Each morning, we collect the duck eggs from the nest boxes in their coop. We time it so that the group is out eating breakfast while we take the eggs; otherwise, we risk invoking the wrath of the broody who’s been sitting in the corner nest (she knows we steal the eggs, I can feel it in her glare). Several of the girls have already gone broody, but this duck has been particularly committed to defending “her” eggs.

There are four nest boxes in the duck coop: three jumbo covered boxes and one small, shallow one. For some reason, some of the ducks prefer the shallow, open one – there are typically at least two eggs in there in the morning. We usually find several in each of the other boxes, with the broody’s nest being the cleanest, beautifully down-lined, and full of carefully hidden eggs. We’ve learned that you can provide the most deluxe, plush nest box, and that’s still no guarantee that the ducks will lay their eggs in it, so offering variety seems to work best – and an egg laid in a nest box has a much better chance of being a clean egg. Continue reading “Like Strange Eggs? Here’s A New One!” →