No more ducklings this morning and no sign of any imminent hatching either: the eggs in fact all felt a little cold and so we candled them, discovering no sign of life at all. We are not sure whether Pear had given up incubating them or whether they had died in the shell but having satisfied ourselves that no more were going to hatch, we moved mum; her two ducklings; and her one chickling to a small run in the poultry stall and gave them fresh bedding, food and water. Being enclosed in a run will keep them away from the other birds as for some reason, adult poultry love chick crumbs - far more than their own pellets - and would scoff the lot if they could!!
So, not a great hatch rate (there were eleven eggs in total) but as we have a freezer full of duck from earlier in the year, we are not too worried.
It will be interesting to see how the chickling develops: will it stay with its ‘duck’ mum for as long as the ducklings do, usually 7-8 weeks, or will it gradually start to spend time with the chickens. It will need Pear for a good 4/5 weeks to keep it warm but after that it could be more independent.
It will be interesting to see...