My mama duck abandoned a baby duck

[chickenlady2004]

hey guys so this is urgent if anyone can reply as fast as they can lol
i have a mama duck sitting on eggs and i just went out and found a baby on her back chirping stuck in a hole. i covered the hole and got her out and she seems super calm with me. when i went to check on mama she was still sitting on eggs? none of them have hatched yet which i find weird. and she didn’t seem to care for the baby i found (i don’t want her to kill her or something) what should i do? raise it inside? or give it back to her? help pls !!

 

[HollowOfWisps]

The mom will continue to sit for another couple of days until she feels all of the good eggs have hatched. If she didn’t try to bite at it when you put it back she is not rejecting it, but still maintaining the heat trying to protect the rest of her nest. A mother will allow hatched young to walk around once they are hatched while she is still sitting. She keeps the hatched young warm under her if they choose to do so, but if they wonder off while she is still maintaining her duty to finish brooding the rest she will stay with the nest. Once she officially stops sitting on the eggs she will reign in and watch over her hatchlings like you would expect a mother to.

 

[chickenlady2004]

The mom will continue to sit for another couple of days until she feels all of the good eggs have hatched. If she didn’t try to bite at it when you put it back she is not rejecting it, but still maintaining the heat trying to protect the rest of her nest. A mother will allow hatched young to walk around once they are hatched while she is still sitting. She keeps the hatched young warm under her if they choose to do so, but if they wonder off while she is still maintaining her duty to finish brooding the rest she will stay with the nest. Once she officially stops sitting on the eggs she will reign in and watch over her hatchlings like you would expect a mother to.

The mom will continue to sit for another couple of days until she feels all of the good eggs have hatched. If she didn’t try to bite at it when you put it back she is not rejecting it, but still maintaining the heat trying to protect the rest of her nest. A mother will allow hatched young to walk around once they are hatched while she is still sitting. She keeps the hatched young warm under her if they choose to do so, but if they wonder off while she is still maintaining her duty to finish brooding the rest she will stay with the nest. Once she officially stops sitting on the eggs she will reign in and watch over her hatchlings like you would expect a mother to.

ok thank you! so i should try and put her back with them? i have a few males and i was actually thinking about putting her in a separate area before the rest hatched so that they didn’t harm her. i was told to wait till they were closer to hatching so she wouldn’t abandon the eggs. is it safe to move the eggs and her to a different area without fear of her abounding the eggs?

 

[FrostRanger]

I'd put the duckling back and remove the drakes. Once she's done sitting you can move the hen and her ducklings if you wish