Old fashioned Broody thread for ducks 2013 edition

[keirys]

well i think there are rats in the barn not many but i think there are some but could a duck handle a rat ?? that the only thing because the drakes stay in the barn and they don't flip or anything just her and i don't know what she was doing because this is my first broody duck ... there are now 17 eggs under her when she was up i went in and checked is she still laying when she is broody i never heard of a chicken doing this but can a duck do this??

Mines doing that also she's still laying & broody shes also getting on & off the nest. I have heared of rats eating chickens is there a way to get rid of the rats, before they eat the ducklings?

 

[farmer boy]

rats will eat chicks and ducklings but a broody duck should be able to protect her ducklings from rats and plus once the ducklings hatch i am gonna try to put her mate in there so if all goes well with that he will be able to kill a rat and all my roosters and hens would be able to kill a rat if it came out in the open i have mostly big birds i have a couple tiny birds but they are flighty and fast and they roost high up .. is a broody duck supposed to lay when she is broody ??

 

[keirys]

No there not suppose to lay when broody. Mines having the same issue she's acting broody but still laying. She also sits on & off the nest. She's not done laying her clutch yet, unless she took someone elses egg but you one have the one duck right? So you'll end up with 50 of them running around

...

 

[keirys]

rats will eat chicks and ducklings but a broody duck should be able to protect her ducklings from rats and plus once the ducklings hatch i am gonna try to put her mate in there so if all goes well with that he will be able to kill a rat and all my roosters and hens would be able to kill a rat if it came out in the open i have mostly big birds i have a couple tiny birds but they are flighty and fast and they roost high up .. is a broody duck supposed to lay when she is broody ??

Good to know im new to all this, I hate rats

!

 

[farmer boy]

i wonder why she keeps laying there are not 17 and i don;t know if she can keep them all warm but she covers all the eggs and she has lots of room .. lol 50 omg ah i would be climbing around my barn do i don't step on any and yes i only have the one female .. my silkie hen stole a duck egg yesterday and she sat on that for the day i guess helping the broody duck out lol

 

[keirys]

ROFL I know the feeling mine has 15 well I stole one of them so 14 now I thought she would sit but nooo she layed another egg last night. I started marking them because sometimes they hide it in the nest itself

. I did around the nest hoping I dont get caught & bit

 

[farmer boy]

well i hope mine stops laying she doesn't need a million lol i guess i just have to wait

 

[keirys]

well i hope mine stops laying she doesn't need a million lol i guess i just have to wait

hmmmm duck math 1 duck +1 drake = 30

. Your lucky you have room I have a city lot

I was hoping she would stop at 12. I was happy at 12 but noooo now we are laying more eggs with my luck I will end up with a million also. I am gonna start taking the old eggs away when she starts sitting for real. Miss Lydia says if I take the away too soon she will just lay more

 

[Miss Lydia]

hmmmm duck math 1 duck +1 drake = 30

. Your lucky you have room I have a city lot

I was hoping she would stop at 12. I was happy at 12 but noooo now we are laying more eggs with my luck I will end up with a million also. I am gonna start taking the old eggs away when she starts sitting for real. Miss Lydia says if I take the away too soon she will just lay more

Didn't you know ducks can count? after they go out for their daily constitution they always go back in and count to decide if they need to lay more.

 

[Snownoir]

Keirys, have you thought about just letting her lay as much as she wants, and then, when she's good and buckled down (been broody for over a week or 2) take some of the eggs? Let her get to her number so she'll settle down and then collect to a reasonable amount afterwards.