Last Friday morning as I started to do the morning chores I decided to check in on Miss Betty and I saw this:
So exciting! Our broody-hen-hatching-duck-egg experiment worked! Well, I didn't doubt her ability to sit on the eggs until they hatched...just what she would do when they actually came out and they were NOT chicks.
She seems to be doing alright with them and is very protective, because they are her babies. However, I have observed her clucking at them as she would if she had chicks instead and they are not responding. It would be nice to know if she thinks that this is weird or not. She's just doing what comes natural and the ducklings are doing what comes natural to them. Maybe I'm overthinking this whole thing for her.
The ducklings are doing fine and they spend time underneath momma when they are in the garage - they do play around a little too. They are both quite active and got to spend the majority of the day outside with Betty yesterday. She does a good job at protecting them. Even with the ducks and goslings hanging around.
It will be fun to see how they progress over the next few weeks. I hope that they will transition to being part of the flock when the time comes. That should be in a few weeks - they are only 4 days old at this point.
Betty my be our ticket to more Magpie Ducks! A couple of weeks ago Miss Bernadette thought that she wanted to be broody and spent one day - about 8 hours - sitting on some eggs. Toward the end of the day, her empty stomach won and she left the nest and hasn't gone back.
Little Stinker!
It would have been nice to have one of the Magpie Girls sit on eggs, but evidently that is something that is not a part of their constitution. Good thing we have a surrogate in Betty. We'll increase the Magpie population yet!
Farm Life is best with baby waterfowl!
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