Some duck owners hang a piece of cloth in front. The opening should be no bigger than the duck. If possible, they should touch the ground, so the ducks can scrape out a depression in the dirt. Many ducks prefer a natural floor.
Mow the grass, remove wood piles, and scout out all possible locations where a duck might choose to make her nest.
Anytime you find out your ducks have been laying outside the coop, you might try locking them in the coop for a few days to force them to lay there. Try to let them out of their coop or pen after they have finished laying.
If you let your ducks out early, or they seem to always lay late, try putting nest boxes in their yard. My ducks often have not laid by the time I let them out of their pen. I have several nest boxes scattered around their yard. Also, they seem to pay more attention to new nesting areas, so I like to move these boxes around every once in a while.
Recently, I moved a box under a cluster of thorny bushes and put a cinder block in front to make it even more private. A few weeks later, no one paid attention to it anymore. So I moved it again. And they laid in it again. She wants to make her own hidden, secret nest where nobody will ever find her.
But often, we would rather know about these nests, especially if they happen to be in a bad location. When you let your ducks out, keep an eye out for any ducks that make a beeline in an unusual direction. Save my name, email, and site URL in my browser for next time I post a comment. All of your information is very helpful.
We were not even aware of behaviours of Muscovies. They are very interesting though. Our female laid about 20 eggs, in a hidden spot, and we left her there.
We would pull back the piece of wood she was hiding under to check on her, but she seemed fine. Over a month later, still no ducklings, and because of predators locally we carefully moved her, nest and eggs, to a safer area.
Even before we moved her we realised that the eggs were disappearing and there were no shells to give indication of what happened. When we moved her there were 5 eggs, and now there is only 1. Is it possible that she would eat them if stressed? It is a confusing situation. We want to make a more secure pen for more hens, and our Muscovies. Thanks for all your info.. Thank you very much. It usually happens by accident—a duck will accidentally break an egg, discover how delicious they are, and then make a habit out of breaking and eating them.
Our puppy stole eggs, too, when we first got her we taught her not to. If she had been breaking her own eggs, you would probably see residue. So I think it was probably a predator. How do we get the other hens to use a different nest they have 4 nobody uses? You can try moving the eggs to the empty nests, and leaving them there until the hens take notice and start laying in them.
We took away all the eggs because some hatched and they killed them. We got an incubator to put them in and they had over 4 dozen in the nest with three hens. Now three have hatched and we are putting them in a smaller hen house away from the grown fowl. What can we do with dozens of baby chicks? I have 2 8 month old hens of different breeds, one is unknown and the other is definitely an Orpington and the Orpington has stopped laying eggs completely this October.
The other has continued laying. I caught the Orpington sleeping in the nesting box last night. Thank you Linda! Is that an additional behavior of broody hens? Yes, broody hens can become quite bitchy! Hormonal issues, I guess. The information is wonderful to know and share. There are many people who raise chickens in harsh winter climates, but they take extra measures to ensure their flock stays safe and healthy.
If my chickens are stil laying every day but spending almost all day in the nesting box does this mean they are broody? Their behaviour is normal in the morning and late afternoon but spending hours inside the nesting box. They have both only been laying for 1 and 2 weeks. Make sure you collect all of their eggs at least once or twice a day, and try to lure them out with treats if you find them spending too much time in the nest.
I LOVE to read your blog entries. You break broodies by using a wire dog crate and nothing more. It may take up to a week and you may need to repeat the process but you treat your chickens humanely at all times.
My broody settles right into her cold water bath without putting up a fuss. As always, use your best judgment. Totally disagree with you! Not inhumane at all!! Of course never in cold weather but most broodys go broddy in the warmer months anyway. Thank you for your detailed information re: broody hens. Hi there, your article is very informative. We have a sweet hen and she had been laying eggs up until 3 days ago when she started having these broody behaviors.
She laid her last egg that day. I put on gloves. Tonight she roosted on her own but now in her normal shelf. We took it up and she missed it terribly at first. Today she seemed more back to herself. Today she went out on her own. What a timely post! So glad to hear Iman is back to her sweet self. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam.
Learn how your comment data is processed. Written by Linda Ly. And looking like our chicken had been constipated for days. What does it mean when a chicken is broody? What are the risks of a hen staying broody?
Method 2: Give your broody hen a gentle! Method 3: Lock your broody hen out of the coop. Method 4: Chicken jail. Do you know what happens to a naughty chicken that stays broody? Chicken jail.
This post updated from an article that originally appeared on June 12, Mindy Fournier July 10, at pm. Thanks Reply. Erika Barratt March 11, at am. Maggie Parker May 6, at am. Ione Howell-Douglas January 16, at pm.
Debbie May 11, at am. Malene July 22, at am. Jesse Lippman June 20, at pm. Linda from Garden Betty June 21, at am. Laura Pascoe January 27, at pm. Linda from Garden Betty March 1, at am. Harold Glatzer May 20, at pm. Linda from Garden Betty May 23, at am. Linda Ly of Garden Betty December 30, at am. Viola Brignoni November 12, at pm.
I followed your instruction and they worked perfectly!! Thank you so much. Linda Ly of Garden Betty November 15, at am. Happy to help! Tessa September 16, at pm. I meant to say 3 or 4 days. Linda Ly of Garden Betty October 15, at am. They can be so stubborn sometimes, huh? David June 15, at pm. Linda Ly of Garden Betty April 28, at pm. Good luck with your broody! Post by dorsetduckowner » Mon Aug 01, pm.
Post by zookeeper » Mon Aug 15, pm. Post by dorsetduckowner » Tue Aug 16, am. Post by zookeeper » Tue Aug 16, pm. Post by zookeeper » Wed Aug 17, am. Post by dorsetduckowner » Wed Aug 17, am. Style by Arty - Update phpBB 3. Privacy Terms. Skip to content. Quick links. Logout Register. Home Board index. Ad blocker detected: Our website is made possible by displaying online advertisements to our visitors. Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker on our website. Broody duck - should I move her?
Post by zookeeper » Fri Jul 29, am Hi, I am new to this forum but am after some advice regarding one of my ducks. I found this strange as she is normally constantly with her companion, Draco a kharki campbell drake.
Earlier this week she appeared to have gone for good as she wasn't around when I locked them up for the night.
Having decided that she must have wandered off a bit too far or eloped with a wild duck , I had resigned myself to the liklihood that she will have been fox food by now.
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