Black Swedish Broodiness

[Koko Acres]

Please do a hatch along with her and her eggs, I'm so happy she started sitting

Please do a hatch along with her and her eggs, I'm so happy she started sitting!

What’s a hatch along? I’m new here to this forum.

Also, should I leave her by herself.. remove the non broody hen and Drake..or keep them all together?

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

Well guys, she is sitting and has been consistently sitting for a few days now! She is in a pen with another black Swedish hen that has not been sitting and a black Swedish Drake. I suspect that the other hen is laying and mama broody is collecting those eggs and sitting on them too. Should I separate the non broody hen and drake from mama broody so no more eggs get laid near her or will it be too stressful for her to be alone. The larger duck pen with my others is only about 10 feet away from the small pen and the ducks are clearly visible. I know there is only a limited amount of eggs she can hatch. Thanks!

I learned a hard lesson with my first broody
She had 8 eggs but her sisters kept laying in her nest each morning
I would just remove the new eggs but twice while laying they broke one of the live eggs
One at week 1 and the second one day 19
Both babies died
After that I put up fencing with a door around her and would close it at night
The girls would lay in other areas and then I could keep her door open for the day so she could go eat , drink swim and poo
Once babies started to hatch o kept door closed and added feed and water in her area
This kept the babies safe from the flock
After a week I let her bring them out while I supervised. The flock did great with the little ones
All 6 babies hatched and at 3 weeks the 6 babies went to their new home
Next year I will automatically stop others from laying in her nest to prevent eggs from being broken

 

[Koko Acres]

I learned a hard lesson with my first broody
She had 8 eggs but her sisters kept laying in her nest each morning
I would just remove the new eggs but twice while laying they broke one of the live eggs
One at week 1 and the second one day 19
Both babies died
After that I put up fencing with a door around her and would close it at night
The girls would lay in other areas and then I could keep her door open for the day so she could go eat , drink swim and poo
Once babies started to hatch o kept door closed and added feed and water in her area
This kept the babies safe from the flock
After a week I let her bring them out while I supervised. The flock did great with the little ones
All 6 babies hatched and at 3 weeks the 6 babies went to their new home
Next year I will automatically stop others from laying in her nest to prevent eggs from being broken

Thank you so much for that insight. I’m going to move the Drake and other hen today. I just went and checked on broody mama and she was super irritated that I was peeking in. Lol.

I want these babies to have the best chance possible of making it.

 

[Sir Sacabambaspis]

What’s a hatch along? I’m new here to this forum.

Also, should I leave her by herself.. remove the non broody hen and Drake..or keep them all together?

I'd leave her by herself if possible.

If you make a new thread you can pick what it's about and hatch alongs are part of that.

 

[Koko Acres]

I'd leave her by herself if possible.

If you make a new thread you can pick what it's about and hatch alongs are part of that.

Thank you!

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

Thank you so much for that insight. I’m going to move the Drake and other hen today. I just went and checked on broody mama and she was super irritated that I was peeking in. Lol.

I want these babies to have the best chance possible of making it.

My broody wanted me to keep my distance as well
I respected her boundaries
When she would go out in the morning I would check the eggs and clean her area quick
That way she didn’t see me
After the babies were born I would open the gate to clean the feed and water mess but didn’t disturb mom and little ones
By the end right before they left she was fine with them being closer to me but I still didn’t pick them up
I also wanted my broody to do this adventure on her own and she did amazing. She had then catching bugs and flies by week 1
My incubating babies never did that
Having mom teach them everything was really neat to watch
This was my set up
I did remove the crate after day 2 as the babies would get stuck not finding a way into mom so I built a short table she could go under but the sides were open so babies didn’t loose her