When to move late hatchlings with mom

[The_spice_girls]

Hello all,

We let our 2 Khaki Campbells incubate their eggs. 15 hatched last weekend 5/31, but 2 of the eggs must have been rolled in from our other ducks late, since they didn’t hatch. I put them in a homemade incubator since the mothers abandoned the nest. They just hatched yesterday and today.

My question is, how should I go about giving the two ducklings back to the mothers. Should I wait a few days for the ducklings to regain some strength? I’m mostly worried that they are a week behind the other 15 and smaller, and maybe the mothers won’t look out for them. We live in Southern Michigan, so day time temps are in the 70s and lows are in the 50s.

Thank you for any help!

 

[Debbie292d]

Hi,

All you can do is try. I think it's smart to give them a day or two though so they are able to run after mom. You could try it during the day when she's got them out as the little ones should run to her. We did that once when she wasn't looking and she never knew the difference.

If that doesn't work, try slipping them under her at night.