Questions about my broody hen and what to do when the babies arrive...

[keeperofthehearth]

She will leave when she feels the hatch is over. If you provide food and water for her and the ducklings within a few feet of her nest she may stay longer until the rest hatch but it's no guarantee. Those duckings that first hatch have to eat/drink within 3 days & momma knows that.
Watch her & play it by ear..... so to speak...

Try the above or ...
You could take the first that hatch and brood them yourself to see if she will stay on the nest for the rest then add the first hatchings back & see if she will accept them. If she doesn't accept them back you'll have to brood them for awhile until you're ready to integrate them as a flock.
You could candle the later eggs to see how far along they have developed and make a decision fm there.

 

[Paintedhorsegirl]

Thank you...not sure which route I will take..I will watch her closely and figure it out as i go I guess..Im gonna try to keep food and water close to her..maybe if she leaves the others, I can move them into my homemade incubator...Gosh, I guess I should put it back together..My daughter and i hatched out chicks this past fall in it but havent used it sense. I dont know but thank you for the advise, I appreciate it

 

[aduckstolemyheart]

Thanks for the awesome information Keeper! My silly ducks managed to tear our the internet line from the house yesterday, so we had no internet until earlier, when I figured out what they'd done!

I don't really have room within their coop, because of how she's positioned her nest, to fence it off. We have a sort of L shaped pen and she's laid right in the mid section! I can however build her a separate pen within our quarantine yard (used for new ducks) so they'll have their own area. Just have to decide whether to let her hatch, and then move them, or try to do it before. I just don't want to disrupt her sitting.

If they hatched at night, while in the pen with the other three ducks, what are the chances of dead ducklings before I had a chance to separate them in the morning? All of my ducks are very laid back, and never pick on each other. The only rowdy duck we have is my Pekin drake, and he only attacks humans, and only during breeding season.

He adored the last batch of ducklings I brought in last year.

Anyway, thanks again for the response, we've been lost over here in this thread!