3 broody muscovys on same nest

cockorhen · **Joined:** Mon Oct 31, 2011 11:40 am **Posts:** 19

i dont know if this is comon but i put 3 ducks & 1 drake in the same pen togeather with a choice of 4 nests but they all decided to lay all in the same nest,i tryed puttin some of the eggs in the other nests but they continued to lay in that same nest, they layed40 or 50 eggs (havent counted) & have all gone broody at the same time & are all sittin on the same nest togeather, there not fighting ,they all seem quiet happy, is this comon or will this cause problems in regards to hatching??? will they mother them togeather once they hatch or will they fight over them??? ill atach a pic

muscovieduck · **Posted:** Tue Nov 29, 2011 11:37 am

Two of my girls always seem to choose the same nest site and both go clucky on the same nest. I have issues every time this happens. The first time they had about 25 eggs between the two of them, and they constantly tried to steal eggs out from under the other. They were too preoccupied with taking eggs from the other that the eggs weren't being incubated correctly and it resulted in a lot of rotten eggs. Only 6 hatched out of 25 eggs, and the ones that did hatch I had to take off them because one died since the mothers were still preoccupied stealing the eggs that were left that they weren't caring for the ducklings.

The second time these two went clucky on the same nest, they broke eggs trying to cram into the same nest. The most effective way I've come up with to stop this, is to wait until one goes clucky and then make a pen around her and the nest so the other duck cannot access it, then if this duck lays a few more eggs, I add them under the clucky one. Or if they both go clucky at the same time, I'll remove one duck and make a pen so she can't get back in.

I don't know if this would be the case for all ducks, but with mine I certainly won't be allowing them to share a nest again.

cockorhen · **Joined:** Mon Oct 31, 2011 11:40 am **Posts:** 19

happy to say they hatched 30 out of 40 eggs, but we lost 4 due to being squished by the mothers feet so we moved most of them 2 the brooder box,all doing well & growing fast......yay.... we where also lucky enough to have 11 runner ducks hatch at the same time, so we have now been envaded by ducks ,we wernt expecting such a good sucsess rate so a new ducky house has been built just for them

if they share a nest again i wont let them have so many eggs as i found there was to manny for them to handle & when the mums move in the nest the squish them

Weston · **Posted:** Fri Jan 13, 2012 9:05 am

They should share the duties as that is common with muscovy ducks

Durrac · **Joined:** Sat Jan 14, 2012 10:27 am **Posts:** 2

Hey great picture I have only had 2 share and they sat facing away from each other

kelliecat · **Posted:** Sat Jan 14, 2012 8:41 pm

Wow, lots of ducks. When I was a teenager I was given 2 ducks and a drake called daffy. The 2 ducks shared a nest and hatched out 58 of the 61 eggs. We lived on a 1/4 acre block. I still love ducks, but I remember having to clean their pen on a daily basis. The memory of that smell still haunts me.n

good luck with the babies.

Durrac · **Joined:** Sat Jan 14, 2012 10:27 am **Posts:** 2

Oh yes the smell can be full on I have use top soil regularly to help with the build up of poops

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3 broody muscovys on same nest

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