A twist on the ugly duckling story.

I have a little araucana that went broody in a hutch in the duck pen.





She had been laying in there for a long time, along with the Rouens and Mallards, but I would clean out the eggs every few days. One day I started seeing duck eggs all over the yard and went to check the hutch to see why. There she was just sitting there having gone broody. I knew I had just cleaned out the eggs a couple of days before so if any were there when she started sitting they were probably duck eggs - so I slipped her a few freshly laid hen eggs and she has been sitting for almost a month.

This morning I peeked in and saw this:



It's a little duckling. I also think I saw a baby chick head but mama broody wouldn't have any part of letting me look under her. It's going to be so cute watching her raise her clutch of ducklings and chicks. That baby Rouen will be bigger than it's mama in less than two weeks.

 

Isn't it too cute? It will be interesting to see what happens the first time she steps foot outside the hutch and let's her babies loose. There are 20 grown ducks and two baby ducklings running around that pen. I wonder if her baby ducklings will run to their own or stick to their mama or wonder "Who da daddy?"

 

I peeked in a little while ago and I saw the one baby duckling laying next to its "mama". As soon as it saw me it darted under her wing. I'm not sure she has anything else or anyone else under there. So it may be a lone baby duckling she'll be raising.

I guess I could do like I did the other broody hen this morning and slip her a couple of Black Copper Marans eggs that are due to hatch Wed. I have another broody that has been sitting for over a month, in a kennel in the coop, but her eggs keep going bad and I give her more and they go bad, yet she has never left the nest. I have to put food and water right in front of her. I feel so bad for them when nothing hatches and they've worked so hard. This little Araucana has also never left the nest and the temps have been below freezing many nights. Each morning I would check to see if she was still alive but there was no moving her - not without losing a few fingers. I guess it was nice and warm enough in there.