Ok, so this week has been full of excitement once we got back from the lake. I don't know if everyone remembers me asking if you could put duck eggs under a chicken or not. Well, we put two of my ducks eggs under my broody GLW chicken since she didn't have any fertile eggs to sit on at the time and Cocoa was sitting on 17 eggs. We figured Cocoa could handle loosing a few. Monday night when we got back from the lake I ran to the chicken coop to check on the eggs under her since the duck eggs were due to hatch at the end of the month. I lifted up my GLW and sure enough there was a little brown duck. The other eggs was cracked all of the way around so it was only a little longer before that one was out too. We made it home just in time. We went and set out a brooder real quick for the the ducklings inside since now we also have silkie chicken eggs under the same GLW and wanted her to sit on those still. We put the one duckling and the egg in the brooder and the egg hatched in the brooder. Both ducklings were great and moving around. After all of this excitement we ran to check under Cocoa and see if any of her eggs had started to hatch yet. There was one very wet duckling under her. So the ducks under to chicken hatched before the ones under the duck. I thought that was interesting. The count on the eggs and hatches so far is out of 17 eggs~
The 2 eggs under my GLW: 2 hatched
The 15 eggs under Cocoa: 8 hatched, 1 stoped developing probably at a week, 2 were bad just duds I guess, 1 didn't make it out of the shell and died, 2 are now under my GLW again, the last 1 I killed.
Cocoa got off of the nest and left the last three eggs in the nest. I thought that they might be bad but hubby said just throw them under our GLW. So I put the eggs under the GLW last night and this morning one had a crack on it and I thought that our GLW had stepped on it and broke it since the crack didn't look like any of the other eggs when they started to come out. I took out that eggs and tried to candle it, I just don't have this candling thing down yet. I thought there was nothing in it. I then pocked a stick in it because I thought it was going to be like the other dud eggs and just filled yucky yoke stuff. Well, this egg had a duckling in it that still probably needed two more days until it hatched. The poor thing sat there and gasped for air.
I couldn't believe what I had done. What a terrible terrible lesson I learned.
So back to the good news. Here are the ducks that my GLW hatched
GLW Sunshine great broody!
Right after we put the duckling and egg in the broody. The duck on the right just poped out of the egg
1st This one had white on the tip of its wings
2nd
Trying to introduce them to the rest of the group
Now here is everyone together
Cocoa is a great mamma!
The 2 eggs under my GLW: 2 hatched
The 15 eggs under Cocoa: 8 hatched, 1 stoped developing probably at a week, 2 were bad just duds I guess, 1 didn't make it out of the shell and died, 2 are now under my GLW again, the last 1 I killed.
Cocoa got off of the nest and left the last three eggs in the nest. I thought that they might be bad but hubby said just throw them under our GLW. So I put the eggs under the GLW last night and this morning one had a crack on it and I thought that our GLW had stepped on it and broke it since the crack didn't look like any of the other eggs when they started to come out. I took out that eggs and tried to candle it, I just don't have this candling thing down yet. I thought there was nothing in it. I then pocked a stick in it because I thought it was going to be like the other dud eggs and just filled yucky yoke stuff. Well, this egg had a duckling in it that still probably needed two more days until it hatched. The poor thing sat there and gasped for air.
So back to the good news. Here are the ducks that my GLW hatched
GLW Sunshine great broody!
Right after we put the duckling and egg in the broody. The duck on the right just poped out of the egg
1st This one had white on the tip of its wings
2nd
Trying to introduce them to the rest of the group
Now here is everyone together
Cocoa is a great mamma!