When hatching day come , Velma have 7 eggs and Tica had 10 eggs .
I think .
I ’m unsure because during the entire incubation period the expectant mother Muscovies kept trading — or more likely stealing — eggs from each other .
One morning I found the duck vacillate over their nests rather than sitting flat — a sign the egg might be hatching .
Sure enough , when I pull out a warm egg , I spotted small cracks at the bombastic end . Holding it to my auricle , I get word piano peeps and scrapes . know as “ shoot , ” this signals the duckling ’s imminent arrival over the next 12 hours or so . surprisingly , all but two duckling heroically chiseled out of their eggshell at about the same clock time , meaning the girls had begun brooding simultaneously ( what a team ! ) .
Velma and Tica kept stealing the two rest bollock — and their ducklings — from each other , shift them mildly from nest to snuggle . After everybody emerge , I found Tica hovering over both broods while Velma ate from the intellectual nourishment dish .
I need to move the ducklings to an conterminous playpen , where they would n’t be bothered by the other domestic fowl , but I worried about put both females in with them . Although Muscovy make consecrated mothers , they can step on and accidentally crush their baby when shake up . analyse the moms and their piffling sheaf of fluff , I observe that Tica , the young duck , seemed more enthusiastic about the whole mothering thing than Velma .
Every time I get near , Tica lowered her brain and gave me a menacing hiss , while Velma seemed more concerned about making up for lose time at the food dish .
My old duck’s egg at 6 eld , Velma had experienced the pleasure and frustrations of maternity a act of time , so possibly she felt burnt out . I decided to give the babies to Tica .
I enamor Tica up and act her to the next pen , then whisked the adorable duckling into a hay pail and transferred them into their new “ nest . ”
As necessarily happens whenever I move moms and ducklings , Tica became unrestrained . She urgently await for a way out of the playpen , back to her old nest , ignoring the babies right beneath her beak .
“ Your babies are justly there ! ” I told her .
After much suasion on my part , Tica eventually got a clew . Oh ! There they are !
Meanwhile , Velma had discovered HER babies were miss . Furious , she pace outside the penitentiary door , squeaking up a storm . The next 24-hour interval , even though I plied her with treat , she still had n’t forgiven me .
Oh well , you just ca n’t please everybody .
felicitous starting time of summer !
~ Cherie
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