My chicken's broody, so I just gave in... (**Both Ducklings Are Out**)

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vfem

vfem

Yoga...The Chicken Pose
11 Years
Aug 4, 2008
7,324
30
264
Fuquay Varina, NC
My silkie went broody last week and its been obnoxious to say the least. She's my oldest one, and I knew it would happen eventually. She waits until the other chickens lay, gather up the eggs and SIT. This is after she's been sitting in an empty box day in and day out. I know she gets out to eat here and there, but runs right back to an empty box. I mentioned something to a lady who sells duck eggs and she gave me 4 pekin ducks eggs she knew were fertile. I know its late in the season, and they probably won't hatch. Yet for free eggs and appeasing a broody hen...what do I have to lose.

So now she sits.... and gathered up those 4 eggs so fast it was like she was 10x happier something was finally there I wasn't going to take away.

Now what are the chances they would even hatch? Will she actual sit the 30 days or whatever that they need to hatch?

I'm marking it in my calender as we go... I think its good practice anyways. Its just an experiment I suppose.

I have NEVER done anything with hatching, but I know I want to breed them in the spring. I don't think I'll ever do an incubator though.

Suggestions...comments.... newbie listening
 
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Chances are good that she will hatch the eggs. And she might even end up with some company to help her brood them now that she has eggs to sit on.
Silkies are the incubators of the chicken world.
Right now I have three sitting in a wooden box on two eggs. It started with one silkie going broody on no eggs. Another climbed into the box to lay and just stayed there. And now I see a third silkie hen in the same box. They steal the eggs from each other back and forth inside of the box.
Once a silkie decides it's time to brood, you might as well go along with it. They are determined little fluff balls.
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I have not used an incubator, but I have utilized two broodies. Wow, they take care of everything. You don't have to worry about temperature. You don't have to worry about integrating the new chicks because she will take care of them.

I raised the first hens I got from Ideal in a box in my spare bedroom and boy a broody sure beats that!!
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I am a bit worried about that? How's a chicken to raise a duck?
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Should I take them in a raise them inside.... or at least give them a couple weeks with mama hen and then try to bring them in for more of the winter cold, give them a chance to swim via my supervision?

This is all with the assumption that they hatch.

I never even got to do day old chicks.... my youngest chickens, I got when they were 2 weeks old. They seemed to know what to do already.
 
If they are fertile, they will hatch at any time of year..I have turkeys hatching as we speak.. the chickens are doing the deed.. as long as we keep taking the eggs from the turkey, she keeps on laying.. she has laid over 100 eggs this summer .. we let her hatch a batch of her own, too..

I use chickens for everything..
here is a list.. ducks, guineas,chickens,turkeys,geese
and yes, even button quail...

I had a turkey who hatched out a few guinea eggs.. she was the best mother you could ever want for a guinea.. she even managed to get them to stay with her,that's more than I can say for a guinea hen..

..jiminwisc........
 
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We had a hen that hatched ducklings when I was younger. The ducklings just kind of know how to swim when they hatch. The mama hen will most likely FREAK OUT when the ducks go into the water!! I know ours did!!
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So far so good, she hasn't moved other then to eat. I gave get a cup with some scratch in it this morning, and she showed no interest until her little friends came to take some. She's at the top of the pecking order, so as soon as she decided it was her's they backed off.
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I'll try to get pictures later.
 

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