Hatching duck and chicken eggs with broody hen

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone,

A bit of advise needed please! My brahma hen has gone broody, so yesturday I bought a mixed batch of 8 hatching chicken eggs, but fell soft and got an Aylebury duck egg as well as I've always longed for a pet duck! I moved the hen out of the main coop and into one of her own yesturday and at present she is trying to hatch 4 golf balls (these I intend to swap for the real thing this evening).
I have read on the internet this morning though that duck eggs take longer to hatch than chicken eggs, can anyone see this presenting a problem, will she give up on it once the chickens have hatched?
Also if all goes ok will I have to feed the duckling on different food and have different drinkers etc to the chicks?
Any other advise welcome!

Thanks,

Elaine.

 

[steeple ducks]

The duck egg will take another 7 days to hatch. You could start it 7 days earlier and hold off giving her the chicken eggs. She could sit for a few days more once the chicks have hatched if you keep her confined to a small broody house but would be drawn into getting up and showing her chicks how to scratch and feed and drink.

The duck could be a drake and reared by and with chickens would think he was a chicken and want to mate with them, and an Aylesbury will be a big lad.

 

[snifter]

Chiming in here (you cross posted this and I replied elsewhere) , I don't think its fair to expect a chook to sit an extra 7 days on one egg before then sitting on chicken eggs. They lose condition so much when sitting that expecting or hoping they sit for an extra week is somewhat mean IMHO. Ducks are meant to sit that extra week and so are designed for it and cope. Hens sitting almost a month isn't really something I'd advise.

 

[Davidd]

Sorry to butt in but i use l/f hens ( marans and light & coronation sussex )to hatch goose eggs- and they take 30 days! As long as the hen is healthy, heavy enough and in good condition-and you dust her and the nest with louse/mite powder then i don't see a problem- the hen will cope - i have never lost a hen while brooding goose eggs- just might experience
regards, David

 

[Anonymous]

Hi,

Thanks everyone for replying,
I only put the 8 chicken eggs under broody as wouldn't want to cause any problems - this was Monday evening. She accepted all the brown ones but rejected two which were white! A friend has put these under her broody silkie yesturday evening (Tuesday). Does anyone see a problem if I sneak these two in with the rest once they have all hatched, or will my hen notice she has two extra chicks?

Thanks again,

Elaine.

 

[Tim]

Since we're all jumping in here... here I come! :lol:

I don't think it's kind keeping one duck on it's own without a companion of its own kind

If they do hatch as planned, the duckling cannot eat chick crumbs that contain ACS - so you must feed them all non-medicated crumb such as Waterfowl Crumbs from Smallholder Range or Poultry Crumbs from Dobson and Horrel.

Check the back of the bag because pet shops etc don't usually have a clue. You may need to order them a few weeks in advance too = they are not that popular.

Yes, most waterfowl / wildfowl breeders will use broody hens to hatch. My own view is with Davidd - if the broody is healthy, she can usually cope. Sometimes broody hens that don't hatch anything will sit for ages and it can takes weeks to snap them out of it.