Ducks brooding outside

[mjett5578]

Hi, I'm getting ducks today, and I've read and experienced a lot about broodiness. I've heard that most of the time ducks will brood in a quiet place outside. But in my case, I live on 11 acres, and snakes and predators pose a threat. Is there any advice about this? I've heard you can put nesting boxes outside for them to brood in, but I feel like that'll encourage everyone to lay in that box.

 

[BYCforlife]

Yes, the ducks would want to find a bush or somewhere "safe" to go broody. Yes, it is very likely that all of your ducks would want the boxes. Perhaps you could put one nesting box per duck (minus the males, of course), so there would be no fighting over your mother-to-be's nesting box. Once you see which one your broody duck likes best, I would put a piece of fabric or plastic over it to discourage the other ducks from peeking in.

 

[mjett5578]

I already have quite of few nesting boxes in the coop, but I've had my fair of chickens hide in dark places. For instance, my Japanese hen hid under the horse barn, and I thought she was dead. To my surprise, she came out 3 weeks later with 8 chicks. I really hope this doesn't happen with the ducks, because i don't want to lose any to predators.