Ducks and their babies. questions!

[swiffy]

Hi everyone,
I too have a question. 2 of my ducks are sitting on eggs, sharing the nest to make sure it is covered at all times. Last year, 2 of them did the same thing, so that only one leaves every once in a while to eat and drink. Very seldom did they leave. I had 2 of the ducklings getting killed by their father but more because of oversight. They ended up underneath his feed and he just did not see them I guess. I let them into a kid's pool with their mom after a few days but I didn't realize that building a ramp for them to get in did not help them to get out. I ended up the first day to fish one baby out with one hand and keep a mother at bay with the other. Pretty comical but not be repeated!
We have them all in the same pen, however, when they are hatched we will make sure that the 2 mothers and babies are separated from the others until the little ones are bigger.
Right now we have 5 all together and we did not plan to have more. So my question is - can I sell them? When can I sell them? How big /old do they have to be? I would love to keep them all but that would get pretty crowded pretty soon and that's not what I want for my animals.
By the way, these are runners, no idea what specific breed.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I have never had 2 moms try and care for ducklings together. My Muscovy's don't like another female duck around when they have ducklings so not sure how that would work you could try it but if they fight you may have some ducklings get hurt or killed. If at all possible I'd keep the mom and ducklings together and let her care for them. They can do a lot better than us just watch to make sure because first time moms don't always know. Yes keep the mom and ducklings separated from the other 2 or at least the drake but where they can all see each other. I am not saying both females can't do a good job raising the ducklings together. That is something you'll have to find out when hatch begins.

Please keep us updated.

 

[chickens really]

I would do like Miss Lydia suggested...Keep the more Broody Hen to set the eggs....I allowed my Buff Duck Hen to hatch out Ducklings and she was a terrible mother ....Now my Calls are Broody so I took most of the eggs and incubated them but left her 6 and now my other Call is setting on some Buff eggs....First the two Calls were both setting in the same nest..Once I removed 14 the other Hen started on the Buff eggs.....Silly Birds....I dont think The Buff eggs are fertile though?....I will candle them on the weekend....