Are Anconas good moms?

[FenrisMau]

I have an Ancona hen, and in spring we plan to get some more ducklings to fill out our flock some more. What are the chances she would go broody and help care for them if we let them be with her? We have a predator-proof pen and it would take care of them per usual of course.

 

[Jenbirdee]

I have an Ancona hen, and in spring we plan to get some more ducklings to fill out our flock some more. What are the chances she would go broody and help care for them if we let them be with her? We have a predator-proof pen and it would take care of them per usual of course.

well first she would have to sit on her nest of eggs for 3 weeks ( broody) and then she might accept the babies . you would have to stop collecting her eggs each day in the spring but you should go in each day and mark the date or a number in each egg in order . then when/if she gets more than 8 eggs in her nest start removing the oldest one each day every time a new egg is laid. hopefully she might go broody but you never know.
this is just my opinion . perhaps others can help more.

 

[alwaystj9]

I one one Ancona, she's almost 2 and she has never gone broody. Mine is a nervous, flighty bird, similar in temperment to my leghorns. What's your hen like?

 

[FenrisMau]

I one one Ancona, she's almost 2 and she has never gone broody. Mine is a nervous, flighty bird, similar in temperment to my leghorns. What's your hen like?

Oh, dang! My hen is friendly when you've got food and will eat from your hand, but otherwise doesn't like to be touched. She's quite sassy and fearless of the territorial geese. She lays her eggs in a corner, we've been collecting and eating them. But she hasn't tried to lay on them from what we've seen. She's only on egg 5 so far, and 5 months old.

 

[alwaystj9]

I copied this from the chicken journal. The whole article is here: https://chickenjournal.com/ancona-chickens/​

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Ancona Hen Egg Production and Broodiness​

Ancona hens are great birds that give lots of eggs. They start laying eggs when they are just five or six months old.


Like Leghorn chickens, these hens lay big white eggs. Anconas can lay around 220 eggs each year.


These birds do not sit on their eggs to hatch chicks. This means they keep laying eggs steadily without breaks.


Small farmers and backyard chicken owners really like Anconas. Their eggs are top quality.


If you want baby Anconas, you’ll need a good incubator, since the hens won’t sit on the eggs.

 

[NatJ]

I have an Ancona hen, and in spring we plan to get some more ducklings to fill out our flock some more. What are the chances she would go broody and help care for them if we let them be with her? We have a predator-proof pen and it would take care of them per usual of course.

Is this an Ancona DUCK or an Ancona CHICKEN?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancona_chicken
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancona_duck

The thread seems to be in the "Ducks" forum, but I see a bunch of answers about chickens (3 weeks for eggs to hatch, similar to a Leghorn, etc.)

If the bird is a chicken, she is unlikely to go broody and hatch or care for babies, whether those babies might be ducklings or baby chickens.

If the bird is a duck, I don't know enough about the breed to say anything useful.

 

[Yardmom]

Anacona ducks are not the same as chickens. I've heard that Anacona ducks go broody, but my Anacona ducks were not very broody. Even if you do have a broody duck, and manage to time getting ducklings with her broodiness there is no guarantee she will accept them. It is best to have a backup plan for how to brood the ducklings.

 

[FenrisMau]

I copied this from the chicken journal. The whole article is here: https://chickenjournal.com/ancona-chickens/​

​

Ancona Hen Egg Production and Broodiness​

Ancona hens are great birds that give lots of eggs. They start laying eggs when they are just five or six months old.


Like Leghorn chickens, these hens lay big white eggs. Anconas can lay around 220 eggs each year.


These birds do not sit on their eggs to hatch chicks. This means they keep laying eggs steadily without breaks.


Small farmers and backyard chicken owners really like Anconas. Their eggs are top quality.


If you want baby Anconas, you’ll need a good incubator, since the hens won’t sit on the eggs.

Thank you for the post, although it is an Ancona duck hen.