New Duck Owner

[jmngrose]

Hi guys,

I've had chickens for almost a year now, I've got them figured out.

Ducks, not sure how old they are. We have one female and two males. They do a lot of "fertilizing", lol. She lays eggs regularly. Not sure what to do with the eggs. I know we could eat them, I did a few they are great. But we are more interested in getting some ducklings. She has 12 eggs in her nest. She doesn't sit on them the way the chickens do. Is there anything I need to do to see that they hatch? Is she supposed to sit on them? Should I watch for specific signs that she wants them to hatch?

Again, not sure of the duck process.

Thanks a bunch in advance!

 

[KuroKitsune]

if you have an incubator you could incubate them and hatch them that way if she doesn't want to sit on them and brood

 

[jmngrose]

So if she's not sitting on them, and in don't want to incubate them, we should just go a head and eat them?

 

[Amiga]

Some ducks don't go broody. Or they may go broody one year and not the next. Others are good consistent broodies.

 

[jmngrose]

So I have a broody hen right now. I'm going to put the eggs under her!!! Genius right?!?!?

 

[thomasboyle]

That's how I hatch my mallard ducklings. I have a white leghorn chicken that goes broody, and she hatches and raises the ducks.

 

[jmngrose]

Oh I can't wait to see how this turns out.

 

[thomasboyle]

My ducks stayed with their chicken mom for many months. Even when I put the ducks in a separate pen from the chickens, the ducks would all be sleeping by the shared fence, and the mother chicken would be next to them on the other side of the fence. Finally the seasons changed, and the mallards flew south, and the hen went back to being a chicken! The next spring, 3 or 4 of the mallard returned. They landed on the pond in our backyard, and walked up the lawn to the coop to hang out.

Let us know how it goes.

 

[nayeli]

Awesome, let us know how it goes!

 

[jmngrose]

That story tickled my heart strings. Thanks for sharing. I will post updates, so great full for your thoughts.