Umm...Can I broody hens hatch & 'start' to raise 3 Pekin ducks??`

[CamsCluckinChicks]

So...

I just finished my 1-year anniversary of chicken farmetting...and I'm addicted. LOL! My husband brought me 3 fertilized Pekin duck eggs (from a hatchery he works for). I have 2 broody hens - mothering together - a Partride Silkie and a Bantam Partridge Cochin. They have hatched 5 eggs so far - 2 purebred Polish, 1 Sumatra/Polish and 2 Silkie/Polish chicks. Today I put the 3 duck eggs under the Cochin, Freddi, and she was thrilled!! I know the ducklings will be healthy...their biggest threat is anything my chickens may be carriers of. My plan is to let Freddi & Baloo (the surrogate mama's) hatch the ducklings & raise them until they're a little bigger, then put them in with my larger Layer chickens. I have no idea if they'll even hatch.

Anyone have idea's on this? I've found lots of people who keep their chickens & Pekin's together... Just wondering if there's anymore advice out there?

Thanks!

 

[PineappleMama]

Well, if the hatching times are similar I don't see why a hen couldn't be the incubator...

But as to raising... Mama doesn't have to have water to swallow food... so that might be weird. And the poo issues... ducks are wet messy and chickens like to dust bath...

I don't have experience here, just chewing on it and those thoughts popped up.

Hopefully someone who's been here can help.

 

[Littletonchicks]

I have fourteen chickens and 2 Pekin Ducks. The chickens are six weeks and the Ducks are 5 weeks. They live together just fine. I introduced the Ducks into the chicken coop last week and so far no problems. I have read that they can cohabitate fine together. Good luck with your ducks!

 

[LadyBeartoothMamma]

i had a RIR Hen when i was younger. A whole bunch of hens acutally lol. I was outside in the side yard just playing i think i was 10 I saw something white well i went to go look I saw a ducks eggs. well no mamma but there were feathers everywhere I think a dog or something got her. The egg was still warm so I grabbed it up and went inside the hen house and my RIR was Broody and was laying on some eggs of hers, well the sensible thing i did was put the egg under her, she didnt seem to mind lol that i was putting the egg there.

After a few weeks all the eggs hatched and so did the duckling it was a white duck i dont remember the breed but she raised it as her own, I named him orange julias. He thought he was a chicken lol but he would quack and she would look at him like what.. But I had no problems she took care of him. Then as he got older my folks built a addition to the coop and put a swimming pool in it for Orange julias and got him a companion a goose, he could see my RIR and sometimes would quack for her.. He was a great duck would always let me hold him and he would talk to me.

one day i came home from school and my mom told me that a dog had gotten him

I cried for days. but i try to remember the good times we had..

 

[CamsCluckinChicks]

Well, so far, so good!! Both hens are bound & determined to keep the duck eggs under them with the rest of their eggs. LOL! Hopefully I'll have 3 Pekin ducks and a swimming pool addition in the Layer's coop shortly! LOL!

Thanks everyone!!

 

[crazy chook]

That is so sweet, we had a chicken raise some ducks when I was a kid too, It is the funniest thing to watch. She was a great mum.

Make sure you post some photos of them all together.