Phoebe had been sitting on 10 eggs (collected from all the laying ducks) for about a week when Piper decided she was going broody, too, and wanted to share the eggs. The two sat side by side, happy as clams. They created two adjoining nests, with Piper rolling some eggs into hers. It was fun to see them sharing the long, unglamorous task.
Unfortunately, the peaceful sharing ended recently. While out working, we heard a ruckus and saw Phoebe and Piper fighting. Piper, the more dominant, chased Phoebe out of the broody house. Poor Phoebe was frantic, trying to get back to her eggs. Continue reading “BFFs No More: Co-Brooding Goes Awry”
The second batch of Muscovy eggs in the incubator should hatch in about 2 days. While they have a reputation for being difficult to artificially incubate, there is excellent information readily available to first time incubators from Muscovy enthusiasts who have experience incubating these eggs. “Lessons learned” shared by others can save you a lot of grief.
Goldie left the nest with the three unhatched eggs in it yesterday and took her three chicks to the opposite end of the brooder. We took this as a sign that she knew the remaining eggs weren’t going to hatch, so we took them out. Not wanting to risk tossing a viable egg, and to try to better understand why they didn’t hatch, we decided to open them. Carefully. Outdoors.
Our Gold Laced Wyandotte, Goldie, has been sitting on a clutch of six eggs for the past three weeks. Today, her hard work and dedication has paid off…she has chicks!
It’s a dark and stormy day. Outside, there’s a thunderstorm going on with lightning and driving rain. Inside, in their incubator, the Muscovy eggs are hatching.