Pekin Hens setting?!?

[Wifezilla]

Runners, Pekins, Campbells, etc... usually don't go broody but they can. I just had a runner hatch out a clutch of 10 ducklings and not only was she a good broody, she turned out to be a really good mom. Very protective (almost TOO protective) and she even disciplined them when she found them trying to chew on plastic!

 

[goosedragon]

Quote:
If you ever read about the history of Long Island Ducks, then you would know that they used chickens to hatch the pekin duck eggs.

Right you are I revisited the sites about Long Island Ducklings that I had read before, maybe two years ago, and it does mention the use of broody hens to do the hatching of ducklings Sorry but I did not generalize from that to conclude that the Pekin requires help in reproduction. I suppose because I have had Pekins that hatched their own eggs.

 

[JoshSnape]

Yer my duck( khaki campbell) Is sitting on some eggs right now and they are due in 4 days to be exact.

 

[Red Maple Farms]

Quote:
Then you should know that it was the chinese who instructed the americans to hatch the pekin duck eggs under chickens. The pekin duck is just too unreliable for sustained farming. The chinese bred these ducks for eggs and meat, and this was accomplished in part by eliminating their brooding ability. Furthermore, they still teach that method in the Philippines where my wife is from because electricity is often unreliable. You can't risk a family's financial future on a duck that will walk off its eggs halfway through.

 

[medusabomb]

So terrible! I set up raccon traps, after seeing 'coon prints, no raccoon yet, but now the freakin' ravens wont leave the duck eggs alone! They are going under the duck house where one is nesting (its 5" off the ground!!!) and have pulled most of her eggs out...only 2 left . I enclosed the second Pekin and her eggs with netting (shes in a wooden house, fenced grassy area and her own bathtub) but left the mummy with 2 eggs, as I figured the added stress of a move would freak her right out. I tipped boards up against the house so they cant get in at her, but sooo sad! Our dogs are trying to run them off but the duck pen is fenced so they cant get at them very well. Ive got the .22 out (nailed 3 ravens last year, strung them up and that seemed to do the job) and Im keeping watch....
'
Has anyone had any luck with other methods to deter ravens? My duck enclosure is far too big to cover (50'x75') so a polite tap with a .22 will be my only hope otherwise! They are so sneaky though, they see me coming with the .22 and they scram...they stay put when I dont have it! *%$#@#!!*&! ravens...

 

[medusabomb]

Hooooray! My Pekin Mama hatched 8 out of 10 eggs! I ended up fencing off a 6x8' enclosure and covered it with netting. (around her house too) she is totally PO'd that she cannot access the other ducks and pond, and doesnt seem to be an overly attentive mother, BUT does hiss and cover her babies when you are too nosy, and only tramples them a liitle! I also shot a raven and hung it from the barn near her pen, and the ravens/crows have been avoiding it like the plague! My other Pekin was just faking it and got off her nest, but the Muscovy is also sitting on a nest full of Pekin eggs, and they shoud be due any day.Yay! I will get to cook Peking duck all winter after all!

 

[Kira86]

GG does it take for pekin duck eggs to hatch after the mother begins sitting on them?

 

[PlumTuckered]

If the eggs were laid by a Pekin it will take 28 days. My Pekin just hatched out six babies, 2 were her own eggs (pekin/scovy mix) and 4 eggs were from one of my scovy girls. My Pekin's 2 hatched out on day 28, she stayed with the nest another week and the other four hatched. Luckily she was in a closed up duck house that has a screened in porch so the first two could happliy eat, drink, play and Mamma could keep an eye on them from inside.

Michelle