I have two Ancona ducks who have been quite regularly laying 2 eggs/day. They were both laying in a nest inside their house, and I don't let them out into the yard until 9:30 or so. In late March I introduced a beautiful drake, about the same age, and they adjusted nicely. The last week or so, I began finding the egg(s) out in the pen instead of in the nest, once in a while missing one. This morning, when I let them out, Benedict, the drake, just kept squacking and squacking and climbing on things to get up close the the base of a huge Douglas fir tree. When I went to figure out his problem, way back behind some bushes, I found a nest with four eggs. Although the nest is very well hidden under prickely shrubs, I don't like the idea of one of the girls setting outside the safety of the pen.
I don't understand how they can 'hold' the eggs long enough to be released from the pen when they usually lay before 10:00 am.
I am thinking I should maybe move those eggs, after marking them, back into their house, with some new fresh straw and see what happens. I hope to at least encourage them to lay inside the house as before so the eggs are cleaner, etc.
I'm not yet ready to let the flock grow, but wanted to just 'let nature take it's course'. I will be cutting that tree down in the near future, along with others on my site. Then I will construct a full size duck house and pen.
This is the first chance I've had to watch the interaction between a drake and ducks. Although he is still shy of me, he absolutely was showing me where the nest was. He has been so protective of the two girls from the very beginning. He ipolitely, stands by and lets them eat before he moves in for his share.
I don't understand how they can 'hold' the eggs long enough to be released from the pen when they usually lay before 10:00 am.
I am thinking I should maybe move those eggs, after marking them, back into their house, with some new fresh straw and see what happens. I hope to at least encourage them to lay inside the house as before so the eggs are cleaner, etc.
I'm not yet ready to let the flock grow, but wanted to just 'let nature take it's course'. I will be cutting that tree down in the near future, along with others on my site. Then I will construct a full size duck house and pen.
This is the first chance I've had to watch the interaction between a drake and ducks. Although he is still shy of me, he absolutely was showing me where the nest was. He has been so protective of the two girls from the very beginning. He ipolitely, stands by and lets them eat before he moves in for his share.
