Hatching of my first ducklings of the year - Particularly stressfull, but lessons learned!

[Papaye]

Hello.

God... I feel so bad...

I just found the biggest one of my Light Dusky ducklings dead in its coop. Poor baby was crushed to death by its mama... throat-level!!

I know it a major risk when we let hens raise babies... especially with big hens such as Brahmas...
I was prepared to have some losses, but fact is : I am not happy about that.
I feel guilty, even though I know it is not my fault...

Poor baby. I hope Angels are good to it!

@shawluvsbirds :

Oh.My.God...!!

This Cayuga is so impressive...!! I have NEVER seen one so white!!
We (are supposed to) love Cayuga because of their black and shiny feathers, and yet, this one is just so amazing nobody could not want to take it home...!

Wow...
Seriously : wow...

Thank you very much for the pictures.

 

[shawluvsbirds]

Hello.

God... I feel so bad...

I just found the biggest one of my Light Dusky ducklings dead in its coop. Poor baby was crushed to death by its mama... throat-level!!

I know it a major risk when we let hens raise babies... especially with big hens such as Brahmas...
I was prepared to have some losses, but fact is : I am not happy about that.
I feel guilty, even though I know it is not my fault...

Poor baby. I hope Angels are good to it!

@shawluvsbirds :

Oh.My.God...!!

This Cayuga is so impressive...!! I have NEVER seen one so white!!
We (are supposed to) love Cayuga because of their black and shiny feathers, and yet, this one is just so amazing nobody could not want to take it home...!

Wow...
Seriously : wow...

Thank you very much for the pictures.

Sorry you lost one.
I know it's frustrating.
Anything can happen wether your brooding or letting them raise them. I've even had two cayugas that were co- brooding try to rip a duckling apart when it hatched.

 

[shawluvsbirds]

Here are some more duck pics to cheer you up

 

[Papaye]

Hi!

Sorry you lost one.
I know it's frustrating.
Anything can happen wether your brooding or letting them raise them.

Don't know... at least, it is easier for me - and to be honest : probably cheaper - when I let the hens raise the babies!

Last year already, I found my first duckling dead crushed to death by its mama...
And just some days later, another duckling had died in its coop, during the night - but not even crushed this time : he had probably died from cold or from fright, since there was a big storm then...

They die so easily, these poor babies...

(But with my smaller hens, I had no loss!)

...Thank you for your kindness!

I've even had two cayugas that were co- brooding try to rip a duckling apart when it hatched.

Wow... that's terrible!
I would have thought each one would want to be THE mama, and not kill it...?!

Here are some more duck pics to cheer you up

Thank you!

I showed them to my mom, and she did not recognize the Cayugas, so white they are - ah, ah!

You know, I actually am thinking to bring home another breed of duck... and Cayugas are my first choice, since they are so beautiful, and pretty good layer... and it is sad to say, but in the worst case, if I can not give the young drakes born in my yard : they are renowed to have a delicious meat.

I am thinking about bringing some home in summer or fall, but I am still not sure if I am really going to take Cayugas or not.
But your pictures make me envious...!!

(If I adopt Cayuga, I would also like to make some mixed breed. I have seen some beautiful Cayuga cross ducks, and I would want to make some Chocolate coloured...!)

 

[Papaye]

Hi.

Here is a picture of the ducklings taken just now :

God... they grow so fast...
(They seemed to be so much smaller yesterday...!!)

...White feathers are just starting to grow out from the yellow duckling, so I don't think it is lavender despite its feathers leakages...?

Since I hold it everyday so it can be used to me, I also could notice there are actually TWO colours in the leakages this time : gray/lavender/blue (whatever it is), and a darker colour that could be black or brown...

(Do somedy know about Splash Indian Runner...? What do they look like...? Because I do wonder if leakages in white feathers could mean the duckling would actually be Splash coloured?)

...I will post new pictures soon!

 

[Papaye]

Hi.

I promised pictures, so here they are :

Runner ducklings grow so fast... right?
And to say they are only one-month-old...

I have banded them three days ago, with resin, closed leg bands.

Since the ducklings are Indian Runners, I use 16 mm leg bands specifically.
(Fact is : the first time I banded my Runner ducklings, I actually wanted to use 14 mm leg rings as recommended; but since I could not find them anywhere anymore, I bought the 16 mm ones instead... and I found it worked perfectly fine! So, I decided I would only use this size for my Runners from now on!
...With 16 mm leg bands, I just have to wait for my ducklings to be 29/30-days-old to put them on them...)

The next day after having put the leg bands on these ducklings - so two days ago -, I have moved them in another run, so they would have a direct access to the pool.
(...I always wait for my ducklings to be one-month-old before letting them bath/swim...)

Besides, they are now big enough for the corvids to not be a threat for their life, so I don't have to worry about letting them freerange unsupervised...

(I have a lot of cats in my yard, but strangely, none attack even my youngest ducklings... weird for wild cats, but I'm not complaining!)

The ducklings' juvenile plumage has started to emerge, and I have not succeeded in taking good pictures, but I have to say the Light Dusky ones' (juvenile) feathers are really beautiful : contrary to their adult colours, they are a rich brown for the time being... actually almost a mahogany red...! (And shiny!)

That's a shame I never seem to be able to start developing a talent for photography...

The yellowish duckling is growing out white feathers... and darker ones where there are leakages on his feathers.
But since the sun is so strong for now, I can not tell if the darker feathers are brown, black, or whatever other colours could actually show...
(Besides, all of the juvenile feathers still have not emerged leakages-level, so the only spot the leakages are starting to show some colours is centered just above the tail...)

...Voilà.

I will post the next pictures when there are more juvenile feathers on the ducklings, so we can then see what colours are emerging from the white duckling.
I also will try to take better pictures, but I can not make any promise...