Here's our experience. We were given 4 bantams. I put them in the large coop with our 70+ heavy breeds, hoping the others wouldnt pick on them too much. After a couple days, I let the bantams out into the run and they immediately flew over the 6' fence and right up 40' high in a tree. At...
We've got 70-80 in the hen house and another 30 in the incubator due to hatch on Tuesday. A large mixture (in the hen house)....RIR's, New Hampshire Reds, Rocks, Orpingtons, Sex Links, Leghorns, Brahmas, Easter Eggers, Austroplorps and Wyandottes.
To be honest, I'm not sure if the water would ruin them or not. I would think it would, but who knows. Any chance you could trick the duck into laying in the grass. Try putting a pile of fake eggs or golf balls on a grassy area near the water, but far enough up from the water so the eggs wont...
Cold temps kill the embryo. The 40 degree temp is on the cold side but I know someone that hatched 4 outta 5 duck eggs after putting them in the refrigerator for 3 days by accident. I'd try to collect the eggs as soon as possible. Most ducks lay in the evening or first thing in the...