The Broody Duck Thread for 2014

[Miss Lydia]

My broody faked me out. I thought she was ready to sit on the eggs, nope. She only sits on them at night and is sitting on them for longer periods of time during the day. She spends about 35-40% of her time on the eggs and the rest she is foraging, hanging with her beau, or just relaxing. I guess it's just as well. I don't really need more ducks. I'm just so sick of the attitude that comes with a broody. She's driving me nuts!

She may not need to sit continually if the temps are above 80 and she has a good nest built.

 

[BC-NZ]

Are you thinking just because only one internally pipped the rest are dead, not necessarily so they all have their own timetable so candle again in 24 hrs and see if there's a difference.
once the ducklings get so big inside the egg it's hard for them to move around.

it's mainly because I can't see any movement inside them at all and the air sacks seems much smaller than the piped one in all of them apart from 1 or 2

 

[Miss Lydia]

it's mainly because I can't see any movement inside them at all and the air sacks seems much smaller than the piped one in all of them apart from 1 or 2

I'm sorry to hear that. You can always try again, how; the one that internally pipped doing making progress?

 

[BC-NZ]

I'm sorry to hear that. You can always try again, how's the one that internally pipped doing making progress?

Looks like you were correct for at least one of the eggs anyway, another one has pipped and is moving around

there'll be a least company for the other one anyway (if no more do the same)

The first one's still moving around in there but doesn't seemed to have tried breaking out yet - Today (it's 7:15am Thursday in New Zealand already) is the 28th day so I guess we could expect them to start hatching anytime from now

 

[Miss Lydia]

Looks like you were correct for at least one of the eggs anyway, another one has pipped and is moving around

there'll be a least company for the other one anyway (if no more do the same)

The first one's still moving around in there but doesn't seemed to have tried breaking out yet - Today (it's 7:15am Thursday in New Zealand already) is the 28th day so I guess we could expect them to start hatching anytime from now

That's awesome...

so don't be impatient it can take up to 36 hrs from pip to zip. seems like forever. it's 3:53 pm here on Wednesday.. so can't wait to see these little ones.. How's mama and ducklings doing?

 

[BC-NZ]

That's awesome...

so don't be impatient it can take up to 36 hrs from pip to zip. seems like forever. it's 3:53 pm here on Wednesday.. so can't wait to see these little ones.. How's mama and ducklings doing?

Mamma and the other 5 are doing splendid, they're bouncing around being crazy little duckies - could sit and watch them all day
we've still got them penned up in a corner of the main coop with food and water but was wandering when we should transfer to another small coop with a safe outdoor enclosure?

The 5 we first noticed on Saturday they're internally pipped and it was Monday morning before we noticed the external pips but by midday they'd all unzipped so yes, now comes the hardest part - the final wait!

 

[one old chick]

Anyone possibly selling ducklings in NH?
Looking for blue runners, blue swedish or khaki.. They are so hard to find!

hi there, where in nh are you?

 

[one old chick]

She may not need to sit continually if the temps are above 80 and she has a good nest built.

need advice, is my duck becoming broody?

my two ducks have been laying an egg a day for about 4 months now. they have made a nest from hay in and old crate I put in the pen. I been taking the eggs out everyday up until this past week. I forgot for a day or two and now I notice that one of my ducks is sitting in the nest. she doesn't stay. she comes out to eat with the other duck and my drake. she stays out for long periods of time playing in the water and running around but as if to rest she goes in to sit in the nest. she shows no aggression but has been fluffing her feathers, although I haven't checked to see if the nest has any in it. the nest is made with hay and quite deep with a couple of layers of eggs right now (probably 6 or 7 eggs). I have noticed that my drake is very protective of the nest. when she is outside playing he runs into to the barn where the nest is to check for intruders. my ducks are housed in a large barn and have their own pen leading to the outside yard. the barn is warm and tight. we have just come out of winter so it has not reached 80 degrees. does it sound like she is going broody? she is only 10 mos old. should I just take the eggs out? if I let her sit and they hatch will she care for the ducklings or should I remove them from the pen? will the drake hurt the babies? so sorry for the questions this is my first year raising ducks. thanks

 

[MamaBuch]

Hi

hi there, where in nh are you?

Hi back hah. Lakes region area but we are willing to travel a bit of a ways out to get the right duckies

 

[Miss Lydia]

Mamma and the other 5 are doing splendid, they're bouncing around being crazy little duckies - could sit and watch them all day
we've still got them penned up in a corner of the main coop with food and water but was wandering when we should transfer to another small coop with a safe outdoor enclosure?

The 5 we first noticed on Saturday they're internally pipped and it was Monday morning before we noticed the external pips but by midday they'd all unzipped so yes, now comes the hardest part - the final wait!

And what makes it worse is you have these right in front of you. lol. if you have a safe place to put mama and ducklings go right ahead she'll love being able to take them outside. don't forget those pics.