How mean is this?

[Borncountry419]

There's nothing cuter and more rewarding than a mother raising her babies to adulthood. It's something that no one can disagree with. But, I was thinking of taking clutches this year so that my Muscovy hens will nest again. I'm only 20, starting school in the fall, and have been spending hundreds a month on my birds. I was hoping to offset the cost a bit by selling muscovy babies. Just how mean is it to take the babies from mom? I've never done it before, so I have no idea how long she'll pine for them. I was thinking if I take the first batch, and then part of the second, she'd still get to enjoy motherhood... Comments and opinions would be appreciated.

 

[TigerLilly]

Interesting question. It's done with chicks all the time, so I don't see why it wouldn't be ok to do with the ducks. I do admit, though, that I don't know anything about ducks.

 

[Borncountry419]

Lol. My chickens never seem quite as bright as my ducks. They're all my pets though, so I feel really bad. But with costs of schooling being added to my list of bills, I really would like to get a little bit of my money back from the birds.

 

[hennyannie]

I could not help but think of Jemina puddle duck when I saw this post. I think you would be okay if you took them right away. My brother does this with his game hens all the time.

 

[hippiehen]

My hen lost all her ducklings during hatch to a skunk so I flew to the feedstore (45 miles!) to get her some babies because I knew she'd be devastated....

By the time I got home, she could care less and was out playing in the pond with everyone else. Needless to say, I have ducklings in the brooder.

 

[Borncountry419]

Aww. I loved Jemina puddle duck when I was a kid. I completely forgot about that book. Oh how I'd love to be a kid again. Lol. And hippie hen, I'm surprised she got over them that quickly. Was she a mallard derived duck? I feel those ones aren't as good of parents generally. I had a Pekin who was an awesome setter, but felt her ducklings needed to move on in life once they were about two weeks. Lol. Idk, I suppose maybe if I put them in the incubator a few days before they're due to hatch, it might not be so bad.

 

[duckyfromoz]

Its a pity you dont have more time available- you could sell ducklings to fund the purchase of an incubator... so you didnt have to worry about taking the babies away.

 

[Borncountry419]

Oh I already have a few incubators. Strangely enough, my Call Duck eggs are easier to hatch in the incubator than the Muscovy eggs are. Call duck eggs I can get up to a 90% hatch rate in the incubator, while I get about 50% with the Muscovy eggs. No idea why. Lol. Plus, if I collect the muscovy eggs they just keep moving their nests. And I've tried dummy eggs, but they don't seem to help with that. Lol