don't know if the ducks would eat the rice but someone told me years ago to use rice on top of an ant bed then they take it back into the bed and eat it and they swell and die,. I don't know if it's true and we don't have fire ants but sometimes especially when it gets to drought stages here[ don't think we have to worry about that this year] We did have a huge ant bed and I sprinkled rice all over the top and sure enough wasn't long till it was gone. But this was before I got chickens and the ducks didn't have access to this part of the yard.

 

[jdywntr]

Have you ever used un cooked rice for the ants? I don't know if the ducks would eat the rice but someone told me years ago to use rice on top of an ant bed then they take it back into the bed and eat it and they swell and die,. I don't know if it's true and we don't have fire ants but sometimes especially when it gets to drought stages here[ don't think we have to worry about that this year] We did have a huge ant bed and I sprinkled rice all over the top and sure enough wasn't long till it was gone. But this was before I got chickens and the ducks didn't have access to this part of the yard.

I haven't heard that but its worth a shot. Fire ants are monsters to kill without tons of pesticide which I don't use. Typically, they just move their mound. I have found that if I empty the buckets over a mound for a few days, they at least don't come up there anymore. I do this in the runs so the birds don't get bites on their feet.

 

[new2ducks]

We have fire ants but luckily they aren't close to the ducks' area. I'm going to try the cooked rice though. I hate to use pesticides.
My duck has been sitting on eggs starting May 16th. I had marked the eggs with a marker but I know she and the other female have laid more. When she gets off the nest (which isn't for very long) I can only see about 6 eggs at the most but I know there are more. Is it usual for them to just shove the eggs under the straw and feathers? I have no idea how many are in there now but I don't want to mess with anything.