Ducklings - your experience please.

LOL sunburn .. ours got named yesterday .. so looks like the like runts staying .. (LOL)
this morning when i went to let them out, he was sitting, not moving, didnt run for any food like the others did, he looked ok, just a lil weak ... didnt want follow mumma out of pen and all that.. so mixed a some rolled oats with water and sat him next to it, after dipping his beak in it to show him it was food (LOL), he seemed to perk up and eat some .. so left him to it,
before we did the school run i checked on him and he was moving about *yay* ... just got home from being out all morning , and he's active and doin all thing ok.. so x'n fingers he is ok .. will see how he goes tomorrow
Don, I Know what a runt is and means, and that they normally kark it in the wild etc,
I do not plan on letting the drake breed with him/her .. it will be the kids pet
- Daz

 

This has the potential to become the runts story thread.

I was watching all mine this morning. I noticed the size of the legs of the little one (wee wee? is that a good name?) are less than half that of the others already. (mine are a week old now). She seems wobbly too but is still such a little cutie pie.

I heard an owl today. Owls eat meat.

I noticed as you said about yours stingray that they have started to wander off further by themselves. I guess this will happen a lot more this week. But mostly i expect they will hang about together as even the grown up ducks mostly do too.

They do love the lettuce. Yesterday I gave them three or four and ate the entire lot and mum doesn't seem to eat much of it so that means the ducklings are greedy gutzes ... which is of course very good.

I am going to give them some boiled egg tomorrow. I think that's a good source of niacin. I think they may not be getting much insect life down where they are though its hard to tell. I think its the insect protein which is their main source of niacin. I haven't bought any yet. For some reason i got muddled up about the source of it and didn't get some in town the other day. Maybe out little runts need more protein to beef them up a bit. Mines a girl by the way.

 

hehe ....
just checked mine before
and the lil one seems ok (*phew*)
was funny yesterday ... got home and checked them and they's all been down the side piggin out on nfi, but thier crop's were bulging out like basket balls .. heheh .. so they obviously found something tasty (even the runt)
have had some cucumbers that went yukk on vine today... so split them and fed them to ducks/chooks.. seemed to hoe into them
and have noticed the ducklings go into the chook pen thru the wire (LOL), and the chooks just ignore them
waiting for a "poo moment" (LOL) when one eats too much and cant fit back out thru the mesh .. hehehe
apart from that .. they are 3 weeks old and look to be healthy as
still noticing the kookas hanging about (but then they did that before the ducklings), so think they are just after the lixzards/snakes
-Daz

 

duckling with eye problem

My little Lucy (I wasnt' serious about calling her wee wee) has bad eye. I've only just noticed it today so hopefully its new. At first it thought maybe she's blind but now i realise its just the lid is shut down. I've just been reading around on the net and it seems this is common and saline solution eye wash may be the go. This means i will have to go and catch her which will cause a lot of upset with mum.

This morning i made up some boiled egg and milk. The chickens gobbled up there share quick smart and the ducklings had a go at theirs but the Lucy didn't notice it was there. She's still drinking like mad. She doesn't get in and swim/wade much. She just hangs her head over the side of the lid.

I had better go and tackle this now.

 

Way back( for some of us) in the early 70's of last century as 12 year old boy I kept 40 or so white muscovy ducks in batches of 10 or 15 with one old and one young drake per harem. I used to have between 400 and 500 ducklings hatch every November on their own nests, but after the ducks went broody I penned them on their own with 15 or so eggs as they disrupt each others nests and the drake still pestered them. The broody ducks ate and drank very little over the 5 weeks incubation period. They normally grazed acres of grass pasture during the day after a breakfast of fresh whole cows milk and pollard and bran 50/50 mix. As soon as the ducklings hatched I put them away from their mums and dads under a light in groups of 25 and took care to remove and singly care for weaker special needs guys. I built the pens from bamboo poles woven with split bamboo and whatever I could lay my grubby little hands on.
Quite often the ducks would lay again and raise a second hatching. The ducklings were all fed whole milk and pollard morning and night with access to grass. All ducks etc .were folded at night to keep the foxes at bay. The main problem for me was if cane toads got in the water as the water is very toxic to ducks and the metabolic disease Ricketts, especially in the fast growing ducklings at 3-5 weeks old. We fed them Meggits linseed meal and table salt in their water which seemed to help in the cure??? They were sold for the table as soon as their pen feathers grew long enough to pluck. I bought my first watch, pushbike and pony with the first batch sold. I still have the first two, but the pony died at 30. Her name was Ducky!

