Will she sit on her eggs if I leave them?

[sagealbright]

Hello! My pekin recently started laying. I've removed a few of her eggs and put them under a broody hen but I was wondering if my Pekin would sit on the eggs if I leave them in there. I got her and my Pekin Drake as ducklings from Tractor Supply back in March so they're about 7 months old.

Also, they have been refusing to go into their duck house at night. I never had a problem getting them in before but now they want to sleep in our pond. The pond is too big for me to get them out so when I get close they just swim to the center where I can't reach them. I've been leaving them out there at night since I don't have many other options. Anyone know why they could have suddenly started doing this?

 

[TheDan]

It depends on the duck. Some will sit others won't. One of my ducks acts like she might want to sit but I haven't given her a chance to try yet. I eat all their eggs lol...

When my ducks aren't cooperating I get some dog food or frozen green peas to bribe them. They come running to me if they think I have either of those and will follow me around begging for it.

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[sagealbright]

How many should I leave in there before they will normally sit? So far there's been 2-3 in every time I take them out.

I wish it was that easy but these two don't care whether I have food or not. I've tried bribing them with everything. They're pretty "wild". They won't get within 5 feet of me. I tried handling them a lot when they were little but they never bonded to me or anyone else.

 

[TheDan]

I don't let my ducks go broody so I'm not sure, but I think she should start sitting once she has ten or so eggs in a nest. If yours always lay in the nest then they are smarter than mine lol...

I don't know how you could make your ducks a little more domesticated. If you get them back in their pen you could keep them in there for awhile and only feed them by hand. They might not come to you at first but I bet if you try again a few hours later they will come to you once they are good and hungry. Several days of that and they will at least associate you with food.

If you incubate and hatch some they will be much more friendly. I have one duck that I hatched that thinks she is a lap duck. It's very cute until she poops on me lol

 

[Keah]

Hi,

I had EXACTLY the same situation as you.

My two ducks would go down to our dam and of course would swim to the middle and i was unable to get them. I always worried about them as i have foxes around my property. What i did was once they came back up for food. I locked them in the pen and only fed them in the evening so they got into a routein (did this for a week) then when i let they always came back in the evening same time i fed them. Each night i locked them up beacause they did always want to have a night swim... hehe
It is different for each duck though..
Now for the eggs...I also wanted my pekin to sit.. she eventually did. YES leave the eggs. I left them and when she got to about 5-6 eggs she started to sit, she got up to 19 eggs!! unfortunaty we had a cold snap overnight a week before hatch date and she was on so many that she was only on half and it was horrible. Some were also infertile. So yeah just leave the eggs there. Make sure ytou have hay or shaving for her to build a nest with. She needs some materials. They she should sit.

hope i have helped you!!
Good Luck!!