Can a broody duck hatch a chicken egg?

[tom e]

Bumping this thread for a relevant question. I've had a runner duck sitting on eggs for a couple of weeks and recently bought some marans eggs that I would like to hatch. I'm considering taking the ducks eggs to finish up in the incubator and switching in the chicken eggs to her nest. The advantage as I see it would be that I would have less incubator time to deal with.

Anything that I should be aware of as far as potential problems go? Incubating temps same enough for this? Might she not feel like hatching them anymore if I've messed with her nest?

The marans are keepers anyway, and the ducks eggs were a surprise that I'm not so concerned about. I'll likely sell some hatchlings and keep about 6 (she's sitting on 14) just because they are so great in the garden. Haven't seen a single snail in there since I got them, and the keep the grassy weeds down for me.

Thanks!

 

[gandybugs]

I have a broody Muscovey duck... she is one of 2 ducks we have, no males. So I gave her 10 chicken eggs! She is loving the nesting and seems to be doing well.

We have a pond, but it is going to be dried up by the time the eggs hatch, and I was thinking of taking the chicks to the brooder once they do hatch.

Has anyone had any luck with a duck hatching chicken eggs? There are no duck eggs in the nest (at least that I know of, but they are not fertile if there are) so I don't have to worry about her abandoning them...

 

[forninja]

I have the same issue! My mallard duck was sitting on six eggs and when she got up at dusk to eat or drink, those sneaky chickens would lay an egg in her nest. Our ducks are free-range so she found some reeds and dug a nest so we didn't notice the increase. I heard cheeps and thought the baby ducks were hatching, only to find 3 baby chicks and around 14 eggs in the nest. Since I know the duck eggs were there first, we only have a few days or so before ducklings start hatching. There are still eggs in the nest that are chicken eggs (they are white and mallard eggs are green) but I don't know how old they are. Should I remove the baby chicks? Will that upset her? I really want her to hatch the ducklings. I put a feeder and water container near the nest so that the chicks would not have to leave the area. Right now she is sitting on the chicks but I have a habitat ready if we need to take them. Please let me know how yours works out.

 

[snowdrop68]

I didn't know Pekin's went broody. That's really cool. from what I heard, because they are bred for meat, they normally don't have that trait. Still nonetheless awesome!

I had 3 Pekin females and they went broody all the time. I had 6 beautiful hatches from them.

 

[Skyranchmom]

I didn't know Pekin's went broody. That's really cool. from what I heard, because they are bred for meat, they normally don't have that trait. Still nonetheless awesome!

I have a Pekin that repeatedly goes broody, she started sitting on the nest yesterday, I think the nest has chicken eggs in it, have to figure that out