The Quack Shack

[WannaBeHillBilly]

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

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!

Congratulations! The DUX has awoken in your place too.

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.

Try to get to the eggs under the broody duck - no don't! (If you like your fingers…)
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.

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...

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.

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?

No, she doesn't need anything else and broody ducks experience utmost respect from their flock members, otherwise…
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…

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?

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.

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)?

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…

6) Things I didnt' ask but are super important and should be sorted out before tomorrow.

Thank you!

1. Mark the eggs
2. Remove any unmarked egg on a daily base
3. Offer treats and water to momma duck and gain her trust
4. 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.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Aaaand even before all you North Americans woke up, she's off again and joining the others in slug-country part of the property. She was just curious what this "broody" thing is I guess... Maybe she'll get curious again tomorrow with a larger clutch of eggs (6 currently).

It may take a couple of days for a duck to fully commit to go through with that duckling thing, so don't give up yet. Even into the incubation process momma ducks take their time off the nest to poop, eat, drink, drake and just hang out with the others, then suddenly run back to their nest, quacking loud enough to alert the neigbor - no not the next door neigbor, the one that lives 10 Kilometers away…

 

[Luv Ducks]

What if you start giving away free eggs to the neighbours? - Nobody wants to loose their source of delicious breakfast eggs…

My pen is large but with 19 ducks already in it I have my limits. I have no room for Geese even though I think they are beautiful. I can't drive anywhere around here without seeing the wild Geese from Canada so I will just enjoy them in nature. If my older ducks died off then maybe I would have room for them. Of course I am not getting any younger either so it would just be something else my Husband would have to find a home for.

 

[Jenbirdee]

You will Never Guess who the “pending pickup” person is Resistance was futile

 

[Jenbirdee]

You will Never Guess who the “pending pickup” person is Resistance was futile

i am just waiting for dh to bring the van home…

 

[Magnolia Ducks]

Those look like Anconas. Very cute. I'm sad. I'm down to three ducks. All those people that got dogs during the pandemic are dumping them. Poor dogs and poor ducks.

 

[Magnolia Ducks]

Oh and I hope that KC is a female. I tried a drake to add some DNA to the flock. Dh named him Rapy Mcrapeface. I had to get rid of him.

 

[Jenbirdee]

Oh and I hope that KC is a female. I tried a drake to add some DNA to the flock. Dh named him Rapy Mcrapeface. I had to get rid of him.

ikr!? i have had to rehome a couple of drakes in the past .. but well at least now i have 5 separated pens and coops and can move the rapers into their own quarters if needed . we will see what happens and take one day at a time …
and i’m sorry you only have 3 ducks, will you be able to get some ducklings this year?

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

My pen is large but with 19 ducks already in it I have my limits. I have no room for Geese even though I think they are beautiful. I can't drive anywhere around here without seeing the wild Geese from Canada so I will just enjoy them in nature. If my older ducks died off then maybe I would have room for them. Of course I am not getting any younger either so it would just be something else my Husband would have to find a home for.

So, the same situation as here: The duck-house is full, so we need:

1. A new and larger quack-shack
2. A new goose caboose
3. a new hen house

Always wanted to have a hen house, just to be able to tell my colleagues that i have my own hen-house…

Spoiler: In the South, HenHouse is slang for…

The House of the Rising Sun

 

[shawluvsbirds]

Congratulations! The DUX has awoken in your place too.

Try to get to the eggs under the broody duck - no don't! (If you like your fingers…)
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.

No, she doesn't need anything else and broody ducks experience utmost respect from their flock members, otherwise…
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.

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…

1. Mark the eggs
2. Remove any unmarked egg on a daily base
3. Offer treats and water to momma duck and gain her trust
4. 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.

Agree with all the above except for the drake part. That is not always the way. Sometimes a drake will even harass the mom on the nest to get her off of it cause he's horny.
Sometimes drakes will harass or kill ducklings.
And even if it goes well for 2 or 3 weeks when they get a little bit bigger, the drake may decide he's going to try and mount them. Which can end horribly.
You just have to watch and be aware of all possibilities and adjust accordingly.