Chicken Mated With Duck?

Hello. We have a girl and boy duck and a girl chicken that lives together. The girl duck layed 2 eggs and was sitting on them, the boy and girl duck alternate. And when the ducks leave, the chicken comes and sits on the eggs! Did the duck or chicken lay the egg? Why do both of them sit on them. Here are some pictures:

Above: The Girl duck we think layed the eggs.

Above: Nest of Eggs


Above and Below: Girl Chicken sitting on eggs

the hen will sit on duck eggs or turkey eggs or duck eggs so they are the duck eggs but the hen just helps i guess

farmer boy said:

the hen will sit on duck eggs or turkey eggs or duck eggs so they are the duck eggs but the hen just helps i guess

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opps didn't mean to say duck eggs twice

I let my duck sit on a chicken egg once (they aren't picky about whose eggs they are sitting on)

Results:

But how is the hen broody? She actually probably layed one of the eggs. Because there is now three! The ducks sit on the eggs too. And the chicken seems to have layed the eggs. The eggs are smaller than a smaller egg. But if the chicken layed the eggs, how come the ducks are sitting on them too? And how is the hen broody? Because we don't have a rooster, just a drake. Thanks for the advice so far!

and by the way, the chicken is a bantam

hens can go broody without a rooster the rooster is just to fertilize the egg so if their the hens eggs they will go rotten

farmer boy said:

hens can go broody without a rooster the rooster is just to fertilize the egg so if their the hens eggs they will go rotten

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x2 chickens go broody because of a biological instinct not because of a rooster or eggs. My cochin has never met a rooster in her life and has never mated and is broody ever other month. They will brood an empty nest.

If your male duck were mating your bantum hen she would be dead or very injured. Their anatomy is incompatible and it kills hens.

ChickensRDinos said:

x2 chickens go broody because of a biological instinct not because of a rooster or eggs. My cochin has never met a rooster in her life and has never mated and is broody ever other month. They will brood an empty nest.

If your male duck were mating your bantum hen she would be dead or very injured. Their anatomy is incompatible and it kills hens.

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I agree if a male duck mated with your hen it would probably kill her!!! I keep two Muscovy ducks with my 5 hens and that is something I really worry about happening.

OreoPlymothRock said:

But how is the hen broody? She actually probably layed one of the eggs. Because there is now three! The ducks sit on the eggs too. And the chicken seems to have layed the eggs. The eggs are smaller than a smaller egg. But if the chicken layed the eggs, how come the ducks are sitting on them too? And how is the hen broody? Because we don't have a rooster, just a drake. Thanks for the advice so far!

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If the chicken is still laying eggs and not hanging out defending that nest, she isn't broody. Many chickens will arrange any eggs already present while sitting in the nest waiting to lay her egg. Incubation requires near-constant sitting so a true broody will sleep on the nest at night and be there most of the day with short breaks to eat/drink/eliminate.