Do I leave them with the hen ???

[tony garza]

Hi,

Yesterday, one of my giant cochins hatched five ancona ducklings. Today, she had them out in the pen and they seemed to be following her. I put down a shallow dish of laying crumbles and a shallow dish of water. So far, I've seen them peck at the laying crumbles but I don't know if they've drank any water.

My question: Do I leave them with the hen or do I pull them and put them in a brooder ????

Thanks for your advice.

Tony

 

[Camelot Farms]

I would put them in the brooder. Mama may fuss for a bit but she'll be alright.

Congrats on the ducklings!!!

 

[tony garza]

Decided to leave the ducklings with the hen for a few days to see what happens. They are in a 4X10 pen and she seems to be a very good mom. The ducklings are eating and drinking just fine and they seem to be pecking at things on the ground like mom. Will monitor and see what happens. The giant cochin is a real keeper.

Tony

 

[L0rraine]

My first duckling did great with Momma Hen until about the fourth week. And then the hen started to get a little suspicious there was something a little too different about her lone 'chick' and started pecking at it. The other thing was that she freaked every time the duckling got near water, so it took her a little while to decide swimming was a pretty fun thing to do.

I do find that some of my broodies (ducks and hens) are desperate to play 'mom' for awhile and others are perfectly happy to get back to the flock without 'children' in tow.