Starting two clutches with broody ducks!

[Kbduckmom]

She went back to her nest. Daisy now has 15 eggs and is sticking with them. She sat and guarded her nest all day yesterday and is on it today. She’s closed off with pallets and bushes. The bush is getting steadily bigger and giving her more and more cover. Looking back, I would have penned her up in our little house for a couple nights to get her nest going. She just hates being cooped up more than I’ve seen any duck hate it. She’s doing well now and is very much at ease where she is.

My buff duck (Twoyo) is done laying and has a nest of 13. I’ve started counting incubation days based on that. Her nest is in a line of juniper trees near a fence and very private.

I only ever check the nests when the girls are off on their breaks so as not to disturb them and I don’t check them daily.

As an FIY, I’m using this forum as a place to record some of my experience so I can look back and make better choices if I do this again

 

[Kbduckmom]

Update:
Daisy (Cayuga) abandoned her nest. I think it was just in too high traffic of an area. I tried penning her in our coop but she hates being penned up more than I’ve ever seen any duck hate it. I’ve since moved her to a different area with lots of cover options and little to no human traffic, let her pick and establish a new nesting spot, and have offered her the eggs from her original nest (nearby, but not in her new nest). I don’t know if they’ll make it, but we’ll see. Those that don’t will be fertilizer for the garden. So far she’s sticking to that spot and has fussed with the nest, but no sitting. We’ll see what she does. Her egg count is up to 20 now with 3 eggs from her new nest. She’ll likely have a combination of Welsh/Cayuga, Welsh/Khaki, and now Buff/Cayuga.

Twoyo (Buff) has been a trooper and is officially brooding. Today is day 7 of full time sitting with very short, and noisy, breaks. Last I checked, her nest has 16 eggs. I expect mostly Buffs with maybe a few Buff/Welsh and 2 Khaki/Welsh that I snuck in the nest before she started brooding.

I plan to candle Twoyo’s eggs around Memorial Day, on one of her noisy breaks. Wish me luck!

 

[Kbduckmom]

Update: Daisy (Cayuga) didn’t take the eggs from her original nest and started nesting in a new spot. I took 11 of the dirtiest looking eggs from the group, candled them, then tested them for rottenness. All passed so they were breakfast that day. Every one had a small white spot. I’m guessing that means they started developing and then stopped.
I left her new spot alone and made no changes for 4 days. She was guarding it this morning so I offered her the remaining eggs (cleanest ones). She scooped them all beneath her, came out for a short breakfast, and is now sticking with the nest. I’m determined not to go near her or fuss with anything around the nest from now on. I think that’s what caused the problem in the first place. She now has a total of 17 eggs (I offered her a few extra from our KC’s).
Twoyo (Buff) is still determined in brooding. She comes out on the rampage when she has her short breaks. It’s hilarious. She’s now on day 13. If all goes well, we should have ducklings from her in the second week of June. Her total, last I checked, was 16. I candled a few from her nest and they were darkening up, and I definitely saw some veins in one of them. I didn’t have a good seal on the flashlight so it was hard to tell what I was seeing. I’ll wait a few days and candle them with a better flashlight setup.
Our drakes are dutifully guarding their girls and are diligent to let them know when it’s eating time. It’s so cute!

 

[Kbduckmom]

Hatch Day!!!! By my estimate, yesterday was hatch day, but it didn’t happen.* Today I checked to find at least 5 cracked eggs under my broody Buff, Twoyo, with cracks in them. There’s a lot of peeps going on in there. Last I checked, I saw at least one little yellow guy who hadn’t fluffed out yet. Most of the rest are hidden under her, but I won’t move her again today. I’ll update again tomorrow, hopefully with pictures of the little fluff balls.

Daisy (Cayuga) is on day 11 of incubation with a total of 20 eggs. She doesn’t cover her nest on her breaks like Twoyo did, but her breaks are much shorter.

*I started Twoyo’s calendar the day after she missed laying for one day the first time, but she laid 3 more after that before stopping, so all but 2 of her eggs are on the same track.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Exciting let us know how many hatch and of course we need pictures!

 

[Kbduckmom]

7 visible so far.

 

[Kbduckmom]

Our tentative count at the moment is 11 and she’s sitting on her nest pretty diligently. We’ve put in food and she showed them how to eat. She pecks at them occasionally, but it doesn’t seem aggressive. Anyone else experience that with their broodies? When should I be concerned?

 

[Miss Lydia]

As long as she isn’t aggressive. I wouldn’t worry.Up to 11 how many eggs left to hatch she is going to have her wings full! ❤ Precious pictures! Congrats!!

 

[Kbduckmom]

Here’s Twoyo with her full brood. She officially has 14 ducklings, one of which is not as strong. It hatched yesterday and she kicked it out. We tucked it back, but she rejected it again. We took it in. The yolk wasn’t fully absorbed and dirty. We gave it some food and held it tight for several minutes between feeding. Once it was moving around some more, and momma was settling in for the night, we tucked it under again and checked to make sure she kept it. This morning, it’s up and about, but not as fast and energetic as everyone else. In that same process another new one hatched but didn’t make it, she rejected that one and we were too late to save it. Our kids were very sad and we gave it a proper burial. The last egg (there were 16 total) I nabbed before the same thing could happen but we found it wasn’t viable. We’re keeping an eye on the littlest guy and hope he makes it through. He’s getting stronger and looks quite fluffy. Momma is doing really well and keeping her ducklings safe in their pen.

Daisy’s nest is a few feet away and she seems to be doing okay with all the commotion. I can almost see her rolling her eyes every time we come to check on the ducklings. She’s now on day 13 with 20 eggs. Oh boy.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Precious picture! ❤ What are you going to do with all those ducklings? That’s a mess of them lol