chicks and ducks

[leanne irvine]

hi. i have both chickens and ducks sitting on eggs, and have just purchased an incubator (after losing all my new born flock last year to rats)… Can i pull the eggs away from the mothers to put in the incubator (and if so, is it ok to pull away say 5 or 6 out of 15 eggs, so to leave her some to continue sitting on)?
welcome any advice please.

 

[DobieLover]

Hello, Leanne, and welcome to BYC! Glad you joined.
Yes, you can take some of the eggs to incubate but why would you want to? The broodies will have a better hatch rate than an incubator and will raise the babies far better than you can.

 

[leanne irvine]

thanks for the response. i lost all 6 of my last flock as they hatched, to water rats that came up from my creek. i relied on the mum to take care of them, but she wasn't able to. so this way they may have a fighting chance. i thought it would be worth a try...

 

[DobieLover]

thanks for the response. i lost all 6 of my last flock as they hatched, to water rats that came up from my creek. i relied on the mum to take care of them, but she wasn't able to. so this way they may have a fighting chance. i thought it would be worth a try...

Is there any way you can predator proof your run?

 

[N F C]

Sorry to hear you've had a problem with rats getting your chicks in the past. I found this article in the Learning Center...maybe there will be something in it that could be of help in preventing the rats from entering the coop?
how-to-get-rid-of-rats-from-chicken-coop.74876

I've never hatched so will leave it to others with experience to answer your question about taking the eggs.

Best of luck to you!

 

[Chick-N-Fun]

Welcome to our FUNomenal community! Best of luck to you!

 

[Pork Pie]

Hello and welcome to BYC. I hope that you enjoy your time here. Good luck with your hatch.

This is a useful link to take a look at - “How to...” guides. You may wish to consider including your location under your avatar (using the guide in the link above). You can use this link to contact members in your area - U.S. States

Best wishes

Pork Pie

 

[Claires Poultry]

Hello and welcome to BYC!
We're so glad to have you here with us!
Thank you for joining our wonderful community of fellow poultry enthusiasts!

 

[Kiki]

Welcome to BYC.
We are glad you joined this flock!
Jump right in and make yourself at home.

If you have a calibrated (separately purchased) thermometer and humidity gauge and know your bators hot and cool spots then sure you can steal some eggs.



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[drumstick diva]

Welcome to Backyard Chickens, the pulse beat of the chicken community. Hope you will enjoy it as much as we do.