Should I give my broody chicken fertile duck eggs?

[Kiki]

Oh no, something came up, now I’m wondering if I have to abandon this hatch. A friend with a family emergency wants to know if I can take 10 chickens!!! I don’t think I can permanently, but could set something temporary until we find a better solution. Things are about to get interesting.

Oh no.

These 10...are you sure it's safe to bring home strangers?

 

[PirateGirl]

Oh no.

These 10...are you sure it's safe to bring home strangers?

I don’t have enough information! Hopefully I can talk to them this evening. In any event I can help them re-home their chickens. It will be one less thing for them to worry about. They have enough on their plate.

 

[Kiki]

I don’t have enough information! Hopefully I can talk to them this evening. In any event I can help them re-home their chickens. It will be one less thing for them to worry about. They have enough on their plate.

I hope things work out for everyone.

 

[lena_]

I have tons of experience in having chickens raise ducklings. Usually the chickens make better parents for the ducklings then the ducks do! My hens and ducks all live in the same area, so when the ducklings grow they usually give up on the chickens and self-integrate into the duck flock. The chickens can get very stressed when the ducklings begin to swim in the stream, but usually they calm after a while, my very devoted broody Marielle even stood in the water to wait for her two (Harley and Mable). So yeah, if your hen will cope with sitting for a longer incubation period I say go for it! Any breed in specific you are intending to hatch?

 

[PirateGirl]

I have tons of experience in having chickens raise ducklings. Usually the chickens make better parents for the ducklings then the ducks do! My hens and ducks all live in the same area, so when the ducklings grow they usually give up on the chickens and self-integrate into the duck flock. The chickens can get very stressed when the ducklings begin to swim in the stream, but usually they calm after a while, my very devoted broody Marielle even stood in the water to wait for her two (Harley and Mable). So yeah, if your hen will cope with sitting for a longer incubation period I say go for it! Any breed in specific you are intending to hatch?

This is good to hear! Do you think the mama hen will teach the ducklings to navigate the ramp in and out of the coop? This is the fear that keeps popping up in my mind. My ducks and chickens have separate houses and runs.

They will be mostly Swedish, though it’s hard to tell the difference in eggs from my KCs, so there may be an egg or two that would be my blue Swedish drake over a kc hen.

 

[lena_]

This is good to hear! Do you think the mama hen will teach the ducklings to navigate the ramp in and out of the coop? This is the fear that keeps popping up in my mind. My ducks and chickens have separate houses and runs.

They will be mostly Swedish, though it’s hard to tell the difference in eggs from my KCs, so there may be an egg or two that would be my blue Swedish drake over a kc hen.

Due to the lack of predators in the country I live in, mine don't have a ramp to their coop, so I have no experience with this. Do your ducks have a ramp to their coop? If they can do it, chances are ducklings can. When my hens hatch babies (even ducklings) the hens will often sleep in the nesting box (which does have a ramp) so I guess the mothers will teach them.

Ducklings are quite fall resistant, (one of my duckies was caught by a hawk once and dropped, he was X-rayed at the vet and fortunately the only issue he had was punctures from the hawks claws, no broken bones at all) so I doubt falling from the ramp would be an issue if it did happen. Usually the mothers teach them everything they need to know.

One thing I noticed was when the mothers got out of the 'protective stage' the ducklings would be pecked sometimes by the other hens, it was never anything lethal, but the other hens seem to know that the ducklings are invaders of sorts. So just look out for aggressive behavior.

 

[PirateGirl]

Due to the lack of predators in the country I live in, mine don't have a ramp to their coop, so I have no experience with this. Do your ducks have a ramp to their coop? If they can do it, chances are ducklings can. When my hens hatch babies (even ducklings) the hens will often sleep in the nesting box (which does have a ramp) so I guess the mothers will teach them.

Ducklings are quite fall resistant, (one of my duckies was caught by a hawk once and dropped, he was X-rayed at the vet and fortunately the only issue he had was punctures from the hawks claws, no broken bones at all) so I doubt falling from the ramp would be an issue if it did happen. Usually the mothers teach them everything they need to know.

One thing I noticed was when the mothers got out of the 'protective stage' the ducklings would be pecked sometimes by the other hens, it was never anything lethal, but the other hens seem to know that the ducklings are invaders of sorts. So just look out for aggressive behavior.

My duck house is down on the ground, so no ramp to speak of, just a small (maybe 4 inch) step in and out of the house. The chicken coop, where the broody is, is raised up off the ground on stilts, so it has quite a ramp. I guess I'll just need to watch them.

 

[MROO]

Oh no, something came up, now I’m wondering if I have to abandon this hatch. A friend with a family emergency wants to know if I can take 10 chickens!!! I don’t think I can permanently, but could set something temporary until we find a better solution. Things are about to get interesting.

I'd give it a shot, anyway. Broodies are low maintenance. You just need to make sure they have a clean pen, food and water ... same as always! And chickens would likely be housed separately, anyway. Be careful with quarantine ... and good luck!