duck people i have a question

[lcw1995]

im not sure if its fertile or not as i have not candeled it yet but
i have a call duck egg as well as about 6-8 guinea eggs under my broody guinea in my coop
im pretty sure they r all due 2 hatch around the same time
im thinking i got my ducks around the 5th or so and the duck laid an egg around the 9th
the 5th was a wednesday and the 9th was a sunday and im pretty sure the guinea went broody that weekend
so therefore they should be hatching around the same time maybe just 1-3 days off
i was away that weekend so thats why im not foresure the day the guinea went broody
well heres my question
im just going to let the guinea hen raise the call duckling by herself with the keets
if i see a problem in how its getting raised ill take it and raise it my self
well i know guinea keets will be able to fly alot sooner then the duckling at least i think
so im wondering how long does it take for a duck to get its flight feathers and be able to fly
i know it wont be able to perch as it is not a perching duck but i want it to be able to fly if it needs to to keep up with the rest the gang
if anyone has had a hard time reading this let me know and ill try to answer your question as best as i can
thank you
cole

 

[kswaterfowl]

Guineas can be excellent mothers but it is best to rear Calls seperatly from broodies. I would never let a guinea, chicken, or even Call keep any call duck babies because they are so fragile as it is, let alone the fact they are two seperate species with different habits and abilities. That said, it is fairly unlikely that your Call eggs will even be fertile this time of the year. You live in about the same zones we do here in Indiana and after the drakes molt, fertility is normally greatly reduced in the Fall. You won't really have high fertility again, unless you are altering their light exposure until it starts to be lighter longer and it warms back up. With bigger breeds you may be able to hatch ducklings in the Fall, but typically as a rule, Mallards, Calls, East Indies, Austrailan Spotteds, etc... are more of seasonal breeders. Good luck!
K&S