Our neighbor has an extremely broody hen! She won't get up unless something hatches out beneath her. Last year we gave them some chicken eggs, and one of them hatched. The chicken was thrilled to be a mama!
This spring the hen was broody again. Since she is such a good sitter, we asked if they wanted to try duck eggs instead of chicken eggs. They did, and the hen did a fine job of sitting.... until one of the other hens kicked her off and finished the job.
The chicken is now the proud mama of 3 ducklings! The hen that was kicked off is sitting on a bunch of golf balls. We might have to give them another set of eggs for her.
Chicken eggs take about 21 days to hatch, ducklings take about 28 days to hatch. If you decide to do this on your farm, you probably better make sure that your hen is a really good sitter!
I love broody hens!! My first little silkies were so broody the other chickens would lay eggs ON them and they would let them roll between them. But at the time I wasnt needing any new chicks just eggs! Those ducklings may be a tad confused or the hens when her "chicks' go swimming!!
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