Pekin sitting on eggs

[I gotDucks]

Has anyone had a Pekin successfully hatch her eggs?

 

[jak2002003]

Has anyone had a Pekin successfully hatch her eggs?

Yes - and no.......... I have a few white ducks that looked like Pekin - but I am not sure they were. They were all big, fat, and had yellow beaks. They were always laying eggs all over the place, but once in a while they would pile them all up in a next in the bushes, and then once would start brooding them.

They hatched and raised many ducklings - all cute yellow things.

So I can say that domestic ducks can brood and raise chicks if they have the right conditions and feel secure with a private area free of distractions.

But I am not 100 percent sure my ducks where Pekins - maybe they were a white kind of another breed of duck.

Here is a pic of a couple of them with my other ducks - I have no idea what breed they all were.

 

[I gotDucks]

In the past years, they left the nest sometimes for hours than returned. But this time, this one has stayed on her eggs. I think she is secure in her night box with the duck door open during the day. I have read that they instinctively don't know how to sit because they are incubated. Time will tell. Some look like young Pekins and the bottom look like mine. Thanks for the reply. Sue

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

I have 3 adult Pekin moms. All 3 are great sitters, but 2 have to Team Parent, search for my other threads and pics of The 2 Old Ladies. Hilarious. They've hatched 1 last year, adopted 3 this year from TSC. Now my youngest Pekin (1yr) didn't hatch any live and she tried to kill the runners that I gave her to adopt...So, I think it's a mixed bag with Pekins.

 

[kiwichicky]

Yeslast year we got two flocks (? Correct term I'm new to duck keeping! ) of 11 ducklings so 22 total. As natural selection would have it only 9 survived. The remainder got taken by hawks or the wild cat that was hanging about but Daisy and Jemima were good mummies and did their best to protect them.

 

[I gotDucks]

Thank you, that is great info that I could not find on the web. Hopefully she'll hatch some. I plan to check next time she leaves to see if any exploded? One time that happened and made a mess. I read it is instinctively breed out of them. I wonder if it is just that they don't have a safe place to nest.

 

[shicks0211]

Pekin ducks are plentiful so I'd think that they do know how to sit, but if they don't have a good place then they wont. I have other breeds that do the same thing..just randomly lay eggs and walk away. Most of the time it's because they're young ..my Buff did it this year but she's only one and it's her first try..i did save one of them and it just hatched last night..fished it from the bottom of the lake.

 

[I gotDucks]

Yes but what I am told is they are always incubated. Good to know they can hatch their own.

 

[shicks0211]

lol..yep they sure can..i think many of them are incubated because they're popular as pets..and obviously for meat because they're large. But i have some and they hatch them every single year..and they're good mommies. I've had several pairs over the years so i'm sure it's not something that's out of the norm..if they are comfortable and have a place to nest they will..as i've said, the first year or so they sort of don't know what to do sometimes and lay them everywhere..but i don't find that specific to pekins, i have other new mommies that also do that..some of them will lay when they're young but dont build a nest or sit on them..and then the next year they've caught on..or their instict kicks in.

 

[I gotDucks]

My husband saw a duckling hiding under mother duck. So I am guessing she'll wait for more to hatch before they eat food and drink water or venture out?