Pekin Duck Club!

[Bducky]

It's finally cooling down. The ducks will be happy about this.

 

[Strawberryswyrl]

Today was a sad, sad day. A fox got both of my ducks, little Billie-Beak and Raptor. I had taken them to my mom's to watch them while we went to a family event out of state and she left their pen open and a fox made off with them. I have been so upset all day. They were such happy birds and lived a good life. Rest in peace my little beakies!

 

[zzack354]

How sad it is to hear your news. Heartbreaking! I am so sorry for your loss.

 

[Amiga]

Today was a sad, sad day. A fox got both of my ducks, little Billie-Beak and Raptor. I had taken them to my mom's to watch them while we went to a family event out of state and she left their pen open and a fox made off with them. I have been so upset all day. They were such happy birds and lived a good life. Rest in peace my little beakies!

Oh, no.

 

[chickery-do]

Today was a sad, sad day. A fox got both of my ducks, little Billie-Beak and Raptor. I had taken them to my mom's to watch them while we went to a family event out of state and she left their pen open and a fox made off with them. I have been so upset all day. They were such happy birds and lived a good life. Rest in peace my little beakies!

Their in a special place waiting for you.

Some of us have been there with you and I'm hoping to reunite w/ them in heaven

 

[JayBird42991]

Hey everyone, wanted to update on the 4 Pekins. So they have really slowed down laying and have just now ( weeks after laying) are now sitting. I don't have much hope for the eggs though. I'm still very new to the laying/ hatching without an incubator. My biggie is still mounting them and seems to be getting some from the other 3 females. Just out of curiosity, is the one male really mounting all of them though? And I don't eat my duck eggs. I have an issue with bit because I raised them from ducklings and it just doesn't sit well with me. Also the other day, my partner found an egg that literally looked like a ping pong ball. It was completely round. I know he ahoulsnt have touched it but it was rather odd. He places it back in and biggie manages to squish it. It had no yolk in it. I mean I know bit wasn't fertilized but is this normal?

 

[chickensnewtome]

Quote:
so sorry!!!

 

[pullonyourboots]

well now that he is 4 months it sounds like he is reaching sexual maturity which changes everything in an animal. I hear about pet racoons, skunks, chickens... ext... once they reach a certain age they can become aggressive.

 

[goosiemama]

So so sorry. They were the cutest little things. I have no words except I'm so sorry for your loss.

 

[countrygirl74]

Hi! I'm new to this thread and a new Pekin duck owner. I live in Indiana. I have 2 Pekin ducks that are 6 weeks old named Smith and Wesson. I've had chickens, turkeys, guineas, cows, and goats for years.

So, I bought a kiddie pool for them. They have a 5 gallon tub in their house.

Here are a few of my questions, if y'all could help please.

1. What am I supposed to do in the winter for their swimming? Do they need to swim in the winter?
2. What kind of bedding do you use? I have access to shavings and straw. Currently I have 1/2 their house with straw and 1/2 with shavings covering a cement floor. They both get wet and nasty, so it's cleaned daily.
3. It's currently just the two of them in their house. Can I put them in with my chickens eventually? Is that safe for them?
4. Based on what I've read, I think I may have a boy and a girl. The boy is quieter, and it looks like one of his tail feathers is starting to curve. The girl is a loud quacker, the first to investigate, the first to the food or the pool. The only thing is it looks like a tail feather is curling also. How old will they be for the tail feather to be definite proof of sex?

Thanks for any help you can give me.

1. I provide swimming water for them in the winter as mine will be in the water even if it's snowing outside - crazy ducks. You don't have to provide it constantly, but they will enjoy an occasional winter swim.
2. I use pine shavings. Didn't like the straw - seemed to get wet, heavy and stinky faster. However, I also have a dirt floor run with a "dog-house" shelter. They keep the shelter pretty clean, only using it for laying and getting out of inclement weather. I use the deep litter method with pine shavings for the entire run, stirring up occasionally.
3. Lots of people raise their chickens and ducks together. I chose not to because my ducks pick on the chickens too much - too much fighting. The only concern you should have is making sure that your drake has plenty of girls and watch him around your hens as some males will try to mount chickens and it can greatly damage them or kill them. Chickens are not built to be able to take what your drake wants to give them.
4. You should be able to tell by their quack long before you see the drake feather come in. Males are quiet, hoarse, whispery quackers while the girls are loud.

Haven't posted in a while, but has anybody here ever incubated their pekin eggs? I've been thinking about doin it. Only my female hasn't started laying yet. She won't be 6 months old until October. I've been thinking about ordering some from a hatchery, but my question is, why is it more expensive to buy hatching chicken eggs than duck eggs. And why is buying hatching duck eggs, cheaper than buying day old ducklings? Is it more requirements for duck eggs? Are hatch rates lower on duck eggs, is fertility lower in duck eggs?

I would wait about a year before trying to incubate. It gives your ducks a chance to mature so that you'll have healthy ducklings and I also found that our drake had to "practice" a lot to get those eggs fertilized at a decent rate. For the first few months of laying, we noticed that our duck eggs were only fertilized maybe 25% of the time. It has increased to closer to 50% as we have given him more time.

suggestion for ducklings. Im in Erie PA and it will gets cold fast. I will have 4 of them next week and will brood them in my house but I don't want them in all winter! I know Pekin adults do fine in cold weather so WHEN can I move them into their new home outside?

They need to be fully feathered. We raised ours in the fall and had to wait too long - will definitely raise in the spring next time!

However, I did notice that my regular Pekins feathered out much faster than my Jumbo Pekin - they are really slow to mature. It also helps to acclimate them some - we would put ours out during the days when it was still cold, but sunny - then bring them in at night until we knew they were well-feathered and had gotten used to the temps some. Of course, we kept our house pretty chilly at night too - not good for them to be out in cold all day and then brought into a very warm house all night. Ours were about 2 months old when we put them all outside on a permanent basis. Silly ducks didn't even sleep in their shelter - they preferred to sleep out in the open and when I would go out to feed in the morning, their backs were covered with frost! But here we are almost a year later and they are happy and healthy.

Hey everyone, wanted to update on the 4 Pekins. So they have really slowed down laying and have just now ( weeks after laying) are now sitting. I don't have much hope for the eggs though. I'm still very new to the laying/ hatching without an incubator. My biggie is still mounting them and seems to be getting some from the other 3 females. Just out of curiosity, is the one male really mounting all of them though? And I don't eat my duck eggs. I have an issue with bit because I raised them from ducklings and it just doesn't sit well with me. Also the other day, my partner found an egg that literally looked like a ping pong ball. It was completely round. I know he ahoulsnt have touched it but it was rather odd. He places it back in and biggie manages to squish it. It had no yolk in it. I mean I know bit wasn't fertilized but is this normal?

In their first year, they are getting their systems all worked out, so yes, it can be perfectly normal to have soft-shelled, weird eggs now and then. As long as she seems healthy otherwise, everything should be fine. Are you providing oyster shell for them? Also, if you can't bring yourself to actually eