How do chickens hatch duck eggs?

[KatGold]

Hi folks,

Thanks in advance for your shared knowledge. Today I ordered 12+ bantam duck eggs to hatch. I bought and payed for them today in a fit of excitement when my daughter noticed that our Maran got broody (I'd been thinking about it for a long time).

The broody Maran isn't a rare occasion, but somehow we took it as a sign and bought a bunch of fertile eggs. Yes, impulsive...I won't argue.

Anyhow, our eggs should arrive on Monday and I'm not sure what to do. If the hen stays broody, do I just let her go and put the eggs under her? Will that work? Do I need to mist the duck eggs with water?

I do have a Little Giant bator, NIB. I haven't even read the instructions yet. So I do have that option. But I'm not exactly keen on turning the eggs every 6 hours and if a chicken wants to do all the work, why should I stand in her way?

Please help! Any and all advice is deeply appreciated!!

 

[Wifezilla]

No need to mist or anything. If you want the broody to hatch them she will do fine. The only part where it gets complicated is after they hatch. The ducklings will jump in the first thing of water they can find and foster mom will flip out

 

[KlaHaYa Gardens]

I would enjoy seeing pics of your hen with her ducklings.

I've had ducks hatch chicks. (The ducks stole a nest.) I took the chicks away and gave them to a broody hen. I'm sure I missed some fun moments.

Good luck!

 

[Cowgirl71]

I had a Buff Orpington hen hatch ducklings last year. I gave her four eggs, she broke one early on, but the other three hatched just fine! I didn't do nothing special at all. No misting or anything extra for humidity, nothing. She did it all! So this year I though I'd try something different... Currently I have a Buff Orpington x Barred Rock hen setting on 8 Bourbon Red turkey eggs.

They're due to hatch May 3rd... We'll see!

Here's a pic of "Ducky" with her first two ducklings (Blue Swedish x Khaki Campbell):

 

[KlaHaYa Gardens]

@KatGold the one caution I would advise would be regarding your ducklings and water. If they are not raised by a duck hen, they are at risk of drowning (not that the chicken would take them swimming) but they won't be greased by the duck hen mother, thus if they are in water unsupervised (other than a shallow puddle) they could drown. So, if you want to introduce them to water before they are fully feathered, just supervise them or keep it shallow and make certain they are able to get out of the water.

Again, have fun!

 

[emjay]

I have a buff orp x hen sitting on some duck eggs right now, hopefully hatching on april 24th. I plan on taking them away from her right away and put in a brooder box in my house.

on a side note, on the fact of the oil in the feathers, at what age do ducklings acquire this stuff to be waterproof completely?

 

[KlaHaYa Gardens]

In my experience, when the ducks are fully feathered, they can handle the water.


However, I have had some Phoenix drakes that I received as juveniles, and clearly didn't have much experience in the water, where they just sat and sat and were soaked. They made no effort to dry or preen themselves either. I pay attention to the ducks and how they care for themselves. Mothers are great to teach them, but I've had just as much success incubating and giving them short "baths". I observe them "preening".

Here is a wiki link that tells you about the oil gland, the "Uropygial" gland. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uropygial_gland.