The Poultry Keeper

weeziebutton · Joined: 07 May 2008 Posts: 1

I keep chickens and they like to lay anywhere in the garden and my dog has been a great retriever of the eggs and she never breakks them so I`ve been praising her for it. However today we went down the beach as we have a bungalow there and the weather was hot and the dog went swimming. However she was left unsupervised for only a minute and she came back with a duck egg!!! I was horrified and tried to find the nest but couldnt. One of my chickens has been very broody for a few days so I thought the duck eggs best chance was if I took it home and put it under my broody but typically she decided today she wasnt going to be broody anymore. Is it too late for the egg or can I somehow incubate it? I feel awful and will definitely not be letting the dog out of my sight again.

debcat · Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 3:36 pm Post subject:

Hi,
it's a shame your broodies gone on strike, although it's never a good idea to incubate just one .
I'd chalk it up as one of those things
I wish my dogs brought my eggs in, they just eat them
debs

mojo · Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 5:17 pm Post subject:

open it .if ok eat it .

Timbo · Joined: 03 Mar 2006 Posts: 169 Location: Cranfield, Beds.

You must feel sad - but remember in nature, there are many predators. I think your dog is doing what comes naturally to her and this behaviour is in her blood - I would continue to praise her, she is getting a massive reward from expressing this behaviour. My dog is a pointer and she points at the chickens in the field... same sort of natural behaviour for her breed.

I would say it could be too late to incubate and not really fair to hatch one duck. Just one of those things really...

(Mojo - you are very practical ...and French n'est pas? Wink

)