Calichickgirl2
In the Brooder
- Jul 7, 2020
- 3
- 19
- 13
WARNING: might be a sensitive topic for some ! 
Two of our mama ducks decided to hatch babies . I did a lot of reading as soon as I learned we were about to have ducklings “ born naturally “ . A lot of articles said many of the ducklings did not survive . I took all the precautions that I could while still letting nature take its course . This was hard for me as I wanted all of them to survive and considered using an incubator, but felt it best to let the Mamas do their thing. Our first Mama layed 4 and then a few days later the second Mama layed four .
2 days ago , we saw our first egg with a crack in it . A few hours later we found the baby duck out in the yard , not quite hatched and dead . Broke my heart , because of course I wondered if I could have saved it . The next day , we had a successful hatch !! This morning we had another live ducking as well as a dead one in their pen . The dead one looked smaller . My question is are the moms killing them because they know they aren’t viable? Are they already dead and mom throws them out ? Are these the babies from the second clutch and mama is freaked out thinking they should Hatch but they aren’t quite ready?? Ughhh !!! We have 3 more eggs still to hatch . And I really want them all to make it ! Second question : we have a duck pool in their run . Should I cover it ? Could the babies jump up to it and drown ? Thank you for reading my lengthy post ! I am looking for any thoughts . There just isn’t a ton of info on raising ducks naturally !!
Two of our mama ducks decided to hatch babies . I did a lot of reading as soon as I learned we were about to have ducklings “ born naturally “ . A lot of articles said many of the ducklings did not survive . I took all the precautions that I could while still letting nature take its course . This was hard for me as I wanted all of them to survive and considered using an incubator, but felt it best to let the Mamas do their thing. Our first Mama layed 4 and then a few days later the second Mama layed four .
2 days ago , we saw our first egg with a crack in it . A few hours later we found the baby duck out in the yard , not quite hatched and dead . Broke my heart , because of course I wondered if I could have saved it . The next day , we had a successful hatch !! This morning we had another live ducking as well as a dead one in their pen . The dead one looked smaller . My question is are the moms killing them because they know they aren’t viable? Are they already dead and mom throws them out ? Are these the babies from the second clutch and mama is freaked out thinking they should Hatch but they aren’t quite ready?? Ughhh !!! We have 3 more eggs still to hatch . And I really want them all to make it ! Second question : we have a duck pool in their run . Should I cover it ? Could the babies jump up to it and drown ? Thank you for reading my lengthy post ! I am looking for any thoughts . There just isn’t a ton of info on raising ducks naturally !!
