Old fashioned Broody thread for ducks 2013 edition

[jdywntr]

If she just moved her nest, I'd move it again and put it somewhere that you can keep her confined. You don't need to literally confine her on the nest but if you make her a nice nest in a quiet, darkened, safe spot, put her eggs there and then leave her with it she may be receptive.
When I've had ducklings with a momma, I partition them off from the rest of the coop overnight and in the morning I let everyone out and then open the partition so mom and babies can roam the coop for a few days. If you are able to let out your other ducks and keep her locked up that would work.

A word of caution though: Make sure that everyone else has another area that they can go to in order to avoid predators, get out of the weather etc. I have a chicken and a duck coop that are within the same big coop but completely seperate. If a hawk flies over, the chickens will go into the duck side, that door is closer, but they will also all go into the chicken side if the door for the ducks is closed.

 

[bellah1]

Are your dogs out 24/7? if not your taking a big chance leaving her outside. probably even with the dogs out there I'd still be worried. you could try moving her inside where you can totally lock her up so she can't get out, cover the cage,crate or whatever you decide to use, I used an extra large dog crate last year for one of my broody ducks and just covered it with a towel except for the front door. But you'd probbably have to leave her in there for at least 3-4 days till she settles down when, is hatch day

I am really worried. But no their pen is big and it has two nesting boxes she is just a weirdo. I have a large dog crate I use for ducklings so how do u go about letting her out? Just open the door once a day? And her nest is attached to the ground with roots. I know that it is very hard to move a ducks nest because she will abandon it and she's a runner so she is my first to ever actually set on her eggs for the long haul. Hatch day is about 20 days away, so a while. My one dog likes to sleep outside so he's out there all night and we don't have foxes where I live but we do have raccoons, so I am thinking I won't let her see this clutch out.

 

[Going Quackers]

20 days away? that is a long time. I have tried to move nests in the past, one tried beside our garage and since we have predators i felt it would for sure fail so either move it and have a chance or leave it and for sure end in disaster. Well, she didn't like it moved but at least she was okay, another nest can always be done but replacing her isn't as simple.

your in a very unfortunate position, definite between a rock & a hard place. I don't think i would leave her out overnight dog or not, if he/she(the dog) leaves she is likely a goner overnight, i think the safety of the mum takes precedence over possible ducklings at this point.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I am really worried. But no their pen is big and it has two nesting boxes she is just a weirdo. I have a large dog crate I use for ducklings so how do u go about letting her out? Just open the door once a day? And her nest is attached to the ground with roots. I know that it is very hard to move a ducks nest because she will abandon it and she's a runner so she is my first to ever actually set on her eggs for the long haul. Hatch day is about 20 days away, so a while. My one dog likes to sleep outside so he's out there all night and we don't have foxes where I live but we do have raccoons, so I am thinking I won't let her see this clutch out.

Since I started her inside the crate from the begining I could leave the door open and she would come and go as she needed to, but if I was trying to get her to accept this site instead of outside I would put food and water in there and close her up for a few days, Either she'll settle down or she won't, either way she'll be safe. I have the dog crate set uop again this year first come first serve, they seem to like it because it gives them privacy they seem to want when brooding. Hope you can get this worked out.

 

[bellah1]

i completely agree with both of you. im cleaning out the dog crate and if she doesnt like it oh well she can make another nest in her two brand new nesting boxes i built that she has never even used, at least she will be safe & i have an incubator of her eggs on lockdown right now with 4 already internally pipped!

 

[Miss Lydia]

i completely agree with both of you. im cleaning out the dog crate and if she doesnt like it oh well she can make another nest in her two brand new nesting boxes i built that she has never even used, at least she will be safe & i have an incubator of her eggs on lockdown right now with 4 already internally pipped!

Good for you and please post pics when they hatch. we love baby pics.

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

I hope that bellah's situation works out.

Well-- I've just returned from checking on my expected hatch. 1st thing I saw was a bloody dead embryo, completely out of the shell but still curled up in a tight ball. I don't think it ever pipped. So at that time One of the OL's was off the nest outside with the rest, the other OL covering the two nests-- now only totaling 7 eggs. I didn't candle but did listen and didn't hear a thing out of any of the 7. I did notice off to the side of those nests was a bloody area in the straw, I'm wondering if one of the OLs kicked it out? Disappointing. And icing to that cake, somebody laid a miniature ice cream cone egg with soft shell. Guess things aren't going so great in the egg department here at the farm.

 

[Snownoir]

Hi everyone!! Can I join in?

Congrats on all the hatches so far.

I have a scovy girl who sat seriously.... I don't know when because I didn't mark it in my calendar. But what I did mark was when to expect them. So I hope my past self did the math right, because they were due last week. She has greatly reduced her time off the nest (meaning, she used to leave once a day to eat and moisturize, and now I see her come off, maybe once every other day) and now, if she's off and anyone walks towards it, she runs over and gets back on. Also, she isn't chirping when someone walks by anymore. She's super silent. Her behavior changed like this almost exactly on my marked due date. Does this mean that they're hatching? She just got off 5 min ago to eat and so I hustled over to see if there was any movement, I saw none. But she was NOT having me look in her nest (which is in the back of a half dog crate under a giant piece of plywood). I can't reach the eggs to check. In fact, the first time she went broody this winter, we moved the plywood and she never got back on. So now we're (my husband and I) terrified of disturbing this girl for fear she'll give up.

2 of my other girls went broody around the same time. 1 had an egg explode on her so she gave up (14 eggs). The other just gave up (17 eggs). We've determined that the first time a girl goes broody, it'll only last a few weeks and not to expect anything. Have you found that to be true with your girls?

 

[elsfieldchickens]

Doesn't everyone keep adult ducks in their kitchen?




Mommy duck is having difficulty keeping her baby warm outside, and they refuse to be separated.
Thus they both came inside.

aww cute!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Hi everyone!! Can I join in?

Congrats on all the hatches so far.

I have a scovy girl who sat seriously.... I don't know when because I didn't mark it in my calendar. But what I did mark was when to expect them. So I hope my past self did the math right, because they were due last week. She has greatly reduced her time off the nest (meaning, she used to leave once a day to eat and moisturize, and now I see her come off, maybe once every other day) and now, if she's off and anyone walks towards it, she runs over and gets back on. Also, she isn't chirping when someone walks by anymore. She's super silent. Her behavior changed like this almost exactly on my marked due date. Does this mean that they're hatching? She just got off 5 min ago to eat and so I hustled over to see if there was any movement, I saw none. But she was NOT having me look in her nest (which is in the back of a half dog crate under a giant piece of plywood). I can't reach the eggs to check. In fact, the first time she went broody this winter, we moved the plywood and she never got back on. So now we're (my husband and I) terrified of disturbing this girl for fear she'll give up.

2 of my other girls went broody around the same time. 1 had an egg explode on her so she gave up (14 eggs). The other just gave up (17 eggs). We've determined that the first time a girl goes broody, it'll only last a few weeks and not to expect anything. Have you found that to be true with your girls?

I think it depends on the individual duck, one year one of my Scovies went broody sat and was dedicated the whole 35 days, then when hatch began she tried to kill the first duckling and no matter how hard I tried convince her this lil duckling was hers she would peck it badly every time she got close, so I ended up taking it and her other duckling dies in the shell because she wouldn't continue to sit. The next year she was the first to go broody again so I made up my mind this time I would be ready if she started out the same way. I usually don't even give them a second chance but I did and she was an awesomne mama to 4 ducklings, so you just never know. If she isn't getting up at all now I'd say something is going on, Hope the next time we hear you have ducklings..