I switched eggs on my broody and she got up

[BCMominMD]

My white rock hen has been sitting for 1.5 weeks. I finally got the 10 duck eggs that I want her to hatch out today. I had left one egg under her a week ago and I fished out 12 today!!! before I tucked in the duck eggs. I have seen another hen in the box (read large cat pan) with her so I think others layed eggs and she kept tucking them beneath her. Any way an hour later I looked out and she was wandering around the yard with the others. I was so disappointed. I watched for about 10 min then went out and picked her up, carried her back in and put her in her box. She looked at the eggs like oh yeah...that's what I was doing, sat back down and has been there for the last 8 hours and it is dark now.
So did I mess her up by changing eggs? Should I put something in the nest to make it smaller so others won't get in with her? I know it's a long time to sit 4 more weeks for the ducks to hatch but I am hoping Is there anythingelse I can do to encourage her to stay there? I drop in a hand full of grain each evening for her.

 

[Kittymomma]

I usually do that sort of thing at night. My guess is that when you disturbed her she "thought" oh yeah, it's time to go potty, get a drink and a bite to eat, stretch my legs and maybe take a quick dust bath. If she's been sitting tight for a couple of weeks I'd bet that she'll be fine and do a good job on the duck eggs for you.

 

[BCMominMD]

Stupid me. I just waltzed in pulled out 12 eggs and inserted 10. She looked concerned but she wasn't mean or anything. I'll know better next time. Thanks for the encouragement. They are runner ducks for a friend who trains some of her border collies herding them (not mistreated or anything). I'll give them to her once they get old enough but thought it would be fun to raise up some babies

 

[jen5680]

That sounds like a lot of eggs for a chicken to sit on. Duck eggs are usually large and unless you have a REALLY big chicken
that might be to many????? You might no this already but just in case you didn't thought I would let you no.
I no that she will move them around but when I put to many under my hen I didn't get a good hatch rate so......
good luck.

 

[Kittymomma]

Oh, don't be hard on yourself, it's not as critical with eggs as it is with chicks. It's just that when you move them around they tend to think it's time for their break and then they may or may not make it back to where you want them to sit.

I goofed but good the other day too. I have a BA sitting on 11 Ruen duck eggs and in my hurry to try to get things organized (the eggs were in the bator, but I just went back to work so hand turning became a prob.) I didn't get her area blocked off properly. When I got home and checked on the chooks she was on a different nest and the eggs were cold. I put her back on the duck eggs and fixed it so she couldn't get into the other nests and hoped for the best. When I went out tonight I could see a duckling, so I'm not sure what I'll get out of this hatch but it won't be a complete wash.

It amazes me how they can be so fragile and yet so resilient at the same time.