Yay! Congrats on the chick! If you have any eggs that have yet to hatch, you might leave them an extra day or so, to catch any late bloomers. But mersiepoo is right, if there is some reason the chick doesn't make it out, it's usually best. :( I've only had to assist one chick out, and that was Bear, who is now our Head Hen. She was a very large chick in a very large egg, and we just picked a few pieces of shell from around her head once she'd pipped and it was clear she was in a bad position to hatch and couldn't turn in the egg like she needed to--then we returned the egg to the incubator and she finished up herself. But I'll never forget that little beak poking through the pipped shell and YELLING, then retracting and having a curious little eyeball appear at the hole. My husband was the first thing she saw and she's STILL bonded to him. :) Yesterday, Bear went broody, and picked a fight with our Beta Roo, Scott, who is a banty. She tussled with him so bad that he knocked one of the ends off one of his spurs, then he stood over it and looked at it, VERY confused. :) No real injuries, though, and today Bear is setting nicely on a nest. We haven't decided if we are going to give her some eggs to hatch or maybe some of the chicks from the incubator in 2 weeks. Velvet ~:>

As long as you want ducklings I'd give her lots of hay or straw. She'll tuck it in around her to add to her nest. That will help her and the eggs stay warm. I'd also bring food and water to her so that she has plenty to eat. I'd be more concerned about the ducklings than the hen. They'll have a hard time keeping warm if they get wet at this time of year. Do you have a place to put her that will keep them warm and safe? If so, you can control the amount of water the ducklings get so that they stay fairly dry. Good luck!

I had to put new mylar strips on the bluebird house last night due to lots of windy weather lately (most of them had ripped off in the wind). Anyway, I wasn't in the house more than a half hour and a thunder storm with HIGH WINDS swept through our area! Hope my babies are OK today. Anyway, the mylar is again all stuck together and most of it is torn off. I will need to put new mylar on it again tonight. Oh well, anything to help my bluebirds. Since I was out there last night, I decided to look inside again, and I was pleased to find the last egg had hatched!

I use two tablespoons of mayonnaise or Miracle Whip. I'm always cutting recipes in half, so if it calls for three eggs, I add one egg and a tablespoon of mayo (if the eggs are not a critical ingredient) to equal 1-1/2 eggs.