what did i get myself into T_T

[KrazyKZ08]

i have 2 ducks, a boy and a girl. i know what that was going to bring sooner or later, i just thought it would be simpler. i just saw them trying to mate in the pool and if she lays fertilized eggs i would love to let them hatch but she is a pekin and that breed is known to have "bad mothers" so i was reading into artificial incubating and its so confusing. like the forced air and the wet bulbs and dry bulbs and the measuring humidity and the artificial turners or turning them every so and so...my head is spinning. i would like to know if there is anyone who can really dumb all this down for a newbie like me, or should i just let her try to sit on them and cross my fingers? or am i worrying for nothing? is there a specific season for them to be fertilized? ahh im worried the more questions i ask the more i show how clueless i am...i have read the book, i just dont completely understand.

the male is a welsh harlequin, so idk if they could even reproduce together. i just wanted to find her a companion after i figured out she needs one and people always seem to want to get rid of their males so i thought if they can reproduce it would be a cool hybrid. i just want to make sure i do it right

 

[scratch'n'peck]

Yes, she can definitely lay fertile eggs. Honestly, I wouldn't want to raise ducklings going into the cold weather of fall. I don't know where you live and how cold it will get in the coming months, but I told myself I would not raise ducks unless it was warm enough for them outside after raising a brood of the super poopers inside for too long from February to late March.

That said, my pekin girls occasionally have gone broody, but they have never stayed on the nest long enough to hatch out eggs.

Here is an incubation guide for geese, and ducks would follow most of the same guidelines: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=491013

 

[TLWR]

What are you going to do with all the new ducklings?

No reason you have to incubate any eggs if you don't want to.
Yes, there will be fertilized eggs if you have a male and a female and they are doing their little ducky dance.
No clue on incubating, I have 2 girls.

 

[KrazyKZ08]

scratch'n'peck :

Yes, she can definitely lay fertile eggs. Honestly, I wouldn't want to raise ducklings going into the cold weather of fall. I don't know where you live and how cold it will get in the coming months, but I told myself I would not raise ducks unless it was warm enough for them outside after raising a brood of the super poopers inside for too long from February to late March.

That said, my pekin girls occasionally have gone broody, but they have never stayed on the nest long enough to hatch out eggs.

Here is an incubation guide for geese, and ducks would follow most of the same guidelines: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=491013

i live in florida, but if i was going to get an incubator i was thinking of keeping them inside until they were older. this link is alot of help! thnk you so much!!​

 

[KrazyKZ08]

Quote:
haha is it bad that im not that sure? i am pretty sure i can keep them all but i can try to find homes for them. i really just wanted to see what the hybrids looked like, and i would like to have more for eggs. i also heard that hybrids cant reproduce so that might be good population control haha

 

[Speceider]

They wouldn't be hybrids, rather crosses. Both are mallard derivatives, so the offspring would be fertile.

Clint

 

[KrazyKZ08]

Quote:
wow i didnt know that. thanks for the tip