Pretty sure Dougie is going broody....

[BelovedBirds]

Oh, the life of duck keeping never ceases to amaze and entertain, lol.
In my flock of two girls, Dougie has decided she wants to be a mama.

I noticed recently she had started quacking a bunch more, for no reason, she's usually super quiet, but no matter what you do she just yells at everything all day. Her behaviour started to change. So I wondered if maybe she was about to get broody. WELL

I'd gotten lazy with egg collection for a while, usually I collect each morning, but since they had begun laying in one specific, clean, dry place, I started collecting every 2 days--
so she has now taken the opportunity to lay on the eggs before I collect them, consistent laying too, all late afternoon/evening/night. (Just not in the morning, because mornings are too exciting!)

I can't believe her, but my heart is warmed.
I'll have to destroy the nest now and start collecting every morning, to save her the heartbreak of infertile eggs. But goodness!

It's funny because I always said, from the very start, that if ever I want to hatch again, and allow my ducks that experience of parenthood- I would try and get Dougie to go broody, and slip some fertile eggs under her.
I always felt she had the temperament for it, that she would be the one to brood. (Not Spright, she'd be off to town every friday night, life is too exciting to settle down and be a mama).

And well, now I've been proven right! I mean, I have no idea what she'd be like in the long run, or once the ducklings hatch, but seeing her sitting all comfy on her eggs has given me a little bit of confidence in her.

I look forward to the day I get to let her try! It wont be for a long time, and I'll be ready with an incubator just in case. But I look forward to it all the same.

 

[Canadian Wind]

Sure you don't want to slip in a little day-old duckling for her?

 

[BelovedBirds]

Sure you don't want to slip in a little day-old duckling for her?

Don't tempt me, I can't imagine anything cuter than her running around with a bunch of babies

 

[BelovedBirds]

Okay.... Ive made sure there is no more build up of eggs- and disrupted her nest and everything- this girl won't give up!
At first she did seem unsettled that her nest of eggs was gone, but almost right away she's fixed her nest back up, and has been laying on air, or eggs immediately after theyre laid. Doesnt care, just wants to lay on them immediately, or sits on air!

How long will it take for her to stop brooding, or is there something else I should be doing?

 

[Miss Lydia]

I have a Muscovy who has been broody 3X this year no eggs I make sure to get them, So last week I took her out of the coop and placed a piece of lattice over where she was brooding that did nothing she just climbed on top and brooded so 2 days ago I put 2 bales of shaving over top of the lattice and have made her stay outside until I open the coop for everyone to go in in the afternoon. What does she do but climb on top of the bale of shavings and lay there. She is determined. I also have 2 chicken hens that won't quit and they haven't any eggs under them. They really need to get their molt going and done before cold weather arrives. Not sure you can stop this we just have to wait for the hormones to wane.

 

[BelovedBirds]

I have a Muscovy who has been broody 3X this year no eggs I make sure to get them, So last week I took her out of the coop and placed a piece of lattice over where she was brooding that did nothing she just climbed on top and brooded so 2 days ago I put 2 bales of shaving over top of the lattice and have made her stay outside until I open the coop for everyone to go in in the afternoon. What does she do but climb on top of the bale of shavings and lay there. She is determined. I also have 2 chicken hens that won't quit and they haven't any eggs under them. They really need to get their molt going and done before cold weather arrives. Not sure you can stop this we just have to wait for the hormones to wane.

Your muscovy sounds oh so determined! Bless them. I'll see about blocking the nesting area off and see if that helps, but if not I guess we just wait it out!
Hopefully Dougie will get her shot at parenthood someday!

 

[BelovedBirds]

my goodness!
Okay, so today I discovered a little nest that Dougie had sneakily hidden from me in a mound of hay. She had collected a couple eggs there. Still determined to sit on them! She has been sitting on them at night, not the daytime, so I hadn't seen.
(dont worry, I had a long talk with her today about her behaviour, and we've agreed we arent going to keep trying to make nests and run around screaming at the world, anymore)

Whenever I collect eggs, I candle, always. For no other reason than just checking the shell for damage.
And if its an egg I missed, I also water float them to check for freshness.
Now, I got a near heart attack, when I lifted the second egg to my flashlight! For a second it looked as though my Dougie had been reproducing asexually

Now, this has to be a normal blood spot, right? Or a vessel from her reproductive tract? It freaked me out because she's been sitting on it, it seems. And I wasnt expecting to see anything floating around in the egg

Im sure its nothing to worry about?
I've never seen a blood spot visible like this through the shell, it threw me off. Anything to worry about? Its a chunky half ring of blood, with a small pink dot in the middle.

 

[Canadian Wind]

(dont worry, I had a long talk with her today about her behaviour, and we've agreed we arent going to keep trying to make nests and run around screaming at the world, anymore)

Let us know tomorrow how that went, Mom.

 

[BelovedBirds]

Let us know tomorrow how that went, Mom.

Well at first I was worried she wasnt taking me seriously, she laughed pretty loud. Her voice was raised and I didn't appreciate her tone.

But I stood my ground, and she seemed to agree with me in the end that its time to move on. She simply isnt stable enough to have children and I believe she accepts that now.
Time will tell if she will move on