Old fashioned Broody thread for ducks 2013 edition

[Miss Lydia]

hi there, i am new to ducks the three i have are my first. i have two ducks and a drake they are five months old. two have been paired since i brought them home as hatchlings. they do everything together so i had assumed one was a drake. the third is kind of off to the the side and sleeps alone away from the other two and has done so since i brought her home with them. all three were purchased at the same time and were supposed to be Khakis but i supect they are a mix as they all have a white band that goes almost around the necks. They are all brown with the exception of the drake having the most beautiful green head. they live in my barn completely. it is well lit and ventelated. they swim and play all day together the three of them. it has a hight ceiling and they have an area in the middle that has shavings. there is a wire pen around them. with a wooden box set to the back. i believe my drake is mating with both ducks but he is pretty loyal to the one he sleeps with. she laid her first egg today in a small nest she made from the hay i give them as bedding. she laid the egg on the outside of the box. my question is two fold. we are already getting some pretty cold weather off an on here and i am concerned that they all keep warm enough through the winter. i have read that using a heat lamp can create condensation. i also have guineas and chickens in separate areas in the barn as well. so need a little advice on heat lamp or no heat lamp. secondly if i leave her eggs and she hatches them will she take care the ducklings with the drake and the other duck in there with her or should i remove the eggs?

just because she just started laying doesn't mean she is going to start sitting on her eggs, I'd just take the eggs as she lays them and either eat them or give them away, way to cold this time of year to have a successful brood especially with a young first time mama, next spring when it's warm and she is laying, once she has laid the number that she is happy with she may start to brood. Not all breeds will sit so you may not even get a broody out of your ducks, sometimes it hit or miss. I wouldn't use a heat lamp way to dangerous we had a BYC member who lost her barn and all her animals do to fire, As long as they are out of wind and dry they will be fine.

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

hi there, i am new to ducks the three i have are my first. i have two ducks and a drake they are five months old. two have been paired since i brought them home as hatchlings. they do everything together so i had assumed one was a drake. the third is kind of off to the the side and sleeps alone away from the other two and has done so since i brought her home with them. all three were purchased at the same time and were supposed to be Khakis but i supect they are a mix as they all have a white band that goes almost around the necks. They are all brown with the exception of the drake having the most beautiful green head. they live in my barn completely.  it is well lit and ventelated.  they swim and play all day together the three of them. it has a hight ceiling and they have an area in the middle that has shavings. there is a wire pen around them. with a wooden box set to the back. i believe my drake is mating with both ducks but he is pretty loyal to the one he sleeps with. she laid her first egg today in a small nest she made from the hay i give them as bedding. she laid the egg on the outside of the box.  my question is two fold. we are already getting some pretty cold weather off an on here and i am concerned that they all keep warm enough through the winter. i have read that using a heat lamp can create condensation. i also have guineas and chickens in separate areas in the barn as well.  so  need a little advice on heat lamp or no heat lamp. secondly if i leave her eggs and she hatches them will she take care the ducklings with the drake and the other duck in there with her or should i remove the eggs?

I personally would remove the eggs.

 

[one old chick]

Thank you so much for the advice. i just left the barn she has covered the egg with hay. i went over to the side of the pen where the nest is and she stood in front of it with the drake watching me. i also noticed that they didn't get into the water as much today even though it was fairly warm temp. 59. they seem to be sticking close to the nest. the two of them are very close they don't travel too far from eachother. I don't know if ducks mate for life but these two seem to have been a pair from the beginning. i believe she will try to hatch them. i will try to get it out tomorrow. Thank you again.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Thank you so much for the advice. i just left the barn she has covered the egg with hay. i went over to the side of the pen where the nest is and she stood in front of it with the drake watching me. i also noticed that they didn't get into the water as much today even though it was fairly warm temp. 59. they seem to be sticking close to the nest. the two of them are very close they don't travel too far from eachother. I don't know if ducks mate for life but these two seem to have been a pair from the beginning. i believe she will try to hatch them. i will try to get it out tomorrow. Thank you again.

If they have been together since hatch that is the bond that has developed. I have 3 from this years hatch 5 months old 2 ducks and a drake and they do everything together. It's so cute.

 

[quirkybeeper]

Whee! I've been collecting Daisy's eggs...I want ducklings and I am tired of her toying with my emotions

So tonight I'm going to clean the bator and set it up to set the eggs soon. I've got 17, I think. She's still laying, but I'll probably start collecting the eggs...holiday baking is coming up!

I'm cautiously optimistic, hopefully I'll get at least a couple ducklings. There are some eggs that were out there for a while, but I've got 5 that I collected soon after they were laid.

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

Depending on the weather where you all are, Winter hatches might be best delayed until Spring.

 

[Duck Drover]

I have five more eggs that are looking close to hatching. There were about a dozen infertile eggs but hopefully these five will hatch. I had five eggs when I hatched three ducklings but I was not sure how old they were when I set them. These five were started by the hen but the crows managed to grab eggs when the hen was off the nest so I took them and put them in the incubator. The adult ducks love the rain we are getting here in the Seattle area but the ducklings would not do well outside with the clder temperatures. I have older Orpington chicks I am keeping inside much longer than I did over the summer because I don't want them to get wet and chilled.

