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I have a pet duck.
Yesterday morning I went to walk my dog and a mallard duck had built a nest just outside our front door. She flew away as soon as she saw my 90 lb. lab. I really didn't want a duck making a home at our house, so after I saw that there were no eggs in her nest, I let my dog sniff all around it and covered her next up with mulch. I was hoping the smell (and sight) of my dog would have been enough to keep her from coming back.
Well....she was there again this morning. I figured she was here to stay and we'd have to deal with it. When I was taking my dog on his walk this morning, I made sure to keep his leash really short, but the moment we walked out the dog, the duck flew away again. This time there was one egg in the nest.
I am curious about a couple things -- first of all, there was only 1 egg and everything I've read says mallard lay 7-10 eggs. Is it all at once? Or is it possible she will lay more in the days to come? Secondly, as I said, the duck flew away. She was gone for the entire walk and still wasn't back when I left for work. It had been at least 20 minutes and it was 40 degrees and rainy. Shouldn't she be keeping her egg(s) warm?
Who out there is a duck expert??
Re: I have a pet duck.
Birds do not lay all of their egs at one time, it can span over a few days.. If she is a young duck then she may not lay anymore. It depends on age and her genes. Male and female ducks also take turns sitting on the eggs. The male duck should be in the area too. Ducks keep their mates for life.
Ducks are funny, they create nests is the most inconvenient places. Is there another door that you can exit from for the time being to prevent the Ducks from flying away?
Steph and Jeff's Shutterfly Website
~ Stephanie & Jeffrey ~ 9.15.2007
I'm definitely not a duck expert, and lilnephie answered much better than me, but I'll pipe in too. A few years ago our neighborhood ducks (they're here every year) made a nest in our front yard. No matter how slowly and quietly we tried to walk past her, she always spooked everytime we walked by. She ended up laying about 7 eggs, I think, and even though we kept scaring her away I think all but one hatched.
I'd definitely try going out a different door with your dog, if you can, but don't worry too much about it.
On a side note, this year we happened to be looking out the front window as the duck couple was winding around all the plants in our and our neighbors front yard. They didn't choose our house this year, but it was so cute watching them poke around looking for the perfect place.
It doesn't seem to be me that scares her, but maybe we'll have to go through the backyard when we have the dog with us.
I am also concerned about the fact that she'll come back in future years. For the past 3 years, the same duck (I assume) has set up her nest and hatched eggs at the exact same house. I don't want this duck to come back next year, too!
I also wonder why she scoped out our house to lay her eggs. We have a very large dog and through this past weekend, we were watching my IL's dog so we had two large dogs who are always going in and out of the house. You'd think she would have picked some place quieter to go...
OMG adorable.
My Happy House
Ditto!!
It makes me think of when dh and I were house hunting. LOL
Im not a duck expert but dh hunts them and likes to think that he is so I hear alllll about them
Female mallard ducks dont have to lay their eggs all at one time or it is possible maybe that something got to the rest of the eggs. If she was spooked enough she might not come back. Usually they dont just take off like that, so she might be a young duck. Mallards dont mate for life, in fact the male has probably already taken off by now. If he is hanging around it is to try to mate with the female again when she leasts expects it - not to take care of the babies.
Do you have much water by where her nest is? Or is the ground sunken in at all to make her feel protected? Maybe after she leaves this year you could level the ground (if you have to)
Mommy's little helper
We don't have water by her nest. Or buy us, at all really. We are about a mile or so from Hines Drive (Rouge River) and I frequently see ducks in our neighborhood so I imagine that's where they come from?
She dug a hole in our mulch so that she is nested in that. When I first saw it yesterday, there were no eggs so I leveled out the area hoping that she wouldn't return. But she did. And now I don't want to disturb her (any more than we already have) since there are eggs.
I'm thinking she must be a young duck. There is another one in our neighborhood and my dog and I walk by her every morning. We get within about 5 feet of her and the duck and my dog kinda just mind their own business. She NEVER leaves those eggs which is why I find it so weird that this duck does.
It depends on the male and the habitat for sure. My family has a wildlife refuge area where they tag water foul. Many of the males stick with the same females in our area. If a male leaves, the main reason is because the hen become bia (agressive) when eggs are around. However a male will protect a nest and a nesting female. It is kind of interesting to watch, we used to have videos like the ones of the Eagles. He will also stick around to mate again if he is lucky enough.
Steph and Jeff's Shutterfly Website
~ Stephanie & Jeffrey ~ 9.15.2007
I was lurking and I saw your post...
Many years ago when I was living at home, we had a duck nest in our backyard with two large black labs. After a few sniffs, the dogs actually became very disinterested in it. We were always outside with them after we discovered the nest to make sure they didn't do anything or that the duck didn't attack them thinking they were enemies. But we never had any issues which was impressive considering our dogs were never all that well behaved.
One morning the eggs hatched and the little ducklings and their momma went on their merry way.
Good luck!