Old fashioned Broody thread for ducks 2013 edition

[Snownoir]

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

Oops, just read this. As you saw, I agree with Miss Lydia. Let her do her thing and remove what you want later.

 

[farmer boy]

im letting mine lay lay lay lol so i hope she doesn't lay to to many i hope she stops now but if she keeps going im letting nature take its course so if she needs more then 17 then im letting her keep them

 

[Duck Drover]

I have four Australian Spotted hens sitting on nests in the yard and two more doing a sort of time share on a nest in the pen. I thought one was sitting and have been expecting the other to start a new nest but she has eggs in the nest box and seems to think she is done laying. Two more hens are hanging out with the drake in the yard while the ones taking turns on the shared nest also take turns hanging out with the drake in the pen with them.

I am not sure when each hen started sitting. I noticed the frantic hen behavior and huge poop piles before we could find a nest because it is hidden so well in the bushes. One hen has moved her nest three times because something is geting her eggs so she only has three eggs under her now. The hens sharing a nest have at least 20 eggs so I am hoping they will be able to handle them all. They are my experienced mothers while the hens in the yard are first time mothers.

I starting incubating eggs in the incubators so I have already sold all the duckling I hatched so far, except one I decided to keep because iit is a different color than the rest. I have to decide whether I will let the new mothers raise the ducklings and sell them when they are older or if I should pull them as hatchlings and sell them right away. I guess it depends on how much demand I have for ducklings when they hatch.

I am worried that the crows will get the babies if I leave them with the hens. I have three safe pens I will move them into but they are not covered anymore since I took the panels off after the babies from last year became adults.

 

[farmer boy]

well best of luck to you duck drover hope all goes well this is my first time having a broody hen

 

[keirys]

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.

Yep ive already marked the eggs that im gonna take

Shes just driving me nuts I was hopping she would have settled down by now. But nooooooo she just keeps on laying more & more. Im gonna find out where Farmboy lives & sneak some of my eggs under his broody

 

[Duck Drover]

Can you spot the Australian Spotted duck on her nest?

Here is a close-up.

 

[Duck Drover]

This Australian Spotted hen on her nest is a lot easier to spot.

Here is another nest that is beautifully built but not as well hidden so she has lost eggs. I am not sure these will hatch because I did not see movement when I candled them but they could still be alive and sleeping. She had five and two disappeared so now she only has three left.

This nest is under a leaning board so the picture is dark but you can still see the eggs. Then hen was off the nest and I wanted to get a picture even though it was not very light. The eggs are well hidden and it is hard to see the hen sitting on the nest.

 

[Miss Lydia]

This Australian Spotted hen on her nest is a lot easier to spot.


Here is another nest that is beautifully built but not as well hidden so she has lost eggs. I am not sure these will hatch because I did not see movement when I candled them but they could still be alive and sleeping. She had five and two disappeared so now she only has three left.


This nest is under a leaning board so the picture is dark but you can still see the eggs. Then hen was off the nest and I wanted to get a picture even though it was not very light. The eggs are well hidden and it is hard to see the hen sitting on the nest.

Seems to me if you have a safe pen for them it would be to your and their advantage to recover so the moms can raise their ducklings and the crows can't get to them. What about the girls nesting outside with out protection don't you worry about predators getting to them while they are sitting. and the deer netting is pretty inexpensive and would probably keep out crows if you tie wrap it all the way around. Good luck hope you get some ducklings.

 

[keirys]

How many eggs in a scovy clutch??

 

[Going Quackers]

How many eggs in a scovy clutch??

Varies. My last clutch had 5, this one had 10(down to 9, she tossed an infertile one)