Incubating a single duck egg in my Chicken Coop.......What am I getting myself into?! :-)

[CoachDunn]

Hello & HELP! .....I recently introduced myself as a new chicken owner in another forum...but I already have a twist that I've been researching here and can't decide how to proceed.

My 6 chickens are doing well free ranging and living in the coop etc etc. They are about 3 months old. 5 Hens, 1 Roster. Then about 2 1/2 weeks ago I come home and notice something small whitish, round and half buried in the black mulch surrounding my early spring, sprouting day lillys right next to my driveway.
Seemed like a duck egg?? Plus I had seen a Mallard pair in our yard over the prior 2 weeks...but never found a nest. and we've been having a very wet spring here in the Hudson Valley NY. Perhaps momma duck just needed to drop and egg and had to do it in an emergency...who knows.

Some background regarding my property. I have an acre along a small, calm lake. Mallards, wood ducks, Swans, Cormorants, Canadian Geese....all live in and around. After letting the egg stay there overnight and detecting no changes the next day, no new additional eggs, and no duck activity my wife and I decided to put it in with our chickens and begin a slim chance sort of path to success incubation period with a ceramic heater inside our coop. The Chickens didn't seem to mind the extra warmth at night and at times we believe they have slept on it. We turn the egg as much as we can and spray it...keeping in mind we have no clue what the heck we're doing...basing our actions on some google searches etc. Oh and having no idea what we're going to do if this egg actually hatches!?!?!?! I did place a wireless temperature pod in the coop to see how close I could get the average ambient temp to the 95 to 100F that it seems to need. Like I said we've been treating this as a long shot...but after candling it...things still look good.

Now what do I if this potential baby duck hatches, how do we proceed? Should we move it inside to a brooder box like we did with the chicks? Should I leave it in with the chickens?? Should I just bring the duckling to a farm that has ducks and....we of course would love this to work out....a cohabitation with the chickens would be very cool. And do we need a separate coop? Any help please Thank you all in advance!

 

[Quackers3211]

My chickens and ducks do fine together. Ducks do prefer to nest on the ground though so you might have to build it it’s own little shack. All it really needs is a pool, a duckling friend as they cannot be kept alone when so little unless you are willing to keep it inside with you. Ducks need water to eat so it needs to have a water dish it cannot swim in until it gets a little bit bigger because it’s ducky fuzz isn’t water proof. You can let it swim in the bath tub and then gently towel dry it. I kept mine in a little bin with a heat lamp because they are very messy and I could just hose down the bin when needed. Good luck and hopefully it hatches!

 

[CoachDunn]

My chickens and ducks do fine together. Ducks do prefer to nest on the ground though so you might have to build it it’s own little shack. All it really needs is a pool, a duckling friend as they cannot be kept alone when so little unless you are willing to keep it inside with you. Ducks need water to eat so it needs to have a water dish it cannot swim in until it gets a little bit bigger because it’s ducky fuzz isn’t water proof. You can let it swim in the bath tub and then gently towel dry it. I kept mine in a little bin with a heat lamp because they are very messy and I could just hose down the bin when needed. Good luck and hopefully it hatches!

I'm wondering if I could for a short time keep it inside, like we did with a heat lamp etc for the chicks....but feed it outside in the chicken run as the chickens are off doing their thing in the day? But the duckling friend...hmm now I need to find a second duck...haha This just gets more and more fun!
...and challenging...but fun.

 

[justcallmejoe]

Should I just bring the duckling to a farm that has ducks and....

Unless you intend to get other ducks I would suggest this would be the best option.

The main reason is that when the duckling hatches it will imprint on either you (if you take it inside) or the chickens. Although it is really cute having one duckling follow you around, they are very time consuming, they think you are mommy and will cry non stop if you leave them.

If they imprint on the chickens, that could cause a problem later on, especially if it is a male, it will think it is a chicken and want to mate with your chickens.

 

[chickens really]

There is a lot more to incubating eggs than that. Your Pullets are too young to set the egg properly. I suggest you toss that egg out.

 

[Quackers3211]

It’s worth shot. Even if it doesn’t hatch there is no reason you can’t try. If you don’t try then you have already failed.