Update on the duckling hatched by chicken

[flash5153]

Although I have posted on this ,,for those that did not see. One of my Chickens went broody,,I couldnt find fertile chicken eggs but did find a fertile duck egg. Tried to hatch 2 but only 1 made it. So now I have a duckling that thinks he's a chicken.lol

It now lives in the house and we get him out to play every night with the 2 kittens. The duckling actually chases them around. I now have the proper food and set-up for the duckling,,,named ,,,Chuck.
I know this is a chicken forum ,,but if not for the chickens I would not have a duck.lol

Here's some more pictures.

 

[coloradochick]

What a sweetie

 

[gryeyes]

Chuck's adorable - and especially with the kittens! Thanks for sharing the pictures with us.

And I love the shot of Chuck under the blanket in the Bud Light shirt-wearer's lap. With the kitties.

 

[Mahonri]

Cute, where's the mamma hen?

 

[allieloveschickens]

Adorable! Chuck and Kittens- its cute over load!

 

[Kittymomma]

Super cute! Are you brooding it or is mamma hen inside too? I gave one of my BA's some Rouen duck eggs last spring. She did good for the first two weeks, but lost her little chicken mind when they discovered the creek...She gave up on them shortly after that, I think spending the afternoon yelling at the kids to get out of the water before they drowned was just too much stress.

 

[drumstick diva]

Yes, tell us what your hen did after hatching a duck? Did she take it all in stride or wonder what the heck happened ?

 

[flash5153]

Our hens were chicks themselves back in April,, thier about 7 months old. One went broody and we tried to hatch 2 different sets of chicken eggs under her,,2 weeks each set and realized they were not fertile. That is when I found the duck eggs and she set on them for 2 weeks,,she was broody and setting for 6 weeks total.
After setting on the duck eggs for 2 weeks I noticed she was leaving the nesting box often,,but I also noticed a different hen was going broody. lol
Yep,,,one day first hen just quit setting ,,,,so I put the eggs under the other freshly broody hen and about 2 weeks later this duckling was hatched. She took ALL the credit though.lol

I was as surprised as she was, I think? There was a look of "what is going on here" from the hen, but she did well. Kept it under her and seemed to be protective.
After advice from this site I moved Hen ,duckling and the other egg into my garage for about 5 days. Then took the duckling and moved it into a box in the basement with a heat lamp. Moved hen and other egg back to nesting box where she almost immediately quit setting and joined the flock. The other egg was no good,,seems it quit developing weeks ago.

Its amazing how fast a duckling grows,,it has more than doubled it size in one week. Going to be interesting with a duck and kittens growing up together. Can only wait and see how that goes.

Picture of the day hatched,,7-8?? days ago.

 

[duck walk]

I love Chuck! He is stinking cute and his big momma hen is a pretty girl as well...I often wonder what goes through the minds of the girls who hatch something other than their own species, and what the rooster had to say about it...I can see some marital discord...and does the hen freak when all of her "chicks" hit the pond? Or do the chicks freak when "momma" hits the pond? It is all very fascinating...but Chuck?

 

[Frannabelle]

My sister had a chick hatch out with baby call ducks. That baby roo didn't know he wasn't a duck until she brought the babies over to swim in my lake and the poor boy waded in but couldn't join his siblings!