Kitchen Garden Forum

We have been away on holiday and when we came back my OH strimmed the plot with his petrol strimmer. Then the next day we were working on the beds when my OH saw the duck stitting in between our netting and the wooden fencing of the next door plot. She is sitting on 9 eggs. Firstly can anyone tell me how long a duck stits on eggs and what will they do when they hatch as there is a fishing lodge across the road and much higher up from our plot. I am sure she will not find it.

She is really well camouflaged when we move around the plot we are really aware that she is there so we try to walk past her nest quietly and slowley. Hopefully we will have a really good outcome of her babies all being hatched and are okay.

We have put a dish of water near her but we have noticed that she flies off later in the afternoon.

Watch this space!

Hi Catherine

Ducks sit their eggs for 28 days.

She will fly off the nest at least once a day to feed and drink and come back wet to keep the eggs damp.

What happens when the ducklings hatch only she will know.

Thanks Alan, well we probably have a few more days then as we dont remember seeing her there before we went on holiday and we went on the 8th May and returned on the 19th so she must have settled down between then.

Catherine - how exciting for you. Hope your duck and her eggs stay safe and that you're lucky enough to be around when she takes her little babies marching off to their home ond. You may have to walk ahead waving your red flag as their Marshall !

We are already talking about the duck patrol.

Our mother duck has gone. We saw her on Wednesday sitting on her nest but she looked much higher up, then when we looked again she had flown off and in the nest there were several babies, we did not get too close as we did not want to upset them.

On Thursday morning they had all gone with only three eggs left one crushed, one in half and one with only the top chipped off.

There were nine eggs in the beginning. I just hope she managed to get to where she was safe.

Dear Monika, i'm sure the Mother duck will have got them away safely, they are very clever birds when it comes to things like that.

Monika OH have I changed my name this week.

Dear Catherine, i do apologize, i really don't know what i was thinking about.

Dont worry OH I forgive you.

Thank you Catherine.

Hi Catherine

As OH said, ducks can look after themselves.

Have a look at this video of mandarin ducklings leaving their nest in a tree hole - where they always nest.......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HOLwd9nmB8

oldherbaceous wrote:Dear Catherine, i do apologize, i really don't know what i was thinking about.

Obviously you were thinking about Monika

I don't want to worry anyone but, all of you are often in my thoughts, some more than others.