The Quack Shack

[Supercow]

Well, here's a twist.
She's off -- went for food and drink and to socialize with the others.
So I went to check and...

WOW! She must have been building this for a week!

But this also means that she's treating the nest as a hobby - she sits a bit, rejoins the others, maybe sits for a while again the next day, but definitely not overnight ... Today is a national holiday in Slovenia so she took the time to go and sit for a while

So these eggs don't have a chance of hatching anyway, right?

 

[Supercow]

I think I'll just leave the nest for now, so when she magically disappears, I know where to find her.

 

[Miss Lydia]

If she is still building her nest she won't stay on it. If you want her to hatch take nest and eggs and put them inside the coop make a nesting space you can use a piece of ply wood and lay it up against the side of the wall and secure it so she has her own little hiding spot you'll probably have to keep her closed up for a day with her new area once she goes broody. You'll have to destroy the remaining nest material and put something over that area so she won't go back .

 

[Supercow]

If she started building the nest 5 days (5 eggs) or a week ago, and was only satisfied with it today and started sitting for real (she's back on the nest now) -- can these eggs still hatch or are the early ones too old / affected by summer temps / etc ? Last week's heat wave was up to 36 C on Friday which is a lot but since then it's been 25-ish.

I'm thinking in case we decide to let her sit, it would be best to move the nest inside a large dog crate which can then be taken anywhere - safely in the duck house or any place outside over the day even.

 

[Miss Lydia]

The best thing to do when she is off the nest is to candle and mark the ones viable if any are not going to hatch because of the heat sniff test plus candling may give you the best idea, When eggs are being incubated they are usually around 100* right so the older ones maybe okay

 

[Supercow]

Maybe it would be best to just replace the 5 eggs with 5+ new ones laid in the morning by the other ducks...

 

[Jenbirdee]

How long of a time have you given the ducks and geese to get to know each other? has Charlie actually grabbed hold of the Ancona?

they’ve been seeing each other through a fence for a whole month already. i tried giving them just the one pekin drake this morning but Charlie was chasing and trying to wing pound him. trudy was weird because she acted like she didn’t care about having just one as if she was saying it is three or nothing mom.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

** STRANGE GOINGS-ON ALERT **

9 adult ducks go out of the house in the morning.
I get busy with moving ducklings, preparing food, refreshing water, watering and collecting goodies from the greenhouse...
2 hours later, there are 8 ducks.
4 hours later, there are 8 ducks.
In the middle of the afternoon, there are 8 ducks.

PANIC!

... What could have happened?
There's just no way a predator has visited, either 4 legged, 2 legged human or 2 legged bird. No screaming, dogs not alerting.
Is she sick and wanted to distance herself? She came out of the duck house quite happily... Probably not that.
But I'm still sad while exploring around, expecting to maybe come upon a dead duck...

Wait, back to the basics. When would a lady duck be totally silent?
- She's doing really poorly.
- She's... nesting.
A-ha.
Boom!
Found in the old raspberry patch. Nice nest built out of mown grass.

View attachment 3872581

Now, this is the duck has already tried to get broody in the duck house several times but has always given up quickly. So it all makes sense.

However she really can't stay outside like this, she'll get taken for sure.

Right now I'll just bring some food and water to her and keep pondering the situation until dusk (5 hours left).

Since this is the one lady duck that is too-much beloved by the drake and has a big bald spot on her neck, I did anyway want to move her into the pen with the two 8-weeks-old young ducks so she can get some vacation. So maybe I can do that, and thus also keep an eye on her over the day - the enclosure is about 50 m2, good enough for 3 ducks. Overnight she would be returned to the duck house, possibly in a dog crate so she doesn't get harassed.

What do you all think?

I would wait until its bed-time and if she has not given up on being broody i would give her a make-shift nest inside of the ducknager's pen.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Well, here's a twist.
She's off -- went for food and drink and to socialize with the others.
So I went to check and...

View attachment 3872608

WOW! She must have been building this for a week!

But this also means that she's treating the nest as a hobby - she sits a bit, rejoins the others, maybe sits for a while again the next day, but definitely not overnight ... Today is a national holiday in Slovenia so she took the time to go and sit for a while

So these eggs don't have a chance of hatching anyway, right?

That's what ducks do: They collect a clutch of eggs, which can be during a period of up to two weeks, then shut down the egg-factory and start to incubate seriously.
Since there is no chance to let her sit in the outdoors, i would collect the eggs, candle and mark the promising ones. Move as much of the original nest-material either in a separate pen or into the ducknager's pen, rebuild the nest as best as possible, and put the eggs back in.
Then catch the wannabe momma duck and set her down on her nest in the new location and lock her up for a while. There is a good chance she will accept the nest in the new location.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

I think I'll just leave the nest for now, so when she magically disappears, I know where to find her.

As long as she walks back inside with the other's when its bed-time...