Why Letting Broody Ducks Hatch Chicks Isn't Such A Great Idea

When my 2 Buff Orph ducks decided to go broody at the same time, for the first time, at about 14 mos old I thought.... why not let them hatch a few chicken eggs since I don't have a drake to fertilize their eggs?.  Of course I'd seen the warnings about baby chicks drowning in duck ponds so I assured myself that I'd remove the duck pond from their enclosure as soon as the chicks started to hatch.  Unfortunately I was in for a surprise, actually a few surprises:

1.  Ducks get EXTREMELY loud when they're sitting on a clutch of eggs
2.  A duck's quack really does echo (I live in the mtns)
3.  Your neighbors will not enjoy the noise, and neither will you
4.  Somehow ducks can carry eggs.

To address the first 3 points; the girls decided they were going to "protect" their nest from everything and everyone including me, my dogs, my cat, the chickens, the wind, random squirrels - you get the idea.  One duck would sit on the eggs while the other would run around their enclosure quacking constantly.  For my small quiet neighborhood in the mountains (and my sanity) this was NOT acceptable, which meant that 75% of the time the ducks had to be locked in their coop where they would settle down and hush up.

Now for the 4th point.  This weekend should be hatching time for the few chick eggs that they were sitting on.  Yesterday during one of their brief furloughs they were raising a racket even louder than their previous choruses so I went out to make sure there were no predators in the area.  After some investigation I found the largest chicken egg in their pond with a drown chick next to it.  This chick was a few days from gestation and shouldn't have been out of the shell.  Some how the ducks managed to take the egg from the nest, roll or carry it down the ramp from their coop, across their deck, down a 5" step to the ground, across 8 or so feet of bumpy terrain, up onto another deck, up more steps and then into their pond.  I can't imagine, other than carrying the egg in their beaks how they would've managed that trip. 

After discovering their issue, it took me 15 minutes to catch both of them and deposit them back in the coop to quiet them down and then I had the sad task of burying the baby chick.  Of the 3 chicken eggs I'd provided them, they ignored 1 and it was never viable, 1 met the sad fate above and the 3rd is still under them, however I plan on removing it today.  I also made the tough decision during this process to re-home my ducks.  I can't imagine going through another broody session with them and trying to break them from it.  They're adorable and they deserve a home with loads of other ducks where they can be as loud as they want to be.  Ducks have many good points;  they're typically friendlier than chickens, make very loyal pets, consistently lay wonderful eggs and are amusing to watch.  However, there are also challenges to owning ducks and not just the ones above.  Ducks are extremely messy, their poop is wet and smelly so its best not to house them with chickens even though I know some people do it successfully.  They require constant water so ideally they should have a "pond" to swim and bathe in a year around.  I use a large kiddie pool for my 2 ducks, and even with only 2 ducks I have to empty it, scrub it and refill it every 3 days and in the winter this can be a very undesirable chore.

If you've ever considered bringing a few adorable ducklings home, consider first if you have the time, patience, room and ability to care for them.  I have no regrets.  The last year (I adopted them when they were 8 - 12 wks old) with these girls have been very rewarding and I learned that chickens are my thing.  :)