Early April Fools Hatch.... Advice please

[grumpyhen]

So my chicken and duck hens have been sitting on their nests like good little mommas... We've been hearing peeping from the eggs for a couple of days now

and DH had the feeling that he needed to check them this morning. Well he found Mrs. Jackie Daniels (our mallard hen) sitting on her nest and heard some super loud peeping. All he could see was a tiny black fluff ball. Yay!

I figure to leave the momma alone, but curiosity got to me and I haaaad to peek. Imagine my surprise when I find a sweet little black chicken snuggled up under Jackie. -facepalm- Our duck hatched a chicken... so now we have moved the pullets we have out to the pen in the chicken shack and have this poor baby in our rabbit cage under the incubator.

Advice please. Did we do the right thing? I know it will be a little while till the ducklings hatch and I wasn't sure if it was a good idea to leave the chick with the momma duck. Especially since my chickens we're snooping around at the sound of a baby. They had been pecking at momma duck's head. Daddy Pekin duck was trying to mount Jackie on the nest... ugh.... Do you think we're going about this right?

 

[sourland]

Removing the chick was a good idea. The movement and peeping of the chick may have caused the duck to leave the nest with 'her' baby. If she were mine, I would isolate the setting duck from the chickens and especially the drake. By trying to breed her on the nest, he may break the eggs. Horny drakes are single purposed testosterone driven lunatics. Good luck with the remainder of the hatch.

 

[grumpyhen]

Hahaha yep that's pretty much lukus in a nutshell. Thanks so much for the reassurance.