well, that didnt work :(

[Mom 2em All]

My two muscovy hens were sitting on eggs about a week apart. one set faithfully, the other was bad at it.
When the first muscovy hen hatched her clutch, the other got off her eggs. I knew her eggs didnt have much longer to go- so I put them in the incubator, but put other eggs in their place- just in case she returned to the nest. She never did.

Well, it took NINE days- but her eggs hatched last night/this morning. I took one baby out there to see what she would do. So far, she has had to be a "mama" from a distance= because the muscovy who hatched the eggs wont let her get too close to the babies, but she follows them around anyway. So, I thought I would give her her own babies back.

I set the tiny little duckling out on the grass by the babyless Muscovy to see what would happen. Well, she was very very interested, but the baby ran for its life right to me.

Is there a way to get the babies to be with her, if she is accepting? It does NO good if they are terrified of "Mama".

 

[Hoss1975]

The problem is they are imprinted on you,they will follow you anywhere.

 

[Mom 2em All]

Quote:
yeah, I know..but no way to avoid that when they hatch in an incubator.

And I really didnt want to play the mama- in my head, i really was giving them to her when they hatched. I already have three that think Im mom- a goose, and two ducks. Keeping them all separate is a big pain.