 

Interesting story curramore. I don't want to nurture individually the weak one but if there's anything i can do to add to her growth. A week after hatching, the others have grown to almost twice the size of my runt. I wonder if she will just die soon. The thing is to take her out of the nest and nurture her alone will require a lot of time i think. Its not that she can't get her share of food as there is plenty and not too much competition. I think she's a bit weak brained as well. At least she looks that way as she only seems to be interested in drinking water when she should be out chasing insects. Maybe I will take down some milk for her to drink and see if i can get her interested in that.

So far i haven't noticed any cane toads around where the nest is. And one can get into the pen either cause i've got it completely covered in shade cloth. They can no longer get into my pond either as i've fenced off my vegie patch with shadecloth (we have so much of it lying about).

 

wow curramore... sounds great.. sorta story I hope my son Declan - 6 - , will have to tell (although .. i shouldnt be sexist .. LOL... I can see daughter Elise - 4 - doing the same .. LOL .. ) her sister Jacqui - 4 - (yepp twins) is a girly girl already (dresses etc) where as elis eis "shorts n tshirts..lol) ..

anyways .. sunburn .. the bad news is the runts gone .. (s)he looked really week on thursday night .. even after rallying and looking really well during the day ... when i checked them yesterday morning (s)he was gone... was expecting a body .. but the something that was taking them, has obviously returned to take him/her ..
anyways .. apart from that the rest seem really healthy ... each morning after a few hours free ranging their crops are so full they look to fall forward and not move .. LOL

havent seen any cane toads in thier water yet .. (we do get them in the dogs water bowl)

 

Sorry to hear about your little runt stingray. Mine is still alive but she's not growing much. The others are ballooning in size. They are about twice as big. Have i said that already? Anyway i'm not sure what to do really. She's got lots of energy and other wise looks healthy. Their nest is getting a bit stinky. I worry now that it might attract the snakes. I guess I need to try to take all that smelly stuff away and put some sawdust down there. and some straw (now that i bought some.)

I haven't heard anyone mention this thing about crops before. I guess its the part at the base of the necks. Can you tell their food is in it? I just remember have you got any gritty bits for them to eat. Ducks and chickens need stuff like that to help with digestion. I think I read that. I don't need to worry about it here as there are little stones all over.

On a cute note, i saw one of the ducklings jump up for a leaf this morning from teh back view. As she jumped she spread her legs. A very cute image. Now i realise that good cartoonists actually watch animals.

I might go down and clean up that ducks nest now. Did i mention that another one has taken to nesting again somewhere. God this is driving me nuts. I fixed the duck yard so they cna't get out anymore and wonder if i should send them all back down there to live again though there is no shelter from rain. There is a lot of shade now since i've extended it. I think they like going in the chook house at night though. I wonder if i can herd them to and fro until i build a proper safe shelter for them at night. Its a reasonable distance between them too. About 200 metres so this could be challenging. I'd let her have the eggs to hatch except i am afraid there won't be many and it would be another month and more with no duck if i don't bring her back to the duck yard. I think i might go and try to sort this out now. I think i will keep them all locked up in the duck yard for a few days. This will mean also that i could put in the mum duck and her little ones too or I could move that lot up to the chook house for a while. hmmm not sure about that yet. If i put them in the chook house, there's no chance to forage. On the other hand i could keep them happy with lettuces. If i put them in the duck yard they need to have a good shelter made for them so that no one comes and steals them. Its quite big so i don't really think that the drake and others would cause any problems though i'd keep an eye on them all to be sure if i do put them there.

