Will We Have Ducklings on the Farm?

[3bird]

Mine usually stay put once they start. Could you have snakes getting the eggs? I had a 5’ blk snake in the coop the other day he got 2 chicken eggs before I got him out.

I'll rarely say never, but I think it's unlikely. We've never seen any snake besides a garter snake on our property, and the duckhouse is pretty tight. I'll look at the footage, as the camera would have caught something.

 

[Beccazon]

Mine have stayed put. They even stayed on eggs that someone layed each day for the first 2 weeks. Pretty sure I have internal pips but surprised no hatches yetand it would be a feat to move the girls off now. They rarely leave the nest and if they do, only one leaves and literally gets a few quick bites or drinks and is right back on. I suspect they know it’s close.
If your girls are moving nest so often, is it possible that you catch them in the middle of the move and that’s why you think eggs are gone?

 

[3bird]

Mine have stayed put. They even stayed on eggs that someone layed each day for the first 2 weeks. Pretty sure I have internal pips but surprised no hatches yetand it would be a feat to move the girls off now. They rarely leave the nest and if they do, only one leaves and literally gets a few quick bites or drinks and is right back on. I suspect they know it’s close.
If your girls are moving nest so often, is it possible that you catch them in the middle of the move and that’s why you think eggs are gone?

I don't think we are interrupting the move. The move seems to happen at night or very early in the morning, and the former nest is usually pretty much absorbed into the new nest. So strange. We're going to let them out for some supervised free-ranging shortly, and maybe both Martha and Stella will come off the nest so I can check.

What day are you?

 

[Beccazon]

I can’t be 100% sure but I was expecting some hatching round the 4th. Was sure I saw internal pips in at least 2 on the 3rd but NOTHING yet. Girls hopped off together this morning just long enough for me to see all eggs still intact. If no hatching by tomorrow when my kids and grandbabies leave I will have to remove the girls and see what is going on

 

[3bird]

9 July Update: Neither of us saw Martha come off the nest yesterday until moments before we were putting them to bed. Stella, on the other hand, was out pretty much all day. I was able to check the nest when Martha got up, and there were two eggs. We also had two eggs in the other nest in the duckhouse that we collected.

This morning, Martha came out almost immediately and stayed out for maybe 40 minutes. I checked and now there is just one egg in her nest (two eggs again in the other nest). I candled the egg, and it appears almost completely opaque but it has bot shark spots on the shell. Where do the eggs go? Is Martha pushing them out and then another girl moving them to the other nest but not sitting?

Martha was quite thrilled to be off the nest this morning, running and bathing and being beautifully broody!

 

[Beccazon]

So strange! On a happy note...

 

[3bird]

So strange! On a happy note...

Fantastic!!!!!

 

[Beccazon]

So...you are somewhere around day 19. That leaves as much as 9 days. I really wish we could get a good candle pic in deep darkness!!

Have you dug deep through all the bedding? Is a snake hiding out and snatching eggs quietly? Girls hiding eggs? (Mine do)

 

[3bird]

So...you are somewhere around day 19. That leaves as much as 9 days. I really wish we could get a good candle pic in deep darkness!!

Have you dug deep through all the bedding? Is a snake hiding out and snatching eggs quietly? Girls hiding eggs? (Mine do)

I dug some, but not extensively. My phone was full today or I would have taken a picture. The whole egg looked dark and no air sac evident. I'll try again tonight if she comes off the nest.

The duckhouse is just 4'x8', and there are just two defined nests in there now. I know for a fact that one of Martha's eggs got into the other nest recently because it was marked. I'm not sure how that would have happened. The nests are in opposite corners of the duckhouse. There are no eggs in the run, and it would be tough to get an egg from the nest to the run without breaking it given our long ramp. Miss Lydia had mentioned the snake possibility, and while it is certainly possible, I think it's unlikely. We've never seen any snake larger than a small garter snake on the property, and the run and house are pretty right. I also checked through the motion sensor alerts on the cam and saw nothing noteworthy (I assume there would have been a commotion). It is strange. The nest is now huge (tall), so it could be deep, I suppose.

Mysteries on the farm!

 

[Beccazon]

Crazy! Interesting! But crazy!!