So, hmmm...
In the very first week of us having ducks, a little over a year ago, 6 ducks went into their house in the evening and 5 came out in the morning.
No blood, no feathers, no traumatized other ducks, no nothing. I still don't understand what happened that night. But in time and with more ducks, and a drake, and first ducklings, I managed to just file it under "life's unsolved mysteries" and move on.
Yesterday 9 ducks went into the house and this morning 8 came out.
NOOOOO..... ****beeep censored
Not that again...
But look, there are some feathers in the far corner. Quite a pile. In fact it could be an entire duck.
Is it dead?? NOOOOO
QUACK !! GO AWAY
Congratulations! The DUX has awoken in your place too.
So now we have
- 2 ducklings from the first round with the incubator
- another 10 developing eggs halfway through the process
- and a broody duck!
Try to get to the eggs under the broody duck - no don't! (If you like your fingers…)Which changes my focus a lot as I now need to learn everything about the natural version of the process. I have given up on this possibility so I feel ambushed.
First things first,
1) This is a 4 m2 (43 sq ft) house (2 x 2 x 2 m) with 9 ducks in it, 1 drake, 8 ladies. It's def large enough to just house them. But now that one is broody, will it be much bothered by the others? It would be somewhat impractical to have to set up more duck housing right now... They do make a big racket especially in the morning.
A broody duck is very well able to protect her nest, her eggs and her ducklings against the rest of the flock. And Mr. Drake knows that these are his ducklings, once they have hatched and worst case will ignore them.
I would not change anything unless there is a leak in the roof, right over the nest (then fix the roof!). You can offer her a handful of fresh straw every day and some treats to gain her trust, see the video that i have uploaded earlier.2) The nest is just a deep(ish) pit of straw. Should I put anything over it (her) like a 2 x 2 ft picnic chair or something so she feels more protected? Or will changing anything make her feel LESS protected...
No, she doesn't need anything else and broody ducks experience utmost respect from their flock members, otherwise…3) She'll come out once daily to have some water and food, right. All the ducks are eating 1/2 layer feed + 1/2 mixed seeds. Will she need anything different than that?
But: That is your chance to hurry into the duck house, armed with a permanent marker and mark all the eggs in the nest.
On all following days you need to run into the duck house when she is outside wreaking chaos and mayhem and remove every egg that her sisters have added to the clutch. Otherwise you will end up in the same situation as me last year when i was left with about 20 eggs in different stages of development after Buffzilla abandoned her nest with the first ducklings. You will end up with a little duckling sleeping on your chest every evening for two weeks and they will take over your living room - at least…
I can only speak for my ducks and i don't have any KCs, but i have never seen a broody duck abandoning her nest far into the incubation process. They might give up after 1-3 days, after that they are very committed. Just as said do your best to avoid a staggered hatch! It will end in tears.4) I wrote down the date so that if she happens to give up being broody I can transfer the eggs to the incubator. Hopefully this doesn't happen, or if it does, not earlier than 2 weeks from today since the machine is currently fulll. Does it happen a lot for a breed (KC) that's not known for good laying instincts to abandon the nest?
The other's will not necessarily lay in her nest, but she will grab any egg in her neck's reach and roll it under her belly. Don't shoo her away from the nest, use the time she leaves on her own, or better gain her trust and candle the eggs together with her. Buffzilla is always fascinated when i shine a light into her eggs and she can peek inside. Last year we were watching the first duckling's bill moving inside the egg after is had pipped internally…5) Can I shoo her away from the nest for a bit to mark the eggs that are already laid? Can I repeat this scare-a-little exercise every day to remove her newly laid eggs? Will the other ducks keep laying in the broody nest (making a humongous pile)?
6) Things I didnt' ask but are super important and should be sorted out before tomorrow.
Thank you!
- Mark the eggs
- Remove any unmarked egg on a daily base
- Offer treats and water to momma duck and gain her trust
- Once the ducklings have hatched, limit their outdoor space to an area that is safer from predators, especially the flying kind. Crows are known to kill young ducklings.