Should I let my hen raise a duck?

[BubbaBubbles]

Hello. So, I was discussing with someone about possibly allowing my girl Mable raise her babies for the first time. My other roosters are a bit too aggressive for her, so I would rather her end up breeding a second generation with her father, Trifle. However, I also want our broody ducks to have their own babies... But now we've thought about letting Mable hatch the duck eggs, since our ducks don't have very good instincts (I won't lie, they're a bit... dumb.. lol)

I've been doing research on line-breeding, so I'm not worried about the offspring she'd have from him. But IF I do let her hatch ducklings, will Trifle accept them? Trifle has a history of being a WONDERFUL father. He was never aggressive to his chicks and still acts protective of Mable. But there's no information on his reaction to ones that aren't his. I assume I should separate him?

The other option is letting Mable's mother, Truffles, raise the duckling, instead. She's a decent mother but I could tell she wasn't entirely fond of her babies. It was more like she was just tolerating them. Should I let one of them raise a duckling or should I just leave it be and let them keep raising chicks? I have an Orpington and a Welsummer bantam, both go broody decently often. But I debated Truffles due to her having experience.

Pics of Truffles and Trifle's last clutch.

 

[Debbie292d]

I got a little confused with who was who, but yes, a chicken can hatch duck eggs. You could then see if the momma duck would take them as it won't work well having a chicken raising baby ducks. I've heard horror stories of hens drowning trying to go after their baby ducks in a pond.

The way I see it though, your hen hatching these duck eggs, then having you take the ducklings to give them to the momma duck, your hen will be upset by this. I guess if this is what you have to do, she'll get over it. I hope I understood your ideas.

Beautiful chickens you have!

 

[BubbaBubbles]

I got a little confused with who was who, but yes, a chicken can hatch duck eggs. You could then see if the momma duck would take them as it won't work well having a chicken raising baby ducks. I've heard horror stories of hens drowning trying to go after their baby ducks in a pond.

The way I see it though, your hen hatching these duck eggs, then having you take the ducklings to give them to the momma duck, your hen will be upset by this. I guess if this is what you have to do, she'll get over it. I hope I understood your ideas.

Beautiful chickens you have!

Thank you!

Yes, that's essentially it, minus the part about giving it to the mom. I planned for her to raise the duckling until it's old enough to be mixed with the other ducks, as they accept others pretty easily. Truffles was easy when it came to weaning her chicks but that doesn't mean Mable would find it easy too. I know some hens can get clingy!