Forcing a Brood -suggestions?

[Hudsonsgirl]

Hi there. My 8 month old Mallard laid two eggs yesterday. Also yesterday our khaki Campbell passed away unexpectedly with two eggs in her own nest. Probably not more than 5 days old...and Im not sure if she was sitting on them, although she was putting straw over them. Anyways, I put her eggs in the Mallards nest.

I put the Mallard in the coop and closed the door, and she sat on the eggs for 4 hours. ( I was hoping by doing this she would go broody and decide to hatch the eggs.) I opened the door to the pen to refill her food bowl and to give her a chance to come out to swim stretch, etc. Instead she ate food and water and went back to the nest. Since I have other ducks that would just eat all of the Mallard's food I closed the door again as it didn't seem like she was interested in coming out.

My question is, should I open her coop door when I get up in the morning giving her a chance to get out for an hour? And if she doesn't leave I can try again in the afternoon? I'm just worried if I leave her coop door open and let her leave at will, she might not want to come back to it in a timely manner for the eggs' sake. And...if I leave the door open the other ducks will eat her food or mess with her nest.
Also, I'd like to candle them in a week to see if an embryo is developing, is that okay or will she be upset about it and ditch the nest?
Does this sound like a doable plan? Any suggestions?

 

[nuthatched]

Unfortunately, you can't force a bird to go broody without hormone manipulation.

 

[Hudsonsgirl]

Unfortunately, you can't force a bird to go broody without hormone manipulation.

So the fact she is sitting on the nest, does that mean she is interested in sitting?

 

[SilverBirds]

So the fact she is sitting on the nest, does that mean she is interested in sitting?

No, she's only sitting on them because she has nothing else to do. If she's really broody, she'll have a brood patch, will rarely leave the nest, and will growl and maybe try and bite when you get too close to the nest. As nuthacted already said, you cannot force a hen to go broody unless you mess with her hormones.

Did you candle the eggs to see if they had even started to develop?

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Any suggestions?

Incubators do work on command.. and often with excellent results.

Trying to force a brood.. sounds like a huge waste of time and a hassle to boot.

Sorry for your loss!

 

[Hudsonsgirl]

No, she's only sitting on them because she has nothing else to do. If she's really broody, she'll have a brood patch, will rarely leave the nest, and will growl and maybe try and bite when you get too close to the nest. As nuthacted already said, you cannot force a hen to go broody unless you mess with her hormones.

Did you candle the eggs to see if they had even started to develop?

I didn't see anything but a yoke in them, however I don't think the eggs are even a week old. I suppose I should just open the coop tomorrow and let her come out and see if she returns to the nest. Will the Peking duck trample the eggs and break them if she goes into the nest?

 

[nuthatched]

I didn't see anything but a yoke in them, however I don't think the eggs are even a week old. I suppose I should just open the coop tomorrow and let her come out and see if she returns to the nest. Will the Peking duck trample the eggs and break them if she goes into the nest?

Not on purpose. Remove the eggs to be sure.