 

[one old chick]

If they have been together since hatch that is the bond that has developed. I have 3 from this years hatch 5 months old 2 ducks and a drake and they do everything together. It's so cute.

the one hen and the drake never leave eachother. the third one has always slept alone but will play with the other two during the day. she was always last to join the fun though. i wasn't sure until recently if she was a he or a she. my drake was hard to tell for a long time and then his head started to turn green an he developed his curl (he is so beautiful). i waited to see if the third was going to change but she didn't. the gentleman i bought them from said he wasn't sure of the sexes but i think he just wanted to surprise me with two ducks and a drake. my little trio get along famously but as i said i think the one duck and the drake are a lifelong pair. they are like velcro an he is so polite and gentle with her it's amazing to watch. i think i have always known his mate was in fact a duck. she has always been a surragate mother for my guineas. they were all brooded together until the ducks had to be romoved at three weeks due to size. in that time the guineas bonded with the ducks. they went crazy when we tried to separate them. we had to do it at night. three weeks later the guineas went to a more open pen and saw the ducks again for the first time. i thought they would have forgotton them but the exact opposite they all recognized eachother and it was like old home week. very heart warming

, so we moved the pens side by side for a couple of months before we built the guineas a very high coop. that little duck would feed them through the wire and the guineas would sleep next to her every night, she'd lay her head through and they would be sleeping right next to her. to this day those guineas run to that female duck if they get out of their pen (which is comical because the guineas are bigger than my ducks). she's been a mother figure to those guineas from the beginning, they were all hatched together. i think she might have been the first face they saw and that's why. as a matter of fact for the longest time when we added water for her to swim the gunieas would go nuts (9 of them) trying to warn her to stay away, the closer she went to the water the louder they would get, drove me crazy

. they have since gotten used to it, but it took them the better part of two months to figure out it wasn't a danger for her to get into the water. LOL they really aren't the brightest creature. we are postponing letting them range until spring. we just don't feel they will have enough savvy to survive. we were concerned about them returning when we do send them out but i think they will return because of the bond with the duck. i've been told they don't venture far from the flock and to them she is in the flock. anyway sorry to go on. thanks again for your help, have a great day. P.S. there was second egg this morning so i took one out. i was afraid if i took both she would try to hide the nest. we will work on taking them out completley before the real cold sets in.

 

[Miss Lydia]

the one hen and the drake never leave eachother. the third one has always slept alone but will play with the other two during the day. she was always last to join the fun though. i wasn't sure until recently if she was a he or a she. my drake was hard to tell for a long time and then his head started to turn green an he developed his curl (he is so beautiful). i waited to see if the third was going to change but she didn't. the gentleman i bought them from said he wasn't sure of the sexes but i think he just wanted to surprise me with two ducks and a drake. my little trio get along famously but as i said i think the one duck and the drake are a lifelong pair. they are like velcro an he is so polite and gentle with her it's amazing to watch. i think i have always known his mate was in fact a duck. she has always been a surragate mother for my guineas. they were all brooded together until the ducks had to be romoved at three weeks due to size. in that time the guineas bonded with the ducks. they went crazy when we tried to separate them. we had to do it at night. three weeks later the guineas went to a more open pen and saw the ducks again for the first time. i thought they would have forgotton them but the exact opposite they all recognized eachother and it was like old home week. very heart warming

, so we moved the pens side by side for a couple of months before we built the guineas a very high coop. that little duck would feed them through the wire and the guineas would sleep next to her every night, she'd lay her head through and they would be sleeping right next to her. to this day those guineas run to that female duck if they get out of their pen (which is comical because the guineas are bigger than my ducks). she's been a mother figure to those guineas from the beginning, they were all hatched together. i think she might have been the first face they saw and that's why. as a matter of fact for the longest time when we added water for her to swim the gunieas would go nuts (9 of them) trying to warn her to stay away, the closer she went to the water the louder they would get, drove me crazy

. they have since gotten used to it, but it took them the better part of two months to figure out it wasn't a danger for her to get into the water. LOL they really aren't the brightest creature. we are postponing letting them range until spring. we just don't feel they will have enough savvy to survive. we were concerned about them returning when we do send them out but i think they will return because of the bond with the duck. i've been told they don't venture far from the flock and to them she is in the flock. anyway sorry to go on. thanks again for your help, have a great day. P.S. there was second egg this morning so i took one out. i was afraid if i took both she would try to hide the nest. we will work on taking them out completley before the real cold sets in.

Good idea to keep one in the nest so she keeps laying there. and I enjoyed your story about the duck and guineas they surely imprinted on her. Sweet how they all get along. Thanks for sharing and pics of your flock when you get time.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Whee! I've been collecting Daisy's eggs...I want ducklings and I am tired of her toying with my emotions

So tonight I'm going to clean the bator and set it up to set the eggs soon. I've got 17, I think. She's still laying, but I'll probably start collecting the eggs...holiday baking is coming up!

I'm cautiously optimistic, hopefully I'll get at least a couple ducklings. There are some eggs that were out there for a while, but I've got 5 that I collected soon after they were laid.

any candling going on?