The Broody Duck Thread for 2014

[Wolflady2223]

adorable!!!!

 

[BrahmaDrama]

I have a Magpie sitting on 6 chicken eggs. They are due to hatch any day now.

 

[ringaring]

Well, sad to say, Raggedy Ann did not make it. She was just too small & weak. I brought her in after finding her sitting alone, apart from Mom & the other ducklings & gave her food, water & heat which seemed to help but she finally succumbed. The 3 who hatched the same day are doing great - avoiding Mom's feet, scampering around for bits of dropped food. I have to believe in the natural order of things, survival of the fittest & all that. Still, I hate to lose one, even if she was doomed for a life of 'special needs' care.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Well, sad to say, Raggedy Ann did not make it. She was just too small & weak. I brought her in after finding her sitting alone, apart from Mom & the other ducklings & gave her food, water & heat which seemed to help but she finally succumbed. The 3 who hatched the same day are doing great - avoiding Mom's feet, scampering around for bits of dropped food. I have to believe in the natural order of things, survival of the fittest & all that. Still, I hate to lose one, even if she was doomed for a life of 'special needs' care.

Aww I'm sorry, Glad to hear he others are doing great!!.

 

[lbrykowski2011]

Well, sad to say, Raggedy Ann did not make it. She was just too small & weak. I brought her in after finding her sitting alone, apart from Mom & the other ducklings & gave her food, water & heat which seemed to help but she finally succumbed. The 3 who hatched the same day are doing great - avoiding Mom's feet, scampering around for bits of dropped food. I have to believe in the natural order of things, survival of the fittest & all that. Still, I hate to lose one, even if she was doomed for a life of 'special needs' care.

So sorry, don't matter how small, all of them are hard to lose.

 

[Onlyducks]

I have a broody muscovy that when off the nest walks around with her head down. She also "coos" when anyone approaches the nest. (She's sitting on ceramic eggs as I don't want ducklings.) The male muscovy is quite mean to her and takes her food away. Plus, all five pekins decided to pile on her while she was sittings. The pekins are shut out of the pen now, so they can't sit on her. Is the cooing and stooped posture normal?

 

[smonkeySK]

I have a broody muscovy that when off the nest walks around with her head down.  She also "coos" when anyone approaches the nest.  (She's sitting on ceramic eggs as I don't want ducklings.)  The male muscovy is quite mean to her and takes her food away.  Plus, all five pekins decided to pile on her while she was sittings.  The pekins are shut out of the pen now, so they can't sit on her.  Is the cooing and stooped posture normal?

They get pretty hormonal when going broody - my girls cackle and fluff up! They're just warning everyone to get away.
Cooing and stooping sounds more like the greetings mine make.
But not all ducks react the same way so I couldn't say for sure!

 

[lbrykowski2011]

I have a broody muscovy that when off the nest walks around with her head down. She also "coos" when anyone approaches the nest. (She's sitting on ceramic eggs as I don't want ducklings.) The male muscovy is quite mean to her and takes her food away. Plus, all five pekins decided to pile on her while she was sittings. The pekins are shut out of the pen now, so they can't sit on her. Is the cooing and stooped posture normal?

When mine was broody and still now with chicks, that's what she does to try and chase us off. She'll put her head down and make a whisping noise and if we get to close she'll charge at us a little but then back away. She does it everytime i go in to feed and change water. As people are coming to buy the babies now I really feel bad for her. She gets sooo upset.

Also, once mine went broody I sectioned off half the pen for her so no one could bother her.

 

[Onlyducks]

Thanks for the information. I can't really section the pen off, though we did talk about trying. Perhaps I can come up with something. Mostly, I leave her in the pen alone in the daytime and let the other muscovies free range, so she gets some peace. I hadn't thought about the stooping being a defensive thing—makes sense.

 

[HooliganChicks]

When I checked the nest today, one of the eggs had broken - stinky yellow goop

and Mama was trying to clean out the bits of egg. I helped her, cleaned out the broken shells, dirty straw, tried to get the rotten egg off the other eggs that had gotten dirty (2).Candled them, one of the dirty eggs shows moving shadows past the air cell line, the other not, but all the eggs in the nest look like they are appropriate for the day. Now I'm wondering, should I clean the dirty eggs more with something? Or just leave them? They are on day 25. Any advice?