My second batch of Muscovy babies started to hatch some time Thursday night, Friday morning...when I left for work the weather was crappy, rainy and not warm at all. I told the hubby to keep an eye out on the babies during the day. He went out to the duck pen at around noon and found 2 baby ducklings in the mud, wet and not breathing. Hubby, being a wife-fearing man, immediately brought the babies into the house, and put them under a heat lamp and called me. I praised him to the heavens, and ran home. The babies were alive, and getting better and more active by the minute. The weather was crappy and rainy all weekend long, so rather than stress them further, I kept them in the brooder in the house. Monday night after work the weather was beautiful, so I brought the babies out to the duck pen to be returned to momma and the siblings. The two babies stood at the fence and peeped like crazy at me. When I reached in to move them closer to momma duck she bit me, which I considered a good sign, that she was protecting them. I watched them for about ten minutes and they started to integrate themselves to the rest of the hatch, so I turned to leave, and one of the little suckers broke out of the baby pen and chased me out of the pen, peeping and carrying on that I was leaving him. I returned him to the baby pen, took 2 steps back, and watched him break out again. Am I creating a monster here? Are these babies better off with momma and their siblings, or being kept in the brooder? My thoughts are that the longer I wait, the more difficult it will be to integrate them to the flock...yes, I am planning on keeping these two little cuties, and they are VERY friendly....but I am quite certain that they think of me as momma now... what do I do? Here is a pic of the little cuties!
