Hi,
I've tried to read up on this as much as I can, but I have quite a few questions.....
We have a pair of campbell whites and as i've laready posted elsewhere... duck lovin' is going on daily and we started to leave the eggs about 2 weeks ago....
2 weeks have passed and no sign of her wanting to sit on them... if anythig she just seems to kick them about the nesting part of their house...
We also have chickens, and i know you can't make a chicken broody but we had signs that one is. Joe's always been the one to make a secret nest (one we found had over 20 eggs in it) and every now and then she'll just go and sit in the nest box and sit on nothing!!
So yesterday we made the decision to move the duck eggs. After laying in bed yesterday morning discussing at length which chicken would mkae the ebst mum (like we have any idea!!) my other half suggested our first battery rescue gilr as she is gentle and kind natured, and i pointed out Joe, our secret nester and regualr sitter......
So we did it. We inherited 3 chickens fomr a frined about 6 months ago, and our original 3 (Joe is one of these) all decided of their own accord to move into the chickne house the inherited chickens came with.
It's too small for 6 really, but every time we moved them back into their own home they moved straight back out...
The ducks then moved fomr the relatively small duck house into the other chicken house, which isnt as you'd imagine being home made rather than bought, which gives them plenty of room.
Which left us wiht our small duck house.....
Steve put the eggs in the old duck house ... and low and behold when we looked to see where Joe was she was sat in her house on an empty nest... so he picked her up and popped her in the duck house... and she promptly walked out....
Half an hour later she was back in her house sat on an empty nest... so we went again, but this time popped her in and closed the door to give her the chance to get used to the idea..... kind of hoping she suddenly develop a purpose and sit on them... we left her closed in till this morning... (felt bad about it!!)
So this morning we opened up the door and out she came, ate, drank wandered for a bit, and didnt go back in.... well Steve has just phoned me, shes back in the small duck house sitting on the eggs!!!
EUREKA!!
questions are these...
if they hatch do we then give them back to mother duck?
is it true they will drown if they go to water too soon?
i'cve read that mother duck will get her belly wet then go sit on the eggs? i dont think mother chicken will do this? will this hinder the eggs in any way?
and anything else anyone has ever known about chickens doing the hatching rather than the ducks!!
i am so excited at the prospect and would much rather one of the birds did it than an incubator... although i'm preparing to buy one should this not come off!!
katrina