Old fashioned Broody thread for ducks 2013 edition

[keirys]

looks like she.stuck them under her we will see watching closely

 

[Peeko]

We have at least TWO ducklings!!!!!

unfortunately, it can only be max of 3 because 3 of the 6 eggs were stolen by something (maybe a rat or even the mother duck??)and discarded near the waterer....one with a fully formed chick in

little worried for the babies.....any advice please?

There was one, small hole that I had overlooked in our duck box, and that is the one a rat used to pull our only baby through during the night. At least, that's the best explanation I can think of, because on the third night, it was gone when I went out to check on them. I felt like such a dope. We had a mysterious empty egg appear in the pen about a week and a half before hatch, but I assumed it was a dud and eaten. Now I think it was the rat; a big, nasty city rat. Well, it's actually very cute from what I've spied of it. But it eats adorable, fluffy ducklings!

This time I'm not taking any chances with the out of doors; she is coming inside the house a few days early, this Sunday! I'm thinking hatch will start Tuesday or Wednesday. No duds or mishaps, yet, out of seven eggs...

Good luck to you! Runner ducklings are the cutest! I wanted to get runner ducks, but my partner isn't as silly as I am and fell for the Miniature Silver Appleyards.

 

[Miss Lydia]

looks like she.stuck them under her we will see watching closely

 

[Miss Lydia]

We have at least TWO ducklings!!!!!

unfortunately, it can only be max of 3 because 3 of the 6 eggs were stolen by something (maybe a rat or even the mother duck??)and discarded near the waterer....one with a fully formed chick in

little worried for the babies.....any advice please?

Put them and mama into a secure place, hardware cloth is about the only thing that will prevent rats. weasels minks from getting into nest and coops. Hope you can secure before anymore hatch or get these ducklings.

make sure you use it underneath too because they can also dig.

 

[marie000]

life is not fair! I am ready to give up keeping animals.

we had a bad predator attack last night. Something opened the chicken coop where we keep our chicks. All the chicks are gone. No trace, no dead chicks, nothing.
If that wasn't bad enough, we found three dead ducklings nearby. They were just 2-3 days old. We still haven't seen their mom or their seven brothers and sisters. They might be gone too. Or if we are lucky they are hiding somewhere. It's 9am and I still haven't seen them.

The older ducklings are all fine, so are the adults and our laying hens.

 

[keirys]

oh no I am so sorry to hear. I hope you find out what got them and your ducks that went missing come back

 

[Miss Lydia]

life is not fair! I am ready to give up keeping animals.

we had a bad predator attack last night. Something opened the chicken coop where we keep our chicks. All the chicks are gone. No trace, no dead chicks, nothing.
If that wasn't bad enough, we found three dead ducklings nearby. They were just 2-3 days old. We still haven't seen their mom or their seven brothers and sisters. They might be gone too. Or if we are lucky they are hiding somewhere. It's 9am and I still haven't seen them.

The older ducklings are all fine, so are the adults and our laying hens.

I am so sorry, where these that survived in a separate area? any foot prints around where this happened? what kind of locks do you have?

could it have been humans?

 

[marie000]

the ducks that survived usually sleep in the duck house. We don't close the door at night anyore (to prevent other problems) but with a large group of adult ducks, the older ducklings were safe.
The ducklings who disappeared / were killed were born in a nest outside the duck house and the mother did not seem to get along with the rest of the group. So she must have spent the night elsewhere. Most likely near the chicken coop where the chicks were.
The coop had a lock that prevented opening the door towards the outside (and the hinges were placed so the door opened to the outside) but the door was forced open to the inside. So it must have been a raccoon or a fox. Maybe a dog. The only serious predator problem we had before was from weasels, but I doubt a weasel would push open a door like that. Plus, a weasel would have left lots of dead bodies behind.

There were paths in the tall herbs, but no traces I could identify. All three dead ducklins were found along the same path, but then nothing else was on that path.

I am not giving up hope yet. We have had ducks disappear before when something scared them, and then came back the next day.

 

[DaytonDuckMom]

the ducks that survived usually sleep in the duck house. We don't close the door at night anyore (to prevent other problems) but with a large group of adult ducks, the older ducklings were safe.
The ducklings who disappeared / were killed were born in a nest outside the duck house and the mother did not seem to get along with the rest of the group. So she must have spent the night elsewhere. Most likely near the chicken coop where the chicks were.
The coop had a lock that prevented opening the door towards the outside (and the hinges were placed so the door opened to the outside) but the door was forced open to the inside. So it must have been a raccoon or a fox. Maybe a dog. The only serious predator problem we had before was from weasels, but I doubt a weasel would push open a door like that. Plus, a weasel would have left lots of dead bodies behind.

There were paths in the tall herbs, but no traces I could identify. All three dead ducklins were found along the same path, but then nothing else was on that path.

I am not giving up hope yet. We have had ducks disappear before when something scared them, and then came back the next day.

 

[DaytonDuckMom]

HELP!! 911!!

Ok. So we moved our nesting hen out and away from the others as we let our momma's and their babies out in the big coop. All is going very well there.

Daisy abandoned the eggs. All she does is stand. We moved the nest in it's entirety, careful not to disturb it's structure or the eggs. Put in a xl crate and then put Daisy in there. She will not sit back down. She was up all night. The nest is now flat and covered....eggs not stomped.

What do I do? Rob said he tried putting everyone back together this morning and all the hens locked up fighting. Daisy wanted to be near the babies and the momma's would have nothing with it!!

I would like to take the eggs back out and set them back in the straw in the coop and hope like heck that one of the other hens will sit. But what about the fighting? I don't have an incubator and we are about 10 days from hatch.

OH NO!!