Surprise Nest!

[J.R. Pigman]

Hi all!

My wife and I just discovered our Khaki has a secret nest under the hostas. I've read about this happening, but really don't know what to do about it. We don't have the setup to have a whole clutch of ducklings at the moment, but I've read that if you take away all of a duck's eggs while it's broody, it will stop laying for the season. I've also heard that in cases like this, you may simply want to take the eggs and leave a couple golf balls, as ducks can neither count nor distinguish small round objects from each other. How should we handle this?

 

[faykokoWV]

I'm no duck expert, but could you take away about half of them, mark the ones there with a pencil so you know they are old, and just check for new ones every day?

 

[Dances with Ducks]

So do I understand this right - she is still laying and you want her to keep laying? If she is still laying she isn't quite broody. Take away her eggs now before she goes broody and she will probably keep laying. If you let the eggs accumulate that will encourage broodiness.