Anyhow i need to go and start doing this now i think.

 

hehe.. glad yours is going well
yeah .. crop is like base of neck .. bulges out when they eat .. not worried about grit here as they forage free range most of the day .. so anything they need they'd get from yard
dunno if i've said it before, the ducks "hutch" is an old dog kennel ... and i have a length of corrugated iron sheeting that sits on the kennel and the fence .. giving them a "sheltered" area
love watching them race about, never realised just how many bugs were in our 1/4 acre.. LOL.. they seem to be having a ball constantly chasing bugs and munchin them
- Daz

 

Well i moved everybody. It took a lot of time and I think it was a bit stressful for everyone. In the evening mum tried to find a way to get back to her other nest and in the end i had to fence her in close to the protected shelter i made for her and the ducklings. Teh little ones can go through the fence but not mum. Hopefully they won't stray out again. I will let them out of this in the morning but i wanted to get them used to this spot because its got shelter from the rain. They should all be quite exhausted tonight even though the new nest isn't so far from the old one. Only about 40 metres i guess. But the terrain is pretty rough for small ducklings iwth lots of big leaves and vines and sticks all over.

I moved the other ducks down too. They weren't too happy about it I can tell. They didn't show too much interest in the mother and ducklings which is good. I also managed to find the fourth duck. Of course she's not happy that i am keeping her off her nest, wherever it is. I still haven't been able to find it. There's probably about three eggs in it.

I got lots of lovely fresh lettuces from neihgbour today. Everybody enjoyed those.

I must say i do find the ducklings mesmerising and i didn't get so miuch else done today.

 

hrmm..though i replied to this .. LOL
any ways
hi sunburn
you'll prob find the hidden nest with a whipper snipper .. LOL .. off to the local F&V this arvo to see if i can get some vegie scraps for every1
looks like the cute lil things are too big for what ever was carrying them off .. still 12 .. and yay .. they are 4 weeks old
cant remember if i already said this
got them up for sale .. plus waiting for a call from someone giving away their drake coz they are going away for a while ..
- add some more genetics to our "pool" .. lol.. coz I an going to sell our drake too .. so if any of the ducklings we keep are girls then its not their dad breedin with them
They are growing nicely and goin ballistic roamin around the back yard during the day .. its amazin how full their crops are at the end of the day just from "free-ranging"
still no idea how many girls/boys.. got told the drakes should start to look "longer" than the girls .. so x'n fingers i can id them soon
- Daz

 

I can't figure out how to manage my lot. I know though if i sit down with pen and paper and do some pros and cons i can work it out. I am weak minded on this. One of the ducks has taken to sitting on one egg. I ask you! I know you i should not let this happen. How am i suposed to get her to have more eggs in her nest. The other two ducks haven't resumed laying eggs. I guess they will try to sit on them when they start laying again too.

Meanwhile, the little ones are growing bigger and bigger every day. The littlest one is still quite small. I've been watching her and she simply does not eat as much as the others. She's got a mind of her own. She likes to drink mainly. The others all move about together but this one is always last and sometimes first when somethings going on but never doing moving in synch with the others.

I can't keep the chickens out of the duck yard now since they are big enough to fly over the fence. I guess I could clip their wings. I wish they'd stay out of there as its not much good to me having them pooing all over teh duck yard instead of the garden.

I see from this experience that i'd find disciplining children very difficult. Its just as well i didn't have any.

 

wow.. sounds full on there
i dont let my chooks roam the yard as they dig up my vegi beds and the gardens ..
the ducks are doing a great job at de-insecting the yad .. LOL...
i let the chooks into the duck pen once a week while they are raomin .. they do a good job of turnin over the duck poo etc
how ever .. with only being on a 1/4 acre .. i am finding i need to move thier pen and plant a crop there ..lol..
my chooks have clipped wings.. lol.. coz they kept flying out of thier pen ..
off to get some old avairy panels today to extend thier pen .. lovin freecycle
- Daz

 

The chickens are attracted to leaf mulch. Most of our place isn't mulched yet. I have fenced them out of the vegie garden and so far they've stayed out. But i am definitely going to have to clip their wings soon. Luckily the chooks don't go out to the road boundary where i've been planting cause there is a bit of mulch there.

