Sitting duck questions

[mkcragg]

Hello all!

My Khaki Campbell hen has been sitting on a nest for a few weeks. She's less than a year old, and even though we've heard they're not great at sitting a nest/being a parent, we figured we'd see what would happen. Watching her and her interactions with our other ducks has been fascinating and hilarious. We've candled a couple of times, and we think we're within a week of hatching a few (assuming they make it). I have a few questions about this whole process.

First, I found three eggs in the other corner of the shed. We only have two other hens, so is she still laying too? (The other girls were laying outside in random places for the first couple weeks she was broody and have only just now recommenced laying inside). I guess I assumed she'd stop laying while sitting, though I don't know where I got that idea.

Next: if we do get ducklings out of this adventure, what do we do with them? We've had a couple of warm-ups this December so far, but the weather is looking pretty wintry from now on. Do we need to take the babies from Mom and put them in the brooder to stay warm and grow and all that? Should we take her and the babies to the brooder? Should we just let her handle them? I'm a little afraid to have them in the shed with all the other ducks as we don't have a separate place for them while they're small except for the brooder inside.

I think we didn't really prepare for this because we never expected her to sit this long. Any help y'all can give would be awesome! Thanks!

 

[Miss Lydia]

If you can find a rubber or plastic tote that will hold mama and ducklings I'd suggest that, It would be such a shame to let her sit and then take them and not let her have the chance to raise them. Leaving them inside with the other ducks would not be a good idea they will need to be 3-4 weeks old before they can stay clear of an adult who might want to pick on them. I'd keep them in a warmish room but not in the warmest that way when they get older and you have some days in the 40-50's you can take them out and let mama show them off to the rest of the flock just always supervise so no one gets hurt. Drakes can be especially mean and even kill ducklings.

How many eggs is she sitting on?

I doubt she is still laying if she is 2 weeks into brooding, Probably one of the others hid her egg real good. I have had mine do that I will even take a pitch fork turn the bedding over and still miss an egg only to find it later that day or the next. They are excellent at hiding them

Welcome to BYC

 

[mkcragg]

There were around 20 eggs when we first realized she was sitting, and I haven't been able to count for a week or so. She doesn't get off the nest much when I'm home, and I haven't wanted to bother her or them.

We do have a *big* box where we raised her and the others in our garage. It would fit her and babies for a while. When they get bigger, we could maybe partition the big kid habitat with hay bales or mesh or something until they're mature enough to hang with everyone else with no barriers. At what age should they be fully incorporated with the rest?

Thank you for your help!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Usually they need to be close to adult size, but if you can introduce them on nice days you can probably do it earlier you'll just have to see how it goes.

Sounds like you have the perfect brooder for her and ducklings. If it is fixed where she can't get out and leave you might want to think about moving her as soon as hatch starts.[when moving bring along as much of the original nesting material as possible.] I have done it many times but you always run the risk of them not wanting to sit after moving. But the first to hatch will really be vulnerable to the rest of the flock because she isn't going to protect them while still sitting. I'd also try and candle those eggs and toss any that aren't developing or smell. 20 eggs can cause quite a mess in the nest with ducklings hatching possibly getting crushed under eggs that aren't any good.

 

[mkcragg]

I will see if she's off today when I get home and re-candle. Now I'll need to look up the chart again! If there are any that don't look like the 21-28 day pictures, those should go?

 

[WVduckchick]

Candle the extra eggs you found too! If she sensed that one wasn't developing, she may have been discarding it. I found a discarded one, still in the shell but dead, at day 26 of incubation, in the pool!! I still have no idea how she rolled it up and over the edge, but she did it.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Is this the one? https://i.pinimg.com/originals/73/bc/76/73bc765f4f44fe52e0fbbcd42255c2d5.jpg

 

[mkcragg]

Yes, that's the one I've been looking at. I've googled others, but they all look pretty similar to that one.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Please let us know what you see when you candle.

 

[mkcragg]

Ok, last night I coaxed mama off her nest to eat and run around the yard a bit. She had pushed one out of the nest and it had exploded. Smelly! I candled the rest (24 total), and culled 7. Those were green or had no veins at all. I have one more questionable that I'll check again in a day or two. The rest had lots of veins and most had some movement I could see. I saw a foot! So cute!! They were hard to pin down as far as a date. They all look like they're at least at day 16-18, maybe as far as 20, according to the Mink Hollow pictures I found. It's kinda hard to tell for sure. I couldn't get pics. Too hard to handle light and egg and phone and Husband was busy inside.