Hello,
We have had Muscovy's for about 2 years. Presently we have 3 sitting on clutches of eggs. "Mama" is sitting on 7, "Angel" (with an angel wing) is sitting on 3 presently, "Choco-Lot" is sitting on 17! Choco-Lot decided to lay her eggs in a metal nesting box in the barn where a few of my chickens usually lay their eggs. Choco-Lot is crammed in there having to keep her head down as the nesting box is not large enough for her to sit up straight. I noticed my Polish "Blueberry" was sitting on the end of the box behind "Choco-Lot", at first I thought she was just depositing her contribution to the clutch but after a couple of days there she sat diligently. I picked up "Blueberry" to find that she was sharing hatching duties with 4 eggs underneath her (all of them are "Choco-Lots". What a team these two characters make.
I have had multiple chickens share hatching duties just never a duck and a chicken. I think it's sweet. I will be giving some higher protein food to "Blueberry" as there will be nothing left to her after 36 days of sitting on duck eggs.
My Polish hens have been my best broody hens although the numbers they are able to hatch are not very high. I have another Polish who just hatched out 1 tiny EE mix chick but that's ok, she can dedicate all of her time to the chick. I have another Polish sitting on 6 eggs and another hen an Erminot (not sure on correct spelling) sitting on 9. I also had a winter broody who hatched out 5 healthy chicks who she left quite early in their development to fend for themselves and they are doing great.
Sadly we lost our Muscovy Drake to a neighbors dog attack but found a replacement rather quickly so I don't think fertility will be an issue as the hens warmed up to "Buckshot" quickly. We were reimbursed for our Muscovy by the neighbors and have accepted the fact that these things can happen. Until it just happened again on Saturday, Our beloved "Hannibal" a Molted D'Uccle was brutally killed by this same dog.
Again the neighbor paid for the chicken and stated that they were obviously not ready to take on the responsibility of raising a dog (they only had the Husky for 2 weeks). Hopefully they find him a home where he can run (not in an apartment) and be a dog. We do not blame the dog for the attacks, we blame irresponsible owners. Enough about that though, what's done is done.
Next my BFF has a huge Dominique Rooster who is a bit rough on her hens. I found a pattern for chicken sweaters and had a lady we know make one, which she did in like 10 minutes lol.
It fits perfectly and is not only functional but stylish too lol.
Thanks for reading my long winded post! Have a great day!
We have had Muscovy's for about 2 years. Presently we have 3 sitting on clutches of eggs. "Mama" is sitting on 7, "Angel" (with an angel wing) is sitting on 3 presently, "Choco-Lot" is sitting on 17! Choco-Lot decided to lay her eggs in a metal nesting box in the barn where a few of my chickens usually lay their eggs. Choco-Lot is crammed in there having to keep her head down as the nesting box is not large enough for her to sit up straight. I noticed my Polish "Blueberry" was sitting on the end of the box behind "Choco-Lot", at first I thought she was just depositing her contribution to the clutch but after a couple of days there she sat diligently. I picked up "Blueberry" to find that she was sharing hatching duties with 4 eggs underneath her (all of them are "Choco-Lots". What a team these two characters make.
I have had multiple chickens share hatching duties just never a duck and a chicken. I think it's sweet. I will be giving some higher protein food to "Blueberry" as there will be nothing left to her after 36 days of sitting on duck eggs.
My Polish hens have been my best broody hens although the numbers they are able to hatch are not very high. I have another Polish who just hatched out 1 tiny EE mix chick but that's ok, she can dedicate all of her time to the chick. I have another Polish sitting on 6 eggs and another hen an Erminot (not sure on correct spelling) sitting on 9. I also had a winter broody who hatched out 5 healthy chicks who she left quite early in their development to fend for themselves and they are doing great.
Sadly we lost our Muscovy Drake to a neighbors dog attack but found a replacement rather quickly so I don't think fertility will be an issue as the hens warmed up to "Buckshot" quickly. We were reimbursed for our Muscovy by the neighbors and have accepted the fact that these things can happen. Until it just happened again on Saturday, Our beloved "Hannibal" a Molted D'Uccle was brutally killed by this same dog.
Again the neighbor paid for the chicken and stated that they were obviously not ready to take on the responsibility of raising a dog (they only had the Husky for 2 weeks). Hopefully they find him a home where he can run (not in an apartment) and be a dog. We do not blame the dog for the attacks, we blame irresponsible owners. Enough about that though, what's done is done.
Next my BFF has a huge Dominique Rooster who is a bit rough on her hens. I found a pattern for chicken sweaters and had a lady we know make one, which she did in like 10 minutes lol.
It fits perfectly and is not only functional but stylish too lol.
Thanks for reading my long winded post! Have a great day!
