Mallard Duck and the nest with eggs in it

Frisky Feline

Frisky Feline

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I just found out that Mallard Duck has a nest with eggs in it in our backyard last weekend. After my hub cleaned up in our backyard, and saw the nest. gratefully that he did not touch the nest. Mama duck kept quacking at him. He backs off when he noticed mama duck after saw the eggs in the nest. No wonder I did notice that mallard duck has been hanging out in our backyard for about two weeks. Now we know why. so i told our kids not to touch or bother or so. I even told my kids friends to play go around on the side. I understand that eggs will hatch between 28 to 35 days. I hope it has been two weeks already, so i can wait another two weeks to go. Iam more concerned now. Our park is about half mile away from our home. Thats why i am puzzled why mama duck walks all the way to our backyard. :confused:

any tips if you all had experience with it like can i feed the mama duck or leave the mama duck alone.

thanks!
 
Aww . . . how cool!

I think it would be OK to leave some food out as long as you allow the duck to come for it and not you approach the nest.

We've had birds make nests and hatch their babies in a basket hanging on our front door. We couldn't use it for weeks. We had to post a sign on our front porch to warn people to not use the door.

I hope your duck family is safe from predators and kids bothering them.

If you have binoculars, it's fun to watch the duck family. :)
 
We had robins that built 2 nests in the lilac bushes right outside our front window last Spring. It was really cute to see the babies in there and get such a birds-eye ;) view of it all because it was mere inches from our window. They haven't returned yet this Spring but we've had such a sucky Spring thus far (cold and snow, STILL !) so we'll see if they come back soon or not. We left them alone and kept the dogs away from the windows as much as we could. Surprisingly, the cats didn't care. :lol:
 
duck eggs soooooo nice scrambled on toast..
you so lucky have duck nest in garden.......two robins nest two seperate robin families or one robin big family...
i had two geese who took to my garden hissed at me attacked everytime put washing out attacked the cats,decided my lawn was theirs and made dreadful mess..had them two years in row not back this year
 
I had birds before. but never had mallard duck before. Mallard duck does not make messy in our backyard thank god. Im not sure if eggs are ok due to raining hard, so cold, and windy and did snow at night. i pray that baby ducks will live.
 
caz12 said:
i hope they ok...the cats be ok with ducklings?
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my cats are indoor cats. I dont know much about mallard duck. I found it odd that the mama duck picked the bushes that has a secure stone rock like a fence around where the nest is in the bushes next to the stone rock. BUT its been so cold, windy and raining hard. I did check on the mama duck this am. Mama duck is still sitting on the nest and be silently that blends with the light brown foundation that matches color as her.
 
i discovered mother ducks can do nest in trees.....some years ago i saw 4 little ducks walking down main road none of us could understand where came from as no where for them to nest then dicsovered mummy mallard made nest in guttering(you call it the same)under roof
 
we have the shed house that is right next to her and between to the stonerock. wish there were more foundation in there. shrugs
 
Once I discovered a Mallard duck and her nest under a tree. I did saw her mate flew away when she finishes build her nest made of leaves, grasses, and pine needles.

I became friendly with her, earned her trust to the point I can hand fed her while she sits on her nest :)

I also gave her a bowl of seeds and water, refill them daily while I am in the area. The eggs was due to hatch after I left there so I didn't get to see babies.

Mallard eggs color are so beautiful-Teal/Turquoise. I have the photos somewhere, it was so long time ago.

Post pictures if you can. :)
 
Is there a pond or body of water near your house? If not I wonder how far the mother duck will have to walk with her ducklings to get them to water.
When I was health aide I saw a mother with her ducklings and she was trying to bring them to the river . The mother was leading her ducklings right across a very busy street and some of the ducklings where not able to climb onto sidewalk as it was too high for them. I knew I was going to be late getting to my 102 yo client , but I stopped to helps the ducklings onto the sidewalk then I got out in the middle of the traffic to stop the cars until all the ducklings got safely to the river. I was late getting to my client , but she did not mind when I told her why .
Maybe you should let the ACO know about the duck if there is no body of water near your house, it would so sad if the ducklings got killed trying to follow their mother to a pond .
 
whatdidyousay! said:
Is there a pond or body of water near your house? If not I wonder how far the mother duck will have to walk with her ducklings to get them to water.
When I was health aide I saw a mother with her ducklings and she was trying to bring them to the river . The mother was leading her ducklings right across a very busy street and some of the ducklings where not able to climb onto sidewalk as it was too high for them. I knew I was going to be late getting to my 102 yo client , but I stopped to helps the ducklings onto the sidewalk then I got out in the middle of the traffic to stop the cars until all the ducklings got safely to the river. I was late getting to my client , but she did not mind when I told her why .
Maybe you should let the ACO know about the duck if there is no body of water near your house, it would so sad if the ducklings got killed trying to follow their mother to a pond .
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about less than 1/2 or 1/4 miles away from the water foundation. Thats what i keep eyeing on ducklings if they get up and go over then i ll do my best to follow them across the four streets, but it is not too busy though. Lots of kids, lots of people with doggies walking, runners are around.
 
make sure they see mother duck first or you going have load of ducks following your every move..you go to loo and be line of ducks watching you.
you are lucky i love them in my garden but cats eat them
 
I want to leave the mama duck alone as much as they can. I just left the two bowl of water in case she is thirsty or whatever. I know mallard duck does get afraid of human people. I dont want the mama duck to feel threatened too often.
 
From what I've seen on youtubes, it seems that mamma ducks usually pick the most inconvenient routes for their ducklings trek to the water. :giggle:
 
Reba said:
From what I've seen on youtubes, it seems that mamma ducks usually pick the most inconvenient routes for their ducklings trek to the water. :giggle:
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Good thinking! i should take a look at youtube later when i get a chance.
 
i dont think mamma ducks given with much brain..there family ducks near me and they living in someones front garden with dreadful main road between them and a lovely pond..daffy ducks
 
Reba said:
From what I've seen on youtubes, it seems that mamma ducks usually pick the most inconvenient routes for their ducklings trek to the water. :giggle:
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the mother duck I helped picked out a very difficult route for her ducklings,
a few of the ducklings kept falling over trying to climb the sidewalk curbing which was unusually high .
I think a wildlife expert should be called to made sure the whole family made it to water safely .
 
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