 

Finally some pictures of the ducklings the day they were born

https://www.photoblog.com/ShangriLa/2010/12/04/

 

aww.. aint they cute
i been slack with my blog .. but i just quickly did Novembers .. and theres some pics of the Ducklings here
I picked up a new Drake yesterday .. and built a new pen for him ..
although i will prob move the ducklings into there (as its a lil more "secure") and the new drake into the main en with momma duck .. and see if she starts laying again
- Daz

 

upate as posted on my members blog thread.

The ducks are misbehaving. Or rather Bertie is. He's kicking the ducklings out of the yard and so they are sleeping outside the fence tonight. Last night i let Mavis out with them and they went back to their first home for the night. I had tried to send Mavis and her brood to the tented house i had set up for them so i could fence them in safely and Bertie out but she wouldn't go. Frankly i think her interest has been rekindled in men and she's a bit torn between him and her kids at the moment. She hasn't abandonned them entirely but things are not as they were. At least most of them are quite big now, already. When i checked on them earlier, the Lucy, the little one was cuddled up in the middle. During the day things were a bit more settled and Mavis and her kids were left to get on with eating and drinking in the shade for the most part. Until the choooks came along. Although Ive clipped their wings they have found a way through the fence - they are not as big as they look - and spend the whole day down in the duck yard. They are bullies and force the ducks and ducklings to abandon their position next to the food. But i go down there often and make sure everyone has enough to eat and drink and chase the chooks away to give the ducks a break.


I found the eggs today - six. This is why i've sent the ducks back to the duck yard. This time i've left one in the nest and so hopefully they will keep laying in that spot. Its under the mint plant.

I start to think that the duck yard might also be the right place for the chook pen but i want to wait to see what happens during the wet season before making a decision about moving it.

The little one is really unusually small but she's so adorable. She scrambles as fast as she can whenever they are on the move (often with me behind them). Because she's so small she virtually throws her whole self forward to get along faster. Because I can see its such a huge stressful effort, i try to catch so she doesn't have exert herself so much. Other times i just shoo them along really slowly. Its weird how she doesn't want to eat. I am not inclined to force her. She's a busy lively little bundle. She's got her own little swimming and drinking bowl while the others have graduated to one of the big bowls which they can get in and out of quite easily now. I must take a picture to show you the size difference. I can hardly believe that they were all born on the same day and that the growth rate is so different. She might have done better if i had taken her aside and fed her but then she'd be rejected by the others. Its not as if they don't let her get to the food either. She just prefers to drink rather than eat. Silly little duffer.

 

woot!!.. sounds fun there
have you taken the eggs to eat? or just to stop then from hatching?
ours are getting bigger.. starting to notice most are longer" ducklings.. which i was told mean boys .. thinkin maybe only 2-3 are girls.. oh well .. they are 5 weeks old tomorrow so a lil while they should really stand out as sep boys n girls
the nieghbour over the back got me today .. havent chatted to him since i moved in 2 years ago (LOL) .. but he saw me out n about the yard and hollered.. to ask about the ducklings.. as he'd had a couple of dead ones over the last few weeks .. told me the kookas had taken them into his yard.. s that explains the disappearance and lack of "feathers around"
1st time in 10 months our drake went our lil dog today .. the ducklings werent close so i dont know why .. so he (and the new drake) got to spend the whole day in the pen (LOL) .. as I had to go out all day ..
they seem to get on well and no fighting between them ..
they were all out and roamin the other day .. and he started to show some interest in the girl .. lol.. but she told him off.. hehehe
looking around for another girl (10-12 months old) .. so as to have 2 atleast for the drakes to pick from .. until the lil ducks get older
- Daz

