Duck sitting on eggs, day 20

[scratchnpeck06]

Hi duck friends! I have had ducks and chickens for about 3 years. This is the first time I’ve had one go broody. My one year old Buff has been sitting on a clutch of eggs for about 20 days I think. I have been candling them and several are viable. My ducks and chickens live together and I have found two chicken hens consistently on the duck nest as well. The mother duck is still in the coop too just not on the nest at that time. Is this normal? Should I discourage the chickens from sitting on the eggs as they get closer to hatching? I don’t want the chicken hens to kill the ducks if they hatch them. I also worry about the other chicken hens in the coop attacking the nest as the ducks begin to hatch. Any thoughts on that? And finally, what do I do once all the eggs hatch? Do I need to move mama and the babies to a separate pen to get them away from everyone else? I look forward to any advice/encouragement/BTDT stories!! Thank you!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I definitely would try to block the chickens. Is the duck actively setting when the chickens let it be? You will need to separate the mom and ducklings for a few weeks for the best chance of survival.

 

[scratchnpeck06]

She was but the last couple days the chicken has been on there more than the duck. The duck is next to the chicken in another nesting box. When I approach the duck she is definitely still feisty and nips at me, so I believe she is still committed to the nest. Moving the whole nest at this point (prior to hatching) would be unwise I assume?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Can you get the duck on the nest and fence her off? That's what I would do at this point.

 

[scratchnpeck06]

It’s in a nesting box in the coop. Could I move it? It would require physically moving the nest and the eggs. I could also put a dog kennel in front of the box that she could get food and water from (pic attached). But would I need to let her out to stretch and bathe, etc?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

You can either let it out once daily, or provide a small rubber pan to bathe in.

I'm not sure at this point you can move the nest. Poultry don't understand the concept, especially this far into incubating.

You could leave stuff be for another couple of days, than block the duck in during the final days of incubation. It should remain on the nest when the eggs start to internally pip, and until they hatch.

 

[scratchnpeck06]

Thank you so much for your help. I was able to get her fenced in a small area with water and food. She’s still in the box but no one else can get in so I feel good about that. The hard part was picking her up and moving her from the box she’s been in to the box with HER eggs . I still have all my fingers. Looking forward to the next few days. I was able to count them before I moved her and she’s on 11