how to hatch chickn and duck eggs under a chickn hen at the same time?

[thechickenguy]

i would like to hatch some chicken eggs and some duck eggs under my broody cochin hen at the same time. what would be the best way to do that.

dont they have to be misted or something. i dont know. if so though how often??

and should i put the duck eggs under and then wait a few days then put the chicken eggs under there so they hatch at the same time??

please help. thechickenguy.

 

[FenDruadin]

You won't have to mist or anything else once your eggs are set under the hen. You shouldn't have any trouble hatching the two species together EXCEPT for hatch times. Duck eggs take 28 days (except muscovies, which take 35) and chicken eggs take 21. If the chickens hatch out a week before the ducks, the hen will give up on the ducks and abandon them. So you need to set your duck eggs 7 days before the chicken eggs.

Other than that, you should be all set. I think most people who hatch with a broody separate her from the rest of the flock and give her various types of extra protection, but I hatch in incubators so someone else will have to fill you in on that.

Good luck! Sounds like fun.

I bet those babies will be totally cute running around together!

 

[Lollipop]

Yup, start her on the duck eggs and 7 days later sneak out there at night and put the chicken eggs under her. Don`t get greedy and put too many. If she can`t cover them all easily, they will get rotated out in the cold as she turns them and you will get a poor hatch.
By all means, seperate her from the rest of the flock. You don`t need hens adding eggs to the clutch after the brooding begins. Once she has begun, don`t mess with her. She will eat and eliminate as needed. Make sure her private nest is at ground level and she has room to stretch. Good luck.......Pop

 

[thechickenguy]

thank you. i always have been asuming they duck eggs need to be misted cause when a mother duck gets off the nest, she swims,then gets on the eggs wet so they get wet or humid or something. i dont know.

but if i dont have to worry about misting then im good to go i guess. im gettin the eggs this weekend.

thanks again. thechickenguy.