Old fashioned Broody thread for ducks 2013 edition

[melissamerry]

well, we got our first official noise complaint from police department/animal control today.
TreeTrunks' broodiness is getting out of hand!

I'm running out of ideas on how to keep her and my neighbors sane.

 

[Going Quackers]

well, we got our first official noise complaint from police department/animal control today.
TreeTrunks' broodiness is getting out of hand!

I'm running out of ideas on how to keep her and my neighbors sane.

Oh my! that would be frustrating. Thankfully, we're rural so noise is a non issue here, considering i own a few female call ducks that's a good thing lol

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

well, we got our first official noise complaint from police department/animal control today.

TreeTrunks' broodiness is getting out of hand!

I'm running out of ideas on how to keep her and my neighbors sane.

Just brainstorming here, you could bring her inside the hourse! ROTFL
Broody moms are loud sometimes. But if she's calm, she should be pretty quiet right? I guess it's the other's?

 

[Miss Lydia]

Just brainstorming here, you could bring her inside the hourse! ROTFL
Broody moms are loud sometimes. But if she's calm, she should be pretty quiet right? I guess it's the other's?

I was just thinking the same, if you can set up something inside till hatch then give them a few more days then move them all out. Mine are quiet as mice when brooding it's usually when they come out for R&R that all heck breaks loose.

 

[melissamerry]

i'm considering moving her inside. The other two are quiet until she starts goings crazy. She's the instigator. Just last night, I had to go out side between the hours of midnight and 6 am at least 6 times. She only wants out for a few minutes and then she runs back to her nest. I don't understand her crazy, but it's loud.

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

Maybe the others are just too much in her business? Maybe separate *them* and leave her to herself.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Maybe the others are just too much in her business? Maybe separate *them* and leave her to herself.

I think she has them separated. H. Oh them broodies

 

[Duck Drover]

My Australian Spotted ducks have been loud the past few nights and in the morning but the crows seem to find eggs we can't find and then they take them in the yard to open a hole in them looking for ducklings. They don't seem to have much interest in eating the egg itself once they have stuck their beaks in and carried them away from the nest. I had a duck doing the mad dash of a broody hen in the yard so I followed her and discovered her nest of 13 eggs under some lilac branches we piled to dry out for chipping. One egg was out of the nest and that helped me spot the nest because it was well hidden, although not hidden well enough from the crows with their vantage points in the trees overhead. I moved the eggs to the incubator to keep them safe. When I candled there were some obvious ducklings growing in some of them but a lot were clear so they are either infertile or newer eggs. I will give them a week and candle again to know for sure how many are no good.

I would really like to kill the crows because they sneak back into the yard when I am inside no matter how many times a day I chase them away. If I am outside they stay away but they always come back, especially when they know there are nests to raid. At least the chickens lay in the coop so their eggs are safe but the ducks prefer more natural nests. I may have to look at designs for duck nest boxes to put around the yard in their favorite spots and see if that keeps their eggs safe from the crows but the safest method for now seems to be finding the eggs before the crows do and hatching them in the incubator.

 

[Miss Lydia]

My Australian Spotted ducks have been loud the past few nights and in the morning but the crows seem to find eggs we can't find and then they take them in the yard to open a hole in them looking for ducklings. They don't seem to have much interest in eating the egg itself once they have stuck their beaks in and carried them away from the nest. I had a duck doing the mad dash of a broody hen in the yard so I followed her and discovered her nest of 13 eggs under some lilac branches we piled to dry out for chipping. One egg was out of the nest and that helped me spot the nest because it was well hidden, although not hidden well enough from the crows with their vantage points in the trees overhead. I moved the eggs to the incubator to keep them safe. When I candled there were some obvious ducklings growing in some of them but a lot were clear so they are either infertile or newer eggs. I will give them a week and candle again to know for sure how many are no good.

I would really like to kill the crows because they sneak back into the yard when I am inside no matter how many times a day I chase them away. If I am outside they stay away but they always come back, especially when they know there are nests to raid. At least the chickens lay in the coop so their eggs are safe but the ducks prefer more natural nests. I may have to look at designs for duck nest boxes to put around the yard in their favorite spots and see if that keeps their eggs safe from the crows but the safest method for now seems to be finding the eggs before the crows do and hatching them in the incubator.

They will snatch newly hatched duckling too won't they? We have a lot of crows but thank goodness they don't come down into our fenced in property. Usually don't even know they are around till we hear them going nuts because a hawk is flying around. I like that they are chasing off the hawks.

 

[Duck Drover]

Oh my! that would be frustrating. Thankfully, we're rural so noise is a non issue here, considering i own a few female call ducks that's a good thing lol

I have decided to give Call ducks a try but they may be too noisy for my back yard. I bought eggs to hatch so the hens are still young and I have a surplus of drakes I need to sell or trade for unrelated drakes. I have blue fawn, pastel, and butterscotch so I have unrelated drakes but not in matching colors! I am wondering if there is one color of drake I can run with the three hen colors without getting mixed colors. I was told that pastel and butterscotch can be crossed and still come out with good color because they are so similar and I only have three blue fawn ducks (hen and two drakes) so I might have to sell the blue fawns. Does anyone have color advice to share? If they end up too noisy I won't be able to keep any of the Call ducks and I will stick with the Australian Spotted ducks, which are so much nicer than the Call ducks anyway.