duck has hatched a chicken egg

[ejsmom]

Hi everyone,

Hopefully this is the right place to post this. Our Call Duck, Emily, has sat on several nests....to no avail as we have no drake. This time, apparently one of our chickens contributed an egg to the nest.....and today Emily appeared with one small fuzzy chicken baby!! She is just thrilled with the baby but we are scared to death because we don't know if she can raise it. The chick is sticking very close to her and follows her all around the yard.

We do have a small duck pond and we already lost a chick (with a chicken mom) who fell in. We have since put up a small fence but Emily Duck can most likely push it over. In fact, by design we made it out of woven pvc so she could sort of walk through it and get into her pond. Now, of course, it's a true hazard. Emily took her baby right to the pond and they circled around and around. The chick has no interest....but I've been reading online and I'm afraid Emily will take matters into her own hand (or beak....) and deposit the chick in the pond. Obviously she has no idea that that would be harmful.

So.....my daughters and I caught the duck and the chick and put them into a rabbit hutch that is currently unoccupied. Emily was hysterical over the separation but sees to have calmed down now they they are together again.

I guess my question is....if I keep them away from water, can Emily raise this chick successfully? I truly hate to take the chick from her. She quacked her head off for weeks when her fellow ducks met an untimely end a couple of years ago and has sort of settled in to being a quasi-chicken. She seems totally thrilled with this chick. On the other hand, I hate to just hand the chick's life over to happenstance and one of my daughters wants to raise it if Emily can't. I have two hens with chicks and I'm sure they won't take on the newcomer so it's Emily or a box and a heat lamp.....

What do you all think??? Thanks for your help....

Tonya

 

[Wifezilla]

If you are keeping them away from the pond I don't see why she can't foster the chick.

 

[ejsmom]

We covered the pond this morning and let them out of the hutch. Keeping our fingers crossed!

 

[DuckLady]

How cute!!
We need PICS!

 

[momof247371]

PICS PLEASE!! i need a cuteness fix lol

 

[Sunny Side Up]

How are Mama duck/Baby chick doing? Does the duck help the chick find things to eat? Are you able to keep enough water available for her to rinse out her bill boogers without the chick falling in? Has the Mama duck signed up her chick for summer swim lessons?

I have the opposite, a banty hen who hatched 4 Khaki ducklings. As the parent of a teenager I can feel her frustration, she buk-buk-buks to call them to her and they just stay where they are, look at each other & say "Is she talking to us?" I imagine they are also pestering the life out of her to take them to the beach.

They are finding enough to eat in the food dish, and also peck at things in the dirt, but aren't nearly as attentive to the Mama hen as baby chicks are. And they keep their bills clean in the water fount. I give them little pans of water in which to bathe & splash.

I wonder how long the Mama hen will want to stay with them, she usually leaves her chicks after 6 weeks. It'll be funny to see her, a small bantam hen, with big gangly ducklings following her around and trying to cuddle under her little wings.