Thanks it's a natural pond and through erosion the sides became flat and verticals so now the water is permanently stuck their . It takes up like 2 of our 25 acrs
My female rouen FINALLY decided to sit on her nest. She has 8 eggs I counted today and she wasn't in coop wen I checked so I took the hint and checked she is on her eggs. My issue is she has no mate now. He was killed last week or just before then. I have never had a duck sit on a nest w/o a drake near. Will she be ok feeding and w/o protection? If I move her I know she will abandon her nest. She is close to the house so I will be able to tell, while awake that she is harassed at all.
Just wondering. I am leaving her if she will sit because these (Some at least) are the last of her eggs that will be fertile until I get her a mate. I have 3 batched of her eggs in incubation now (about 20 total) staggered over 3 weeks for hatching. So I may end up with a few (Many I hope) before her nest does/doesn't hatch. I would be greatful if 1/4 of all eggs (roughly 28) hatch. Since most of her family was wiped out last year in the fall. Something got them all but 2 in the pond 1 night. Her mother we had for 3 years, 2 before I was able to find her a mate. She just looks odd now solo, since having multiple ducks last year.
But at least you should still get some fertile eggs from her as sperm keeps up to 2 weeks after mating. Wish you nothing but luck in hatching and increasing your flock again, but you should also see about adding a different line to it, as she could otherwise mate with her own offspring.
If you would live anywhere near NW Wisconsin I could give you one Rouen drake, as I have too many and it starts showing on my girls, since one Rouen is also sitting on a nest, shared with my Pekin girl. So 2 girls are out of the mating pool right now. Keeping my fingers crossed that her ducklings hatch soon as we just hatched one from her eggs beginning of this week.
10 years ago I was in WI. Now in North central Mo. False alarm. Unless she was laying her new egg at 11 pm. I check a few minutes ago and wasn't on nest, she's shading under my truck. She added a new egg either last night or this am. I collected the 9 eggs and will set them tonight. After this I will use them for eating for awhile. Until I can get her mated again. Brings my duck egg total up to around 3 dz. Hoping a few hatch but we had some freezing nights since she started laying and I waited until she had 6+ to collect because she always moves her nest after.
I have no female rouens, (some of mine are pastel and some are gray rouens ) all my females were pastel so they were a lot easier to see at night . Foxes and raccoons and 1 hawk got my females
Now I only have males
But this mallard / Cayuga mix flew in with a flick of mallards about 3 years ago and started laying
We got our professional 100 percent of hatching incubator in December and we are now incubating 4 of her eggs .
We bought 3 Rouens from tractor supply a few weeks ago and are now IMPATIENTLY waiting to see who is male and who is female.
They have begun to grow in their first feathers and I noticed that one of them has a green tint to the feathers right above those of its tail. Could this be a hint as to the sex?