Preparation of muscovy duck nests
When organizing a nest, it is necessary to take into account certain requirements and rules so that the bird is comfortable incubating future offspring in order to avoid risks to their health.
Sexual activity will soon be followed by egg-laying, which means that poultry farmers need to take care of preparing a home for Indo-Ducks.
Location
- Placed in a dry, warm place, without drafts, in the summer in the shady part of the room.
- Its location should not coincide with the place of active movement of both the bird and its staff.
- From the inside, the nesting site is covered with a bedding of straw or sawdust.
- Indoors, it is necessary to create a quiet and calm atmosphere, there should be no struggle for a place between Indo-women and other types of poultry.
- Moderately low light indoors.
- Near the shelter, you should place a feeder, a drinker and a container with water in which the Indo-woman can swim.
- Restrict access to chicks from other queens to prevent the brood from leaving the nest with eggs.
When the Indo-girls sit on the nest
If these requirements and rules are not followed, musky ducks are able to independently find a place more comfortable for laying. Perhaps these places will be far outside the courtyard, then hens will disappear from the yard for periods.
At the end of the third decade of February, the beginning of the first decade of March, musky ducks show signs of sexual activity: they begin to flirt with the drakes, issue certain "callsigns", take peculiar poses so that they pay attention to them.
Indoor nest size
They should be calculated based on the size of the brood hen itself. On average, the nest is made in the following sizes:
- height - 26-32cm;
- length - 40-55cm;
- width - 32-42cm.
Entering it should not impede the movement of ducks and prevent the change of deep litter. It is advisable to design the house separately from each other, if this cannot be avoided, it is recommended to make strong and dense partition walls. The dimensions of a house made with a corpus plan are calculated by summing the size indicators.
DIY Indoor Nest
Almost any material can serve as a material for the construction of a place: cardboard boxes and boxes of various shapes, metal containers, flasks, barrels, wicker baskets and much more. It is more expedient to make a house with your own hands, using building materials: wooden boards and bars, plywood, dense chipboard, slab and others.
They can be built by combining several types of raw materials. The floor covering must have good thermal insulation properties, moderate hardness and water resistance. Therefore, it is recommended to lay linoleum or thick oilcloth on top of the floor made of wooden materials, in order to avoid early spoilage from indoor droppings.
When the nest is ready for use, it should be correctly positioned in the house, taking into account the above requirements and guidelines. Often, musk ducks themselves indicate a convenient location for them, staying for a long time in a certain place.
Individual houses are best placed in different rooms, so as not to disturb the privacy of the hens, or in opposite corners of the same house. It can be placed at a height of up to 20-30 cm from the ground, since Indo-girls are able to fly.
The entrance to the shelter should be free of barriers, located with the back or side to the main entrance to the premises. The distance from the feeding trough to the nesting site should be about 50-60 cm. The number of nests depends on the number of hens.
What's next
After the muscovy duck has chosen a suitable spot and occupied it, it begins to lay eggs. The minimum amount to start hatching is 13-16 eggs.
It is strictly forbidden to take eggs from the nest, as you can disturb the duck and she can leave it. It is recommended to lay eggs after 12-14 days. During incubation, females must be provided with food and water. Drakes during this period may be in the walking yard, their presence is not necessary.
Common problems
If all the technologies related to the correct organization of the nest have been carried out and followed, you may have problems, for example: the female does not sit in the nest, two hens sit in one place at once, the bird throws eggs out of the nest, the hen leaves the nest, or how to teach the female to lay in nest, etc.
Two females sat in one nest - in this question, three solutions arise:
- you should organize a shelter for another Indo-female as far as possible from this place, cover the hens with a box or fence off with a fence about a meter in height. At the same time, one should not forget that females should open up space 2-3 times a day so that they could eat and drink;
- there were too many eggs in the nest for one hen, they should be divided equally for two females, do this carefully and inconspicuously;
- the least effective option is considered to leave everything as it is, in the absence of a conflict between hens, the females themselves will figure out the distribution of responsibilities and roles.
The next problem is the fact that the Indo-female does not sit on the nest. The reason for the refusal may be too young and too old age of the uterus. In this case, the issue will not be resolved. Poor poultry conditions can also affect. To avoid this situation, you should organize the correct device for the nest.
A situation may arise that females throw eggs from the nest:
- one of the reasons for this is natural selection by the queen itself, as the brood hens sense the presence of unusable eggs. In this case, the quality of the eggs can be increased due to the balanced nutrition of the brooding ducks and by correctly selecting the drake;
- the next reason is to move the nest, which is strictly prohibited;
- The most common reason is that poultry farmers begin to touch the eggs and count the already hatched ducklings - this can lead to the death of the offspring.
Important! To prevent Indo-girls from leaving their dwellings, the access of hatched chicks to the room should be limited.
Females need to be protected from various stressful situations: loud sounds, screams and noises, penetration into their corner, other species of birds and animals of the household, etc.
If the female does leave the nest, try to keep the clutch. The best solution to this problem would be to lay eggs in the incubator, periodically turning them over. If it is absent, you can discreetly lay eggs on other hens.
How to teach females to rush into the nest
To do this, it is necessary to arrange nests, starting in the fall. They can also hold a mock egg made of plaster or chalk. In addition, eggs should not be taken from the nest, as mentioned earlier, this may lead to the duck leaving it.
If you follow the above recommendations, you should have no difficulty in organizing nests for duck ducks. Have patience. You should responsibly, carefully and with creative thinking approach the solution of this issue. The appearance of future offspring in your household depends on this, which means the profitability of production.