The waddle of wee webbed feet

Many ducks will soon come into lay but you need to plan ahead if you want to breed ducklings

Ducks are seasonal breeders, having a surge of eggs in the spring, often from February onwards, and then tailing off for winter. The more commercial breeds such as the Khaki Campbell are all round layers as are Indian Runners - they are also not good broody ducks. If you have a drake and the ducks are actively mating and producing eggs then you can use artificial incubation to produce ducklings year round so that you are producing some point of lay ducks for early spring.

BROODY DUCKS

Domestic ducks on the whole are not the best of sitters and become very agitated. Being calm around her and keeping noisy children or dogs away from her is very important. Some breeds (and within breeds, some families,) are much better at hatching and parenting then others. Some breeders will use a broody hen in place of a duck to hatch duck eggs and this does work well. Always ensure as duck eggs are larger than hen's eggs, that the hen is able to easily cover the eggs you put under her.

HATCHING TIMES

Duck eggs take 28 days to hatch unless they are Muscovy duck which take 35-37 days larger than hen's eggs, that the hen is able to easily cover the eggs you put under her.