Yes, I only let two ducks hatch and raise ducklings last year because their nests were located in places the crows did not seem to find (we could not even find one nest until after the hen emerged with newly hatched ducklings and then we found two ducklings that did not make it along with some bad eggs that did not hatch). After the ducklings hatched, I moved the hen and ducklings iinto a covered pen until the ducklings were big enough that the crows would be challenged to grab them. Most of the eggs were collected and hatched in the incubator and most of the ducklings were sold within 48 hours of hatching. Luckily I was able to keep what I thought was the last hatch of the season to make breeding pairs using the ducklings the hens raised (I let them each keep one of their hen ducklings) paired with the ducklings I raised. Now I have more ducklings on the way and I already added my drakes for next year without removing drakes from this year (they are separated now) so I can't keep them or pair them, not knowing which hen or drake they are out of, unless I can figure out which drake the broody hen prefers to know which drake fathered the ducklings from this last batch. The other eggs in the incubator are out of different hens but my hens are closely related so I need them to be out of different drakes too in order to make breeding pairs.
