Wannabe Broody Duck (Muscovy)

[BirdBrain]

My DD's little white muscovy duck thinks she wants to be a mommy, but only part time. She is religious about getting in there at night, but she spends the day lollygagging around with the other two (a duck and a drake). It is below freezing here. She currently has 12 frozen chicken eggs that she has been tending (they freeze because she is not on them) and I had to remove a couple of broken ones this morning. I'll have to sneak in there and replace them with fresh ones this morning. She has been laying an egg a day but opted out this morning. I can't figure out what she is up to.

I have been taking her egg and replacing it with a chicken egg. Her eggs and her sister's eggs are waiting on the kitchen counter for when she decides to get serious. Any idea when this will happen, or is she just "playing house?"

HELP!!

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

Quote:
I would take them ALL away from her and hope that breaks her of being broody until the weather warms up...

 

[BirdBrain]

That would be great, but I am going to be away during spring break and would love to have her spend her broody time on them and come back to ducklings in short order. Maybe I am asking for too much. In 5 weeks, it would be warm enough for the duck to brood her ducklings if she had some heat lamp help. I also have welshies and geese coming in April.

 

[srsmith69]

As long as she is laying eggs, she is not broody. They will quit laying when they are serious about it.

 

[BirdBrain]

She did not lay today. I took her frozen chicken eggs out of the nest and she did not go back to the nest tonight. So when they qiute laying, do they immediately start to sit in serious?

 

[Caprice_Acres]

She is not broody yet. Hens will amass up to 20 eggs before sititng. Some of my hens continue to lay an egg a day. She may not lay an egg a day, either. If you take her eggs away she might just lay elsewhere.

If you want her to set, put a few dummy eggs in the nest and collect fresh eggs daily. (If I get a frozen egg, I use a sharpie to mark it and use that as the 'dummy' egg(s)) Put the fresh eggs in your basement or somewhere that stays about 50* and high humidity. Turn them daily. When she locks onto the nest (rarely comes off of it and lines the nest with down) you can stick her actual eggs under her and remove the dummy eggs.

 

[BirdBrain]

Thanks! That really helps.