Broody duck & cluck

[JetDoc750]

We have a chicken hen who went broody about 8 weeks ago and would not be deterred. As we have no roosters all of the chicken eggs were duds. So after reading that chickens can hatch ducklings, we gave her 3 duck eggs to sit on with a damp paper towel for moisture needs. She successfully hatched two of the 3! Unfortunately, one of the ducklings vanished without a trace. we think a hawk may have gotten it. Then the 2nd died as well. The chicken went back to the flock for several weeks, until yesterday, when she discovered that one of the duck hens had just gone broody. Now the silly chicken is joining her on an adjacent nest. I guess we will try this again.

 

[sourland]

Good luck.

 

[JetDoc750]

I should have posted. the experiment was successful. She hatched 2 ducklings. We had them integrating with the flock with no major problems. Then one day, one of the ducklings disappeared. We think a local hawk saw an easy meal.