[darrena]

My two welsh harlequins have been building a nest for the last week or so and now one of them is been seems to be sat on the nest all day long just popping out this morning.

I was just a little worried that she is ill or may starve if she doesnt come out on a regular basis for food and water, Should i put food and water in the duck house???

Any help appreciated

Regards
Darren

[Kate and her Ducks]

Sounds like she might be although a little early in the year perhaps.

Is she still laying?

Do you want her to go broody? If not you are best locking her out of the house so she can't get settle in properly. If you are going to let her sit she needs shooing out twice a day to have something to eat and drink, stretch her legs and empty her bowels.

That being said, when my duck went broody last year I tried and tried and tried to stop her to no avail and in the end she got her way and ended up with ducklings!

[darrena]

Hi Kate,

Think she is broody the nest is practically a foot high now and she has had a bad temper and been making alot of noise for sometime now so there most be something wrong.
I have just shooed her out and she went a little mental, there were 3 or 4 eggs in the nest which means they must both still be laying.
How long will this last went wont get babies as we have no drakes!

Regards
Darren

[Kate and her Ducks]

Well when my Silver Appleyard went broody I tried to break her out of it for about 10-14 days and she wasn't having any of it! She then say for the full 28 days but none of the eggs hatched and then for an extra 5 days till I got her some ducklings!

You need to keep throwing her off the nest and locking her out during the day as sitting for nothing is not good for them. Alternatively get her some fertile eggs or ducklings! If you go the duckling route make sure you have a back up plan for if she doesn't take to them.

[darrena]

Hi Kate, thanks for the response, the problem I have is that living a housing estate shutting the duck out of the her house is not really an option as they just make a serious rackett until they get let back in!
Giving her fertilsed eggs to hatch would not got down well with the Mrs as the extra noise mess and hassle of getting rid of them would drive ger mad!

Is nicking the eggs from her nest a good idea???

Also she does seem to be coming out several times a day but is getting rather slim which is a worry!!!!!

Regards
Darren

[Tattyanne456]

I thought one way of stopping broody hens/ducks is to take the eggs away. Having said that my broody Silver Sussex still sits on nothing! I used to keep on lifting her, tried shutting her out, dipping her bottom in cold water etc, but nothing worked, so now we just let her get on with it.

[Kate and her Ducks]

You definately need to take the eggs away although I have to say I did this and Sally was just as stubborn. It is normal for them to lose a bit of weight when they are sitting but not good if they are doing it for nothing and potentially a protracted length of time. You really need to keep her locked out during the day so she can't sit and is more likely to eat.

There are harsher ways of stopping them being broody but these usually involve denying them food water and comfort and that always seemed quite cruel to me.