Want to slip the chicks under the hen

[carress]

My chicks are due to arrive tomorrow - both ducks and chickens.
It just so happens that one of my hens went broody this week - she's been broody for 4-5 days.

I was thinking about sticking some of the babies under her maybe 5 chicks.
BUT I'm going to be away for the weekend, and was planning on leaving the girls locked in the coop the whole time for safety.
ALSO, it's going to be cold - down to the 30's


1- Can I mix chicks and ducklings?
2- Is it a bad idea to slip them under the hen and then leave them for almost 2 days?
3- Should I put them all in a dog crate inside the chicken coop - to separate them from the other birds? Will it disturb the hen to be moved like that? Maybe make her unbroody...?

 

[chookhead]

hmmm interesting the longer u wait the more likely the hen will accept them and mother hens take acre of ducklings aswell
my mother hatched some duck eggs under a broody hen

 

[Chemguy]

I slipped some feed store chicks under a broody on Easter, and she took to them immediately. I waited until a couple of hours after sundown to do slip them under. BUT I was ready for the possibility of her rejecting them, and had the brooder fired up just in case.