Will move them this evening and tomorrow is a holiday here so I will certainly be using our camera!!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.
That's young but they will go broody at that age, not always make the best broody's or mamas though so this is something you'll just have to wait and see. When they first start into broodiness they will sit on the eggs at night and sometimes part of morning or come out in the morning then go back in later it really all depends on the duck. leave the eggs to see she may just be building her clutch, they can be happy with 5- 25 again depends on the duck, so when she does finally commit when she comes out for her R&R go in and look at the eggs, mark them starting with 1 then if you don't want her hatching all that are in the nest take out the ones you want too, your the boss here not her. you know how many you can keep. And first time mamas do better with 5 or less. one thing you don't want is the other duck to continue to lay in this nest once your duck goes broody or when the first ones hatch she'll get up and leave the nest usually after 2-3 days which means the late laid eggs will have to go into a bator or die in the shell. Drakes are unpredictable I really like to keep my mama and ducklings separate from the whole flock especially the drakes for at least 2-3 weeks mostly 3 here. gives them time to gain so size and be able to stay away from anyone who may want to bully them. I use temp fencing and keep them where everyone can see each other but no one can touch. And please don't take her ducklings away unless you see her Not taking care of her babies. They can do so much better than us.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
adorable.Will move them this evening and tomorrow is a holiday here so I will certainly be using our camera!!
Here's a teaser though
I'd be working on getting rid of any snapping turtles while your waiting, and then not let them onto the pond till at least 3-4 weeks old being even large fish will eat ducklings.
Aren't they just the cutest things.. Mom is beautiful.yes, certainly are!! just moved them and straight into the water they go
Thanks, we have never (knock on wood) had snappers get to our pond yet. We have 6 catfish, 6 bass and alot of blue gill, sunfish and minnows. Lots of nice sounding frogs, a crane who has ate some of our fish, lol. Right now a pair of mallard ducks and a pair of Canadian Honkers all visiting the last few days. My male Muscovy keeps chasing them, but they just go to the other side of the pond. lol They are all a hoot to watch all day. Those baby ducklings are so adorable!!!
I have also heard large mouth bass will eat ducklings, sounds like you have a guard drake keeping everyone on their toes, I bet it is enjoyable watching all the wild life on the pond and around it.
