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leanne irvine said:
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.
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It's very easy for rats to dig under the coop especially in an area with only fencing so I believe an incubator would be a good idea until you could better adapt your coop to the rats. Yes it is okay to take some away. But once hatched and seems appropriate, return them to the hen.
 
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I don't see anything wrong with taking a few eggs as long as you have a good working incubator and know the stage of development to continue on. I would not suggest mixing chicken and duck eggs together as they have different humidity needs and incubation length... it can be done but probably a little tricky for your first time. Do you also plan to raise those chicks separately and then integrate them in the flock? What if you built a new very secure broody box that will keep mom/eggs/babies safe at night? You could open the door during the day and lock them in every evening. Another possibility would be to put all the eggs in an incubator, give the broody some fake eggs to keep her sitting, then after the chicks hatch just slip them under her during the night. But if you wait too long (more than a week) she may not accept them.

There's tons of articles in the learning center to help you through whatever you decide. Here's a few to start with:
Beginner's Guide to Incubation
Guide to Assisted Hatching
Integrating at 4 weeks old
Predator Proofing

Best wishes with a successful hatch! :jumpy
 

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