For the last few weeks, our Muscovy ducks have gone crazy laying eggs. We have 8 females and as of right now, they have all laid eggs in very interesting spots with each duck laying between 18 to 20 eggs. When I come out in the morning, I always take a count and see who is sitting. Monday I began to notice the eggs were scattered in the coop or moved. I found this rather peculiar. Monday afternoon, I caught Pip our wonderful little Pip just pushing and rolling the eggs, and I might say with great vigor, right out of one of the nest. I watched her push 6 eggs out and then take a seat and begin digging the dirt/sand around her. It took but a mere 10 minutes and Pip laid her egg and very nonchalant walked out of the coop. Well in comes Freckles and realizes her eggs are all moved and begins her fit of peeping and trying to move her eggs around. Next morning I let the ducks out and I notice Pip makes her rounds and heads right back to the coop. Now mind you, I have 8 ducks and they are laying. some together and some have their own nests. As I watch Pip go in, I notice Smoky take off basically running to the back of the barn. So I take off after her to see what she is up to. As I approach her, she scurries into this briar patch, which there is no way to see her or get in.
So I hurry back to the coop only to find Pip peeping at another duck, Snow, as she sits on Snow's nest. Snow looses her mind and begins pulling Pip's feathers and hissing at her. This goes on for about 5 minutes when Pip finally gets up, walks to another nest where the duck is not yet sitting, and Pip sits. When I come back, Pip is gone but she has laid her egg in this nest. She has yet to make her own nest or just lay with another duck. Instead, she lays in a different nest every day, in the yard, and even in the water tub.
As for Smoky, we have found that she runs to this briar patch every morning and comes back in the early afternoon. We can only assume that she is laying because at night she runs to this same place and stays the night. With this last week, we have decided that we can find eggs anywhere the ducks can access.
We have found them in the male muscovy's coop, under the farm trailer, in the middle of yard, in my flower bed, in a briar patch and last but not least in a nesting box. And if you have ducks, you know this does not happen; but I guess it does because I now have Goose laying in a nesting box. We have placed a single nesting box in the duck coop simply for our one comet. Every night the comet, Lucy goes in sleeps and lays her eggs by 7am. Yesterday when entering the coop, I see Goose sitting in the nesting box laying an egg. Well when she stands up, I see two eggs and Pip just standing on the coop floor looking up at Goose. All I can do is wonder if when I enter the coop in the morning will Pip be sitting there next.
As for a total of duck eggs, we have 32 eggs under ducks, 10 in different nests, 24 which I have taken to the kitchen, no idea how many in the briar patch and 20 in the incubator. The ones in the incubator were ones left by two of our ducks. So we have 62 duck eggs to hatch with daily laying continuing. Plus, I already have 7 ducklings left from the last hatch of 18. The other 11 found homes within the first week of being born.
