Please Help! Worried! Peking Duck brooding behavior advice

[Nanettr]

Here is a picture of my two males

 

[Miss Lydia]

They are gorgeous boys! Ducks in the wild nest in all kinds of weather and I am sure bedding gets soaked it may cause some of the eggs not to hatch. If she decides to do this again I’d make sure she starts inside her coop.

 

[Nanettr]

They are gorgeous boys! Ducks in the wild nest in all kinds of weather and I am sure bedding gets soaked it may cause some of the eggs not to hatch. If she decides to do this again I’d make sure she starts inside her coop.

She doesn’t have a “coop” unfortunately. These ducks were here when we bought the house - free ranging and in a subdivision. I did buy a huge dog house but they won’t go in it. The people that owned the house before fed them 2 times a day and that was pretty much all they ever did for them. I’m trying the do more to protect them but it is not working as well as I had hoped to this point.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Do you have a fenced yard? Ducks herd really well once they realize what you want of them. But unless you herd them into a house with a door they aren’t going to stay inside. They have to learn where safety is. Where you live with a hot climate any house they have is going to have to be well ventilated and have windows.?lots of pics and advise if you search duck houses. It’s awfully sweet of you to take care of them.

 

[Nanettr]

We do have a fenced yard but a very strict HOA. Any external structure (including a dog house or kids play set) has to be approved in advance. So I am very limited in what I can do. I would imagine that they would tell me I have to rehome the ducks if they found out what I am doing.

I’m just going to have to be tricky and creative in what we build out there. lol

 

[WVduckchick]

I didn’t mean to make you feel bad. It may have had nothing to do with the mulch and water either. The hot and humid weather could also have contributed. We just never know, and try to guess, but so many factors come in to play, it’s hard to tell.

Those drakes are lovely!

 

[Nanettr]

Oh I didn’t take it that way at all. I appreciate you and Ms Lydia more than you know. It has helped having someone to discuss this with that is knowledgeable and that cares.

This area has very rough summers - heat, humidity, severe storms, winds, etc. The day we put the mulch down and sand bags we got 8 inches of rain in a matter of hours and damage to our neighborhood from straightline winds. We were out there in that mess trying to protect her.

Can she regulate the temperature in the nest at all? The reason I’m asking is because she sits (rarely standing) 23 hours a day. Seems like that would be well over 100 degrees constantly worse the heat index averaging 105 and her body heat. Any insight into that? Like I said I want to learn as much as I can.

 

[Miss Lydia]

They should know all of this by instinct when to cool when to turn etc. Pekins not known for their broodiness I really can't say if they know or not, but I'd say they must because I have seen Pekins brood and hatch on here. Not a lot though.

https://timbercreekfarmer.com/hatching-eggs-and-a-broody-duck/

 

[WVduckchick]

I also think that even though it looks like they are tight down on the eggs, they figure out how to provide air flow underneath them. Turn different directions, lift their tail to let air under, etc.
First-timers can have issues, learning the ropes, but since she has stuck with it so long, she was really committed to having ducklings.

At some point, you are probably going to have to break up her nest and get her to resume her life.

 

[Nanettr]

I also think that even though it looks like they are tight down on the eggs, they figure out how to provide air flow underneath them. Turn different directions, lift their tail to let air under, etc.
First-timers can have issues, learning the ropes, but since she has stuck with it so long, she was really committed to having ducklings.

At some point, you are probably going to have to have to break up her nest and get her to resume her life.