1 -3 Day's to Hatching - Help Please !

[Anonymous]

Hi There,

I have 3 Drakes and 6 Ducks all are white aylesbury's. They are great and roam my garden freely during the day and have a safe home made for them for the evening. I have recenty acquired a South African Black Chicken and have been loaned a South African Black Cockerel for mating. All is going well and the hen has been sitting for 19 days so I only have a few days left to go. She is however, sitting on both her own eggs an some ducks eggs, which means for the success of the new duc chicks she will need to remain seated for another week or so. My question is this, in the past I have found it necessary to section of the drakes a few days before the birth as they tend to try to either play with the chicks and this result in some deaths. Having never bred chickens before should I do the same seperation process as he is extremly protective of his hen ? Normally the ducks and chickend are absolutley fine together.

 

[VALBURNHAM]

I would be very surprised if she would sit for a further week after the chicks have hatched. My experience with hens is they sit for a couple of days after first hatch and then they leave the eggs to look after the chicks. Maybe someone else thinks otherwise. Have you got an incubator in case this looks like happening

 

[Chuck]

Don't expect her to sit for another week as she will want to move off the eggs to look after any chicks that hatch. So you will need to think about what to do with the duck eggs. As Valburnum says, an incubator or another broody hen from somewhere.
In regard to separating them it's always safest as the chicks are very vulnerable in the early days and you don't know what reaction the cock will have to them.