Old fashioned Broody thread for ducks 2013 edition

[farmer boy]

So your swedish and campbell are both brooding thier nest as a pair? Neato! I know some birds pair up and raise thier brood but didn't know any ducks did. My scovies sure don't. The boys go hang out together and sulk when the girls aren't in the mood to play with all the nesting.

Farmerboy, it's typical for the first few eggs laid to not be fertile/not hatch. I usually have a few left over when mama hops the nest. Think sometimes too she figgures she's got her wings full and the late hatchers may just be SOL.
Nature has her ways and while we may sometime think(or wish) we can do better.......rarely so.

The newest hatch

Last week's babies about a week old and 3 almost 2 weeks old

well i hope my girl hatches all the eggs i will sell most and maybe let her raise a couple

 

[EdenCamp]

(smile) I just toss my 2 cents worth out there trying to be helpful.
Sometimes folks return the change on what they feel it's worth....

It's all good.

No worries.

15 scovy girls nesting, blending lines from 3 sources so I've only pulled 4 dozen eggs to let them mix well.
Keep 2-3 from each hatch to let grow out and I'll cull hard this fall and only keep the best of the best.
The rest of this year they're gonna have to hide and fight me to hatch many more.
They can brood chicken, turkey, geese eggs for me. I don't have a bator, just broke down and bought a hatcher.
They do such good work - let nature do her thing I figgure. With storm season and bators loosing power - good thing!
Otherwise I'd be neck deep in ducks! 15 ducks X 20 eggs X 3-4 nests a year...........

Lawd hab moicey!!!!!

 

[farmer boy]

(smile) I just toss my 2 cents worth out there trying to be helpful.
Sometimes folks return the change on what they feel it's worth....

It's all good.

No worries.

15 scovy girls nesting, blending lines from 3 sources so I've only pulled 4 dozen eggs to let them mix well.
Keep 2-3 from each hatch to let grow out and I'll cull hard this fall and only keep the best of the best.
The rest of this year they're gonna have to hide and fight me to hatch many more.
They can brood chicken, turkey, geese eggs for me. I don't have a bator, just broke down and bought a hatcher.
They do such good work - let nature do her thing I figgure. With storm season and bators loosing power - good thing!
Otherwise I'd be neck deep in ducks! 15 ducks X 20 eggs X 3-4 nests a year...........

Lawd hab moicey!!!!!

i'd be over run with birds if i had your ducks lol i let them hatch everything i love watching them take care of their babies outside its so cute and relaxing i could just sit there for ever watching them

 

[gysygirl]

Well I could not wait this morning so went to bed early and got up and out by 6am after sitting near her for five minutes she moved and two little ducklings came out after shifting around again I saw a third

I don't know how many more there are they are still under mum at the moment but sooo cute

I have never got home from work so quick on a Thursday (the busiest day) I ran half of the 7 + miles on my round and practically threw peoples post at them! Woman on a mission .......duckies to get back to

Thank goodness I'm off tomorrow guess what I'll be doing

 

[EdenCamp]

Taking pictures of the babies for us if you're kind.........

.

 

[DawnB]

I'm waiting on my very first hatch of fluff balls

...I have a question about after hatch. How long do you all keep mom and babies separated from everyone else? (I have chickens, a pair of geese and the drake).

This is Alice & Albert (he's the top one)...oh, and these are their mild-mannered duck names...but really their Super Drake & Duck Girl!...at least so say my boys! Ha!



Also...I need some advice. We adopted these 2 (the duck & drake)...If I keep any of the babies (I'm hoping she'll have a 2nd nest by the end of summer)...can I use them for breeding next season or is ducky incest a no-no (sorry...don't know what else to call it?)

Do you need to have more than one drake from a different line...? Not a big deal if we do...I don't necessarily need a ton of ducks floating around...just trying to wrap my head around it all...

 

[EdenCamp]

Are the two you have related?
If not really, it's usually fine for father/daughter, mother/son to mate.
That's what is called line breeding.
It's done to cement "good" traits but can also result in recessive bad things surfacing.
Too tightly related can result in loss of vigor and fertility.
Wouldn't recommend taking daughter/grandaughter back to her own daddy/grandpa tho -
need an outcross at that point really.,
Drakes are hard on girls, horny buggers that they are.
They are best with 3-7 girls each.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Taking pictures of the babies for us if you're kind.........

.

X2!! looking forward to seeing the lil ones.

 

[EdenCamp]

Sorry Dawn only answered part of your questions.
3-4 weeks is good, they'll have some size to them by then, the other birds will have had time to get familiar and mama will keep an eye on them too. It's mostly your drake you'll have to keep a close eye on but geese can be territorial too.

Scovies can nest 3-4 times a season. It's getting late enough in the year most likely your babies wouldn't nest til the beginning of next season.

Unless you're planning on having 8 or more scovy, one drake should be enough. Maybe do some swapping to bring in some girls with different blood. Get an oops drakling or keep a son and go from there.

The babies are so cute it can be hard to let them go! But ya gotta.....

 

[jdywntr]

I'm waiting on my very first hatch of fluff balls

...I have a question about after hatch. How long do you all keep mom and babies separated from everyone else? (I have chickens, a pair of geese and the drake).

This is Alice & Albert (he's the top one)...oh, and these are their mild-mannered duck names...but really their Super Drake & Duck Girl!...at least so say my boys! Ha!



Also...I need some advice. We adopted these 2 (the duck & drake)...If I keep any of the babies (I'm hoping she'll have a 2nd nest by the end of summer)...can I use them for breeding next season or is ducky incest a no-no (sorry...don't know what else to call it?)

Do you need to have more than one drake from a different line...? Not a big deal if we do...I don't necessarily need a ton of ducks floating around...just trying to wrap my head around it all...

Introducing them depends on your birds and how they react to ducklings. Also, it will depend on how good of a mom your hen is. My most recent hatch, now a week old, I just left it up to mom. She brought them out at about day 3. Now they go everywhere with her. The dad is really good with babies and even my 5 month old drake isn't messing with mom. I have chickens, roosters and younger ducks. Someone may peck at a baby but I have had no problems. I have chickens with chicks now to and they also take their babies out when they choose.

You can let the dad breed with the offspring. It would be best to bring in another bloodline at some point. By line breeding, you will bring out good and bad traits so it just depends.