- Mar 7, 2008
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I have been a duck owner for about two weeks and am now completely obsessed. My cayuga hen has laid 3 eggs so far. We ate the first one and I left two in the nest because I can't decide what to do with them. Here are my choices.
1. Eat them too. I am pretty sure they are fertile, but not sure who the dad is- the blue runner drake and the cayuga/rouin mix drake have both been, ugh, er, trying to be the dad. But there is nothing wrong with mutt ducks right? I know it depends on what I plan to do with them....
2. Let my 7 year old broodie silkie sit on them in hopes that she will finally get to fulfill her 'lifelong' dream of actually hatching them out- she has been reliably broody for 7 years and I have never had fertile eggs for her.
3. Leave them be and see if the duck hen will hatch them out when she gets enough. I put a doghouse in the chicken coop for the ducks and she has laid all three in the back corner of the house. I thought that maybe since she laid them in there instead of just leaving them out and about maybe she would go broody?
4. Go ahead and give a few to the silkie- she has been broody for a few days- before she breaks out of it- and then see if the duck hen keeps working on her cache.
Would the ducklings and whoever hatches them out need to be separated from the rest of the ducks and chickens for awhile? How long does it take for a duck egg to hatch- longer than a chicken egg I think? Once they hatch can I take them away from the hen to take to my kindergarten class for a week or two- with a heat lamp and brooder of course. Mainly- will the hen be upset if I take them? I am assuming she won't take them back after that long- so I might be better off to let them stay?
Ack- too many questions!
1. Eat them too. I am pretty sure they are fertile, but not sure who the dad is- the blue runner drake and the cayuga/rouin mix drake have both been, ugh, er, trying to be the dad. But there is nothing wrong with mutt ducks right? I know it depends on what I plan to do with them....
2. Let my 7 year old broodie silkie sit on them in hopes that she will finally get to fulfill her 'lifelong' dream of actually hatching them out- she has been reliably broody for 7 years and I have never had fertile eggs for her.
3. Leave them be and see if the duck hen will hatch them out when she gets enough. I put a doghouse in the chicken coop for the ducks and she has laid all three in the back corner of the house. I thought that maybe since she laid them in there instead of just leaving them out and about maybe she would go broody?
4. Go ahead and give a few to the silkie- she has been broody for a few days- before she breaks out of it- and then see if the duck hen keeps working on her cache.
Would the ducklings and whoever hatches them out need to be separated from the rest of the ducks and chickens for awhile? How long does it take for a duck egg to hatch- longer than a chicken egg I think? Once they hatch can I take them away from the hen to take to my kindergarten class for a week or two- with a heat lamp and brooder of course. Mainly- will the hen be upset if I take them? I am assuming she won't take them back after that long- so I might be better off to let them stay?
Ack- too many questions!
I'm also eating my goose eggs until they go broody in warmer weather. We will eat them until April and then they'll have a chance to raise young ones thru the summer.