 

Yes it is fun and I find I am spending more and more time watching, mesmerised by them. Also i am able to pick up the little one more and she is quite settled in my lap now too. I haven't been able to get her to eat boiled egg ( I am sure she could use the protein, though i read that they can make their own from a good diet of cereals grains and grasses etc, and no doubt insects.) Meanwhile i saw that the bigger ducklings were enjoying the egg and the chickens fairly bolt it down. In fact they chased me around the garden tonight to have some, although i had just given them a plateful in their own pen which they seem not to have noticed. !! Quelle stupide chickens!. (meant endearingly).

So you have got to the bottom of the mystery about your stolen ducklings. I can't bear to think about being eaten alive by a kookaburra. Although if they are like many other animals, they kill them qiuckly first before trying to eat them. You put your dog and drake in teh pen together for the whole day even though they are fighting. I guess they've survived it but i am surprised you didn't want to keep them apart. But i think i am a bit confused by this story.

I've been getting eggs, two a day now and both being laid in teh same nest. It helped that i left an egg in but i guess it will get smelly after a while. Yes i eat the eggs. I had them for lunch today. I feed the chickens eggs mainly to the animals as they are quite small. 50g type size if that.

I am surprised if you could have only 2-3 ducklings out of your big brood. It seems very imbalanced unless all the ones taken by the kookaburra were girls. I still haven't a clue what sort of ratio i've got. How long do you reckon your ducklings are. Mine i'd say are about 11 inches and its only 4 weeks while Lucy would be still only about 6 inches long. She's got a bad eye. the left eye has a dark pupil and a clear blue iris while hte right eye is dark with a milky coating. I can't tell if its natural blindness or a condition that could be fixed. I've used the saline solution but there is no pus or conjuctivitis.

I am glad to see you are getting another female. I've noticed lately for the first time that Bertie is actually chasing teh girls more than once a day. They seem to be quite randy buggers.

I think the issues betweeen all the grown ups and the ducklings are slowly being worked out. The grown ups are like nasty old women who love nothing better to berate a child and Bertie is like a stupid selfish old bastard who can't be bothered with children. Meanwhile mum just does nothing about Bertie though she does still sometimes get a bit defensive against the other females and puts herself in between the female and her ducklings. I expect this is all normal behaviour but its a bit unpleasant to watch and i can't help but shoo away bertie and the females when they are being bullying.

I've got more pictures and will be putting them up in the near future.

I am sure I spend far too much time fussing over all my poultry - getting them fresh water and replenishing their food and cooking them eggs and such. I must get more efficient eventually. But i am looking forward already to next years batch of baby ducks. I think one batch a yaer will be enough. I am so glad i've got them. And i have to say that except for the mushy poo as opposed to the nice tidy globules of the chickens, i prefer the ducks. They are milder gentler creatures.

Have i mentioned that the rooster has been trying to roots its mother. He doesn't seem to be so interested in his sisters but he's not above his poor old mum. She's resisting valiantly, to her credit though.

 

yeah .. gotta admit the same .. love watching them wander the yard chasing bugs/flys
wish they would eat more grass than they do.. (LOL.. then i wouldnt have to mow) .. the mumma seems to like eating the grass seeds .. but the ducklings dont seem interested.
am thinking I should put the duck thing on hold (lol) .. i can see it gettin out of hand - hahaha - and we really ned more land for that .. lol
am starting to get confused.. lol... i think ours are 5 weeks old today ..
so figure .. over the weekend i will separate them into the drakes pen and put the new drake in with the mum and see if we start getting eggs
and i might look at taking every 2nd days eggs for us to eat ...
I havent bothered boiling soem eggs up and feeding them to the ducklings..
they really seem healthy and get enough from the free ranging the yard plus the seed i have for the chooks, that they get some of too
we never went with a rooster for the chooks (had one at the last house.. but his crowing annoyed me .. so into the pot her went .. lol)
- Daz