We nurture nature

Most often, poultry breeds that are considered improved and high productive, i.e. those that lay more eggs, have more meat, etc., have one disadvantage. They are not broody. They never sit on their eggs (incubate) or raise their young ones.

Take for example, Black Australorp (Mikolongwe) or Kuroiler chickens. These are good meat and egg birds but can’t brood. This is the same with Khaki and Pekin ducks. Nice breeds of ducks – more eggs; more meat but they do not brood. Where a male is provided, their eggs will be fertile since they mate just like any other bird but the hybrid genetics in them take away some part of nature.

Multiplying these types of breeds can be tricky if you do not have an artificial incubator. You have more eggs with no means of hatching them. Are you in this fix? Do not despair. Try natural incubation with a hen. A hen that is broody (local chicken) can sit on exotic duck eggs as well as eggs of these other hybrid chickens and hatch them so long they are fertile. Upon hatching, she will raise the chicks!

In the case of chicken-to-chicken, there should not be any problem but in chicken-to-duck, the hen is likely to start staying away from the ducklings after a month or so when she starts noticing her differences with them.

For ducks, you can withdraw the ducklings at four weeks and put them in an artificial brooder. For chicks, you can let them stay with it until it is naturally time to wean them off or withdraw them at two weeks into a brooder as well. This will encourage the hen to stay laying again in a few weeks.

The trick is notice the time the hen is going to get broody. Please, note that this must be a hen which has also been laying and by the time it starts sitting on its own eggs, you simply remove hers and replace with the others. I advise not to remove all of hers, otherwise she will abandon all the eggs. Mix them up.

If you mix chicken and duck eggs, remember that the chicken’s will hatch first followed by the duck’s four or five days later. When the chicks hatch, take them away after two days. The hen will continue sitting on the duck eggs for more days to satisfy their incubation period which is 28 to 30.

Here, we have our hen which incubated Khaki Campbell and Pekin eggs, and is now raising the ducklings.

Nature is fascinating. Isn’t it?