New duck mommy 2021
Free Ranging
I thought I would share my beautiful girl daisy and her broody journey
She is a pekin who will be 2 in April
The first time she went broody she was younger and newer to laying eggs
Her eggs were to small for babies to grow and get turned properly to
hatch
This was dec of 2021
We had a big travel dog crate and she build her nest in there
Starred with 8 eggs but every now and then she would loose one in the big crate and it would get cold and die
Only 3 made it to hatch and 2 internal pips ( I could hear the babies talking away ) but they were stuck and not able to external and died
This left one egg and she was bruised at the wrong end
I didn’t take any chances as she was out last hope for daisy to have a baby after sitting so good for 30 days. I had to assist hope and this took over 52 hours. Then I went and snuck hope in the nest when daisy was out to drink and she heard a baby and panicked she tried to go after her
So baby hope was brought up to the brooder with her siblings that I had hatched myself ( 4 of the 6 eggs needed assistance as they to were small eggs )
first one died as I helped to much to soon and one died bruising the wrong end and I didn’t know what that meant
Other 2 I helped with help from this group and last 2 both hatched themselves on Xmas day ( the two bigger of all the eggs )
I learned many lessons from my first hatch ever
I no longer incubate any eggs under 70 grams
I also learned how to be patient and help assist and not loose any babies
Since then I have hatched many and helped many get 100 % hatches
Now back to my miss daisy
She has been trying to be broody for over a month abc I keep ruining her fun by collecting eggs
But a few days ago she wasn’t having it and went broody with one egg
I could hear her turning it and when I check it was very warm
She was going broody so I gave in
I added more eggs in to her nest from my other ducks
There was 12 but I noticed one today that has a hood crack so I removed it
Let’s give daisy good vibes on her hatching journey this time around
Much older and wiser
She has also learned she loves other ducks
When I first got her she had a sister with
Those two were tied at the hip always
Then I got a new baby and it took over a month once he was bigger to join them
These girls were awful at accepting him in
Then Mia died and daisy and peep only had each other
Till the hatched happened
It took me keeping the ducklings from 3 weeks to 10 in a pen close to mom and dad before they would be able to be out together
Then I hatched many more over the course of the summer. I had lots of babies come and get sold and some more I kept. They started to settle and not pay attention to new ones
I even added 2 8-10 week old Swedish girls right into the yard first day and nobody blinked an eye
They accepted them right away
My flock had grown from 2 to 16
So I’m thinking she maybe more relaxed about ducklings this time around
If not I have a brooder and an incubator I can have ready
Want ti add this time she picked a smaller dog crate and can’t loose the eggs as it’s not super big
She is a pekin who will be 2 in April
The first time she went broody she was younger and newer to laying eggs
Her eggs were to small for babies to grow and get turned properly to
hatch
This was dec of 2021
We had a big travel dog crate and she build her nest in there
Starred with 8 eggs but every now and then she would loose one in the big crate and it would get cold and die
Only 3 made it to hatch and 2 internal pips ( I could hear the babies talking away ) but they were stuck and not able to external and died
This left one egg and she was bruised at the wrong end
I didn’t take any chances as she was out last hope for daisy to have a baby after sitting so good for 30 days. I had to assist hope and this took over 52 hours. Then I went and snuck hope in the nest when daisy was out to drink and she heard a baby and panicked she tried to go after her
So baby hope was brought up to the brooder with her siblings that I had hatched myself ( 4 of the 6 eggs needed assistance as they to were small eggs )
first one died as I helped to much to soon and one died bruising the wrong end and I didn’t know what that meant
Other 2 I helped with help from this group and last 2 both hatched themselves on Xmas day ( the two bigger of all the eggs )
I learned many lessons from my first hatch ever
I no longer incubate any eggs under 70 grams
I also learned how to be patient and help assist and not loose any babies
Since then I have hatched many and helped many get 100 % hatches
Now back to my miss daisy
She has been trying to be broody for over a month abc I keep ruining her fun by collecting eggs
But a few days ago she wasn’t having it and went broody with one egg
I could hear her turning it and when I check it was very warm
She was going broody so I gave in
I added more eggs in to her nest from my other ducks
There was 12 but I noticed one today that has a hood crack so I removed it
Let’s give daisy good vibes on her hatching journey this time around
Much older and wiser

She has also learned she loves other ducks
When I first got her she had a sister with
Those two were tied at the hip always
Then I got a new baby and it took over a month once he was bigger to join them
These girls were awful at accepting him in
Then Mia died and daisy and peep only had each other
Till the hatched happened
It took me keeping the ducklings from 3 weeks to 10 in a pen close to mom and dad before they would be able to be out together
Then I hatched many more over the course of the summer. I had lots of babies come and get sold and some more I kept. They started to settle and not pay attention to new ones
I even added 2 8-10 week old Swedish girls right into the yard first day and nobody blinked an eye
They accepted them right away
My flock had grown from 2 to 16
So I’m thinking she maybe more relaxed about ducklings this time around

If not I have a brooder and an incubator I can have ready
Want ti add this time she picked a smaller dog crate and can’t loose the eggs as it’s not super big