Old fashioned Broody thread for ducks 2013 edition

[jdywntr]

He maybe hanging out there if you just have those 2 or they are a mated pair, but most of the time my drakes just pretty much ignore the broody duck, too busy chasing the other girls with feathers. when hatching starts you may want to close up the nest area till ducklings are steady on their legs and then just try him with them under supervision to see how he acts, drakes have been known to kill ducklings.

X2

Glad to here she goes back. I'd definitely leave them be for at least 2 more days, everything that is going to have hatched will have by then. Congrats. She may settle down a bit after hatching. I've had broodies that were okay on the nest but very protective once ducklings came.

Congrats!

 

[bellah1]

So this is day 3 of my first time broody runner ruby on her nest & I really don't think she's come off at all, is that normal? Like ive said in my last post at least none of us have seen her leave at all so its possible she has gotten off because of course we arent watching her 24hrs a day. What is normal when it comes to a broodys eating & drinking habits? I read in storeys guide not to put food and water close to them so it will encourage them to come out more if its farther. Any advice?

 

[Miss Lydia]

So this is day 3 of my first time broody runner ruby on her nest & I really don't think she's come off at all, is that normal? Like ive said in my last post at least none of us have seen her leave at all so its possible she has gotten off because of course we arent watching her 24hrs a day. What is normal when it comes to a broodys eating & drinking habits? I read in storeys guide not to put food and water close to them so it will encourage them to come out more if its farther. Any advice?

I don't put food and water close until duckling start hatching. I haven't always seen mine come off either but I haven't lost any to being broody so they must a some point we just don't see it they are so fast. Mine will come off to bath, eat and poop so your girl is probably coming off you just haven't caught her at it yet. If your worried you can wait till warmest part of the day and take her off and out and see if she goes back or runs around like a nut, eating bathing and pooping.

 

[jdywntr]

X2 with Miss Lydia. They usually will get off but you do need to make sure they do. My very first broody, a runner, would not get off the nest at all so I had to physically remove her every day.

Depending on your set up, you usually can't miss a broody's poop. Sorry but I find it the easiest way to tell. It stinks to high heaven, there is a ton of it (think of how often and how much they poop during the day and put that all together into one) and they may or may not make it out of the coop.

 

[bellah1]

Thanks guys, I was getting worried & that makes me feel a lot better. I've been thinking she's been sneezing off real quick like. So if she hasn't & I do have to take her off I'm paranoid she'll abandon it. Will they do that? Another question, people always say that runners rarely go broody but obviously they do & a few people on here have runners that are great mothers. But is there a chance she might not go the long haul & hatch them or since she's so broody& protective that she will?

 

[Dwen]

It looks like I'm still in.

My brand new light dimmer failed on my incubator today. and since I couldn't find anything to replace it, and didn't have time today to do a whole lot of messing around, I took them down and showed them to Taffy. She was quite happy to take them from me, and spent the next hour making a nest for them in the hay. I don't know how this will turn out, but if she can keep them snug and warm until I can get up and running again, (this could take days since this is a busy week) I'm all for it.

@bellah, congrats on the broody!

 

[bellah1]

It looks like I'm still in.

My brand new light dimmer failed on my incubator today. and since I couldn't find anything to replace it, and didn't have time today to do a whole lot of messing around, I took them down and showed them to Taffy. She was quite happy to take them from me, and spent the next hour making a nest for them in the hay. I don't know how this will turn out, but if she can keep them snug and warm until I can get up and running again, (this could take days since this is a busy week) I'm all for it.

@bellah, congrats on the broody!

Thanks & congrats on your ducklings!

So no more ducks in the kitchen huh? Your WH is so beautiful, do they normally have black bills like her?

 

[Dwen]

Actually she is still in the kitchen.

She has nothing better to do in there, so she sits on eggs.....or stands over them

yes, most Welsh Harlequin ducks have black bills and feet. It makes for striking contrast with their feathering. The drakes have bright orange bills and feet.

 

[bellah1]

For some reason I thought she already hatched her ducklings, when is the hatch date? WH really are gorgeous, I recently found out they have runners in harlequin color so it's my new holy grail of ducks! Anyway I went & checked on my broody and she stood up halfway and hissed at me so I got a pretty good look at her nest & it looks clean so she must be leaving sometime. The nest is totally molded to her body & her eggs are long ways in like a thin oval the shape of her body so she is actually covering all 14 eggs, I'm just gonna leave them all and not mess with her so hopefully all goes well.

 

[Dwen]

She did hatch one, but since she can't care for him properly outside, (rookie mom) so I brought them both inside. I then gave her the chicken eggs I am trying to incubate, and she is taking care of them while I fix my incubator.

wow, I would like to see a picture of a WH runner duck. Sounds really nice.