I have a suburban home on a typical lot with a fence where I keep a breeding pair of Blue Swedish ducks and a pair of African Brown geese. They are kept secure at night in a 10'x10' dog kennel with a top cover and free range during the day. Lately the female blue has been out of sight often during the day and just last night did not return to the kennel keep, which they all dutifully do at dusk (until last night). I searched for her and couldn't find any sign of her, so I though maybe a hawk had gotten her. Well this morning I let the remaining drake and 2 geese out into the yard, looked away and the next thing I see is our little female quacking it up with the rest of the gang! I had suspected that she might be brooding and chose to not lay in the "hen house" (actually a dog house within the kennel that the geese lay in) due to the geese (and the rats that live under it unfortunately) because I had discovered a clutch a month or so ago in the same dense vegetation, though abandoned.
This brings me to my question: since she seems to have a good hiding place, should I chance it and let her brood in place - risking being preyed upon by the local raccoons, of which there are plenty - or should I try to discover the nest and relocate it? I suspect that if I do, she'll simply reject the eggs and go lay another clutch - though this is fine with me because I love duck eggs! I am considering partitioning off a section of my back yard to make a fully enclosed duck/geese run with water source that they can have full time, as my back yard is suffering from their penchant for creating craters in the ground! This might help her feel like she has a space of her own - and save my yard!. I never thought that she would start brooding though because in the past she would just lay an egg anywhere and then go on with her business - making my yard look like I was having some out of season Easter egg hunt! Maybe she has just matured. The point is, though I don't mind having a clutch of ducklings running around, my purpose for having the ducks isn't for breeding (it was the luck of the draw when I bought them that I got male and female!) and I don't want to put her in more risk than she would normally encounter in the current setting.
Any input is appreciated!
This brings me to my question: since she seems to have a good hiding place, should I chance it and let her brood in place - risking being preyed upon by the local raccoons, of which there are plenty - or should I try to discover the nest and relocate it? I suspect that if I do, she'll simply reject the eggs and go lay another clutch - though this is fine with me because I love duck eggs! I am considering partitioning off a section of my back yard to make a fully enclosed duck/geese run with water source that they can have full time, as my back yard is suffering from their penchant for creating craters in the ground! This might help her feel like she has a space of her own - and save my yard!. I never thought that she would start brooding though because in the past she would just lay an egg anywhere and then go on with her business - making my yard look like I was having some out of season Easter egg hunt! Maybe she has just matured. The point is, though I don't mind having a clutch of ducklings running around, my purpose for having the ducks isn't for breeding (it was the luck of the draw when I bought them that I got male and female!) and I don't want to put her in more risk than she would normally encounter in the current setting.
Any input is appreciated!
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