Daisy, mother, grandmother and perhaps great-grandmother duck of the farm! She is an excellent mother and an amazing producer of healthy ducklings. Photo by J&J
Daisy, our oldest female, is laying yet again! Last time she had a successful hatching of 12 ducklings. Since we do not want to disturb her nest, there is no good way to know what is in there.
However, we know she does leave the nest still and is still being mated, so however many there are… there are more to come!
Daisy has been a great mother in the past, and we have no doubt that she will continue to be so. However, she picks some strange places.
Wild Duck Nest:
Here is her nesting ground – the same place as before… they hay pile:
The torn-up round bail of hay that our muscovy duck has fallen in love with. Photo by J&J
Why is the hay so messy – well, you see, last time she laid it was beneath the hay. In fact, we had thought she laid some down there again, so we were trying to find them before they either went rotten and cracked open, attracted snakes, or could not be hatched.
So, where did she put them this time?
This odd “top of the hay bail” nest is unique, but Daisy was furiously defending it. Fairly impressive, if I do say so myself. Photo by J&J
Can you see her little nest? It has a very small circumference, but seems fairly deep. We certainly never would have expected her to nest on top of the hay, but, we were obviously wrong.
We found this when she was missing from the nightly round up (we have a fox lurking about, so they have been getting caged each night). Still not knowing where she was, Jennifer went to milk the goat when she saw white in the hay.
Duck Clutch of Eggs:
Thinking it might be an egg she went to investigate. Then the egg hissed at her… It was daisy, anxiously protecting her clutch.
A quick sneak peek at the ducks clutch of eggs. This did not last long – she ate quickly, got a drink, and hissed away from her nest just as soon as she could. Photo by J&J
While she was off… being courted… we got this photo:
So, take your guess by adding a comment below. How many ducklings do you think we have to look forward to?
No matter how many are hatched, we know Daisy will do her job and be a great mother. We are very lucky to have her on our farm!
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Watch our video about this Natural Duck Nest by clicking this sentence or by watching below:
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