Broody hen and duck eggs - will this work?

[BCMominMD]

I have a white rock hen who just went broody. A friend has some runner duck eggs she would like me to have her sit. She wants me to take 10-15 eggs for her to sit but I can't get them for another week.
1) Will this work? and what will it be like after they hatch?
2) Since ducks incubate 4 wks (vs 3 for chickens) and I can't start until next week, will 5 weeks be too long to let her sit? She eats when I bring her food - seems fine and healthy.
3) Is 10-15 eggs too many? Seems like a lot to me.
I don't really want more chickens but thought it would be fun to have the ducks and then give them back to my friend.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated

 

[BlackBart]

My Parents used to use broody hens on the farm to incubate the duck eggs if the duck had too many eggs. The Hen was a very good mother and she had no idea the ducklings were not chicks. Average 10 eggs under a full sized hen. We always leave food and water for a Broody hen.

If you plan to remove the ducklings I think the hen would nearly have a fit. Maybe remove all but a couple.

The Hen would panic when the ducklings swam in the pond. The ducks grew up thinking they were chickens.

 

[BCMominMD]

I have a little backyard flock of 11, space to separate them and free roaming of some woods with no pond.
I have never hatched chicks

Would I let her raise them until they were ? how old?

 

[stumble_n_mumble]

hello! i just went recently through this

. my silkie hen went broody and was on test eggs for over 3 weeks. i ordered new eggs and swapped them out. she stayed broody for nearly 2 months. she got up everyday ate drank pooped and went back to the nest. i had her set on 2 runner eggs then one week later i put the chicken eggs under so they hatched at the same time. Once they hatched (i only got one runner and one silkie because they were poorly shipped) i let mom out with the babies and she had some interest the first two days but all she cared about doing was sitting on eggs! lol she went egg crazy! so i just took the babies away at night and gave her a few non fertile eggs then once she forgot she already had babies i just took the eggs away one night and she stopped sitting and i changed the bedding where she was sitting so it didn't resemble her nest and she went un broody lol. very easy. the hens will get over it fairly quick. if she is freaking out BAD. let her see them but if she starts to peck take them away and give her treats or something else to occupy her with

good luck!!

!

 

[rooster0209]

DH had hen that hatched duck eggs when he was a kid. He remembers the hen going nuts and squawking when the ducks would swim in the pond. The hen raised them till they grew up and flew away with the other ducks. (they found a ruined nest -probably from haying- and took the eggs and gave them to the broody)

 

[Sunny Side Up]

I have had bantam hens incubate duck eggs here & it worked fine. The hens didn't seem adversely affected by setting for the extra time and they are devoted moms to their duck children. It's sort of like raising teenagers, although there's a lot of devotion towards each other the communication can be strained and each side has difficulty understanding the other's point of view.

Mama hens are usually ready to leave their children anywhere from 4-9 weeks, some even more or less. The chicks or ducklings are well able to get along on their own, but of course you need to keep them in a protective pen until they're adults.

It's funny to watch the mama hen trying to entice her ducklings to join her in a nice dust bath, or to come for tasty treats when she scratches in the ground & clucks to them. They just stare at her as if to say "Lady, are you talking to US?" And they love to spend most of their days playing in a shallow pan of water I keep in their pen, and their mama clucks & clucks "Kids! Stay OUT of that water!"

You can have your hen set on fake eggs, golf balls, or a few chicken eggs to encourage her broodiness until you get the runner duck eggs. Then just swap out what she's setting on and put the duck eggs in. I've had broody hens set for over 6 weeks at a time, when sometimes a clutch fails to hatch and I re-set them with new fertile eggs. Just monitor her condition, make sure she's eating/drinking a little something each day & poops a few times a week at least, dust around & under her nest to prevent mites.

I wish you & your hen & her ducklings the greatest success! Let us know how it concludes!

 

[BCMominMD]

Thanks for the info.

I'm hoping that the hen will raise the ducks not me!

 

[BCMominMD]

Thank you. A little pan of water will be a good idea and good to know how long until they are old enough to leave. My friend has a lovely area with a pond. This should be fun

 

[sourland]

Five weeks might be a little long for a white rock to remain broody. If she was a silky, you can bet she would set that long. 15 duck eggs seems a lot for a standard hen to cover, but if she can cover them without stacking of eggs, it should work. Give her all the eggs, watch her for a while, then remove eggs until she can cover those that remain. I have raised duckling with hens, and the hens go berserk the first time the ducklings enter the water. It's a hysterical sight.