Have duck eggs in a still air incubator, holding steady around 101.5-102, doing a dry incubation for now, as I'm in a house with high humidity, set 3 days apart (1st batch will be day 28 on the 30th, 2nd batch on the 3rd, so my lockdown dates should be on the 28th and 1st) Most of the eggs are...
Miniature Silver Appleyards are different genetically, not just in size... They were bred to "look like" the full size counterparts, but from different breeding stock. I don't think their ducklings are supposed to look like the standard-sized "black mohawk stripe" ducklings, but I don't know...
ashandvine: ducklings have different needs than chicks on protein percentages, need non-medicated feed, higher amount of niacin, and they're a good deal messier (can't put them on newspaper). Just do a search on here for duckling care and I'm sure you'll find the info you need (I'm raising ducks...
Wish I could afford to order some from the Karcher stock from you right now... (only have $14 in my paypal at the moment). I have a trio of Silver Appleyards that have genetics from the Holderread lines, so I'd like to have the others for a strong genetic flock base. If you'd be willing to...
The only problem with too low on the protein percentage is that they'll likely eat more of the feed to get the protein they need (at least that's what happens in my experience with rabbits), which means they'll be fatter, which could be a problem come breeding time, but if you're raising them...
Hey... I also stopped by and picked up 3 from the late Apr hatch (all 3 are light phase). Are you on the Motherduck Yahoo group? (I don't plan on doing the Facebook group she's starting, and I think a breed club may be in order, as she's really focused on the Northeast, and having them raised as...
Where can I get a copy of the bulletin on Silver Appleyards? (looking to get into raising them) Is it available for download somewhere, or do I need to contact the Holderread Center? Let me know... Thanks!
I'm working on a trade for some Appleyard eggs, but would love to have a few eggs from another source (to hopefully get a better mix of genetics). Let me know if you'd be able to send me a few eggs (I've a friend with an incubator). Thanks!
I'm looking to hatch out some Silver Appleyard eggs soon (still working on a trade for some), it's good to know that there are other folks out there raising them, and that vent sexing (or waiting until 6+ weeks) is really the only way to tell them apart :-)
There was a "dairy bank" with egg tray insert that came with an old fridge of mine (so look on ebay etc and hopefully you can find one!). There are circular depressions in the tray, and the box (with lid) is large enough to accommodate duck eggs from my experience (I don't have Appleyards yet...
Got mine second hand, the drakes look like they're a Swedish/Mallard mix (dark body, white bib, green head) and the ducks are tan/white, sometimes popping up into a runner stance. Wish they weren't so skittish (run from me, can't look them in the eye or they hide), but they're fairly quiet just...
She's adopted my ducks, comes over to their run every day, and sticks her head in to drink their water and swipe feed if the bowl is close enough to the edge of the run ;-) She's snuck in with me a couple of times, and I have to shoo her out (mild chicken allergy, and I'd like to keep it that...
I have a small flock (2 drakes, 2 ducks, need to rehome one of the drakes as they're beating up the poor girls) that are mixed Swedish. They mutter a lot, but it's low volume unless one annoys another, then the volume goes up for a couple of minutes, "blah blah quit it" and then it quiets back...