New Australian Hatching Mystery Egg at Home

[sumi]

Quote:

More great info an raising and feeding ducklings here: http://lolasmith777.hubpages.com/hub/How-to-Raise-Baby-Ducklings

Starter meal (Eaten from 0-2 weeks)

Yellow Cornmeal 11 cups
Soybean meal (44% protein) 3.5 cups
Wheat bran 2 cups
Meat and bone meal(50% protein) 1/2 cup
Fish meal (60% protein) 1/2 cup
Alfalfa meal (17.5% protein) 1/2 cup
Dried skim milk 1/2 cup
Brewer's dried yeast 1 1/2 cups
Dicalcium phosphate (18.5% phosphate) 1Tbsp.
Iodized salt 1tsp.​

And I guess you may have seen this already, but here's a great thread on duck feed and supplements:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/242460/the-ultimate-list-of-duck-treats-and-supplements

Congratulations on your hatch!! So many fuzzy wuzzies! (speaking of, Basil has the cutest fluffy butt I have ever seen, chocolate brown on top and super fluffy white underneath! Waahh!) Thank you so so much for these recipes, they were exactly the sort of thing I was looking for! Everytime I tried to google "home made duck starter recipes" I just got a bunch of appertizers featuring ducks-- TOTALLY not what I wanted!! These are wonderful though, I will do my best to get these things for him! How much does the recipe make up/how many serves, do you know? The measurements seem quite large to me, so I'm curious to know how long it lasts like that.

I love the treats and supplements guide! I have been referring back to that a lot with what vegetables and such to give to Basil; I'm glad I read it before I started feeding him because I would have definitely give him Spinach otherwise thinking it was good for him like it is for my parrots!
Thank you. It was a great hatch 9/9 but I was so sad when their mom came to collect them. I had no idea how easy it would be to fall in love with those little things. They are just adorable!
LOL The same thing happened to me a few times. I look for something to give to chickens and get a lovely chicken recipe and I don't eat chicken! I've learned to word my searches so Google gets what I'm looking for. The recipe is for quite a large amount of food, so I think if you do a 1/10th at a time? Then it won't sit and go stale. I hear ducklings have ferocious appetites though. Oh, I hear peas is a great treat for them... If you want to spoil the little one even more

 

[crystal10asee]

Well a flock Of wood ducks just landed in the middle of my football match today, I I just stood their thinking....LAY AN EGG LAY AN EGG!!!!!!!
<LOL>

 

how funny!

 

[ozexpat]

Awww, thank you for sharing in the adventure! I'm glad they forgave you! Empty stomachs can be fed by the super cuteness of baby ducklings!!

yeah but they get stuck in my teeth

 

[megacakes]

So far no luck in finding yellow corn meal, but I'll keep looking.

Cornmeal is hard to find here. When I make cornbread, I use polenta, which is (I think) basically the same thing, and you should be able to get it at the supermarket easily.

 

[LFchixranch]

Polenta is a boiled, slow-cooked cornmeal "mush" -- typically made with coarsely ground yellow corn meal.

 

[piglett]

yeah but they get stuck in my teeth

OZ your bad, one of these ladies may have to spank you

 

[Teloka]

You are a good duckling mommy and Basil is a very lucky ducky

Thanks for the update! The way you described it I could almost see him playing in the garden!
I've heard about the niacin deficiency in ducklings, but I don't know much about it or their diets, but if you have a mo why don't you post down in the ducks section and ask there? I know there are very knowledgeable duck owners here who would be able to advice you and could help you work out a feeding plan for him that would meet all his needs. Here's a shortcut to the ducks:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/42/ducks

Thank you. It was a great hatch 9/9 but I was so sad when their mom came to collect them. I had no idea how easy it would be to fall in love with those little things. They are just adorable!
LOL The same thing happened to me a few times. I look for something to give to chickens and get a lovely chicken recipe and I don't eat chicken! I've learned to word my searches so Google gets what I'm looking for. The recipe is for quite a large amount of food, so I think if you do a 1/10th at a time? Then it won't sit and go stale. I hear ducklings have ferocious appetites though. Oh, I hear peas is a great treat for them... If you want to spoil the little one even more

I am SO glad to hear that things are going better with Basil now! What a relief! Thanks for your update. Sounds like you guys are having a blast with him! What a good duck mom you are! He's getting around and experiencing new things. Enjoy your time with Basil! Looking forward to more pics & updates!

I'm going to try and post some more pictures before dinner if I can! I got some really beautiful ones of him playing in the garden! He's just soooo cuuuuteee. As for him settling- I think he is scared of the dark! Or more specifically, bed time! When I tried to go to sleep last night with him at the bedside in his brooder, he suddenly got upset and was real unhappy! I wonder if he is upset in the bedroom, or because he can see me asleep? I thought that would comfort him, but he was just as unhappy last night as the night before even though he seems to like the new brooder. He even climbed up the chicken wire front like a little jail breaker gymnast, it's astounding! I gave him a mirror, and that seemed to make him a bit more comfortable. I guess his instincts are saying "snuggle under Mummy's wing to sleep" because the second I picked him up at all, he just cuddled right in and closed his eyes, but it's not safe for him to sleep next to me like that. Poor baby, I hope tonight will be better for him with the mirror, and we'll have some exercise before bed so he might feel more sleepy.

Polenta is a boiled, slow-cooked cornmeal "mush" -- typically made with coarsely ground yellow corn meal.

Thank you so so much! I saw Polenta and sort of puzzled over it for a while but wasn't sure, so thank you for clarifying! I got some today, just in case he doesn't like the bought starter I can keep making one from home with more ingredients

 

[sumi]

Quote:

Awww, you were just incubating them for the mother duck? Was she a bad sitter like Jemima Puddleduck? hehehehe. Lucky mother duck though, she got off easy! No time sitting on eggs but a bunch of cute little ducklings at the end of it. And re feed, great news, I found unmedicated duckling starter!! (I also found a medicated duck starter that was medicated for Coccidiosis but I passed on it just in case). It's called "duckling starter mash", and I'm going to give Basil some with his dinner tonight and see how he likes it. I still will give him his choice of greens though, although perhaps if I can cut back a bit on the broccoli it won't be as smelly. I hope it will meet all his needs a bit easier now! I want to give him the best of the best of everything!

I went to check out the link to the Ducks thread, and ironically I found a post by a friend of mine posting about Basil! Had to assure her I do have some idea what I'm doing with a baby duckling..

Well, mother duck (I don't think she'd mind if we call her that, she's super sweet) is my DS's teacher at school. She regularly hatches ducklings, but her incubator broke and she has orders to fill, so she asked me if I'd hatch some eggs for her. I think I'm going to do another batch for her soon. I'm just waiting to see what the deal is with the eggs I pinched from my broody. She found a hidden nest with 24 eggs in it and decided to try and hatch them. I took half the eggs and put them in the incubator when the ducklings were done.

I'm glad you found unmedicated food for Basil. Be careful you don't spoil him with the treats! These little guys are so hard to resist.

OMG that was funny! I understand her concerns, but she should've checked with you! It sounds to me like you are doing a great job with the little guy and he's quite happy

 

[appps]

Duh lol

No experience with ducks so this is just a random thought but do you think if there was something in the brooder that he could feel like he was hiding under he might feel safe enough to sleep?

 

[Teloka]

Well, mother duck (I don't think she'd mind if we call her that, she's super sweet) is my DS's teacher at school. She regularly hatches ducklings, but her incubator broke and she has orders to fill, so she asked me if I'd hatch some eggs for her. I think I'm going to do another batch for her soon. I'm just waiting to see what the deal is with the eggs I pinched from my broody. She found a hidden nest with 24 eggs in it and decided to try and hatch them. I took half the eggs and put them in the incubator when the ducklings were done.

I'm glad you found unmedicated food for Basil. Be careful you don't spoil him with the treats! These little guys are so hard to resist.

OMG that was funny! I understand her concerns, but she should've checked with you! It sounds to me like you are doing a great job with the little guy and he's quite happy

OH WOW durrrr I thought you meant an actual mother duck came to get them! I was thinking, wow, what an easy job she's had it! Hahahahaha! That makes more sense, I ought have realized that, hehehe. That's really sweet of you to help her out! She could always try popping her eggs in a casserole dish with a glass bowl on top and a desk lamp for heat.......

I'm just about to give Basil some of the food, I want to watch him while he has it. The woman assured me it was suitable for baby ducklings (he's three days old already, aww!!) and that it contains everything he needs; it appears to be a mix of cracked corn and cracked seeds (I recognize Sorghum from my parrots mix) and possibly some ground up pellets. I think I'm over worrying and fretting about him a lot, haha, but I do think I'll keep giving him his green supplements and some others just in case he doesn't like this mix. Today I scrambled him an egg just plain, and I read that cottage cheese is allowable for ducks and a good source of protein, so I might see if he likes that combo as a bit of a protein pack every now and then; and I also picked him some of the lettuce he liked in our garden and blended it up fine with some grass! I'm definitely one of those super duper spoiling mums, I just can't ever say no to any of my little ones

I appreciate her concern, but it would have been nice if she'd asked me first instead of cross posting somewhere without even contacting me? So far it all seems pretty good and everyone here at BYC is such a great support I think even if I didn't have a clue to start with I would by now! My only real worry is that Basil seems to have taken to nibbling pieces of paper-towel off the flooring of his brooder box!

I'm not sure if it's because he's been pecking and picking at everything on the ground and learning to forage, but he's torn a few decent sized pieces off and gobbled them down before I could take them from his bill; he's so strong and fast! I will have to get him another sort of flooring quick smart if he keeps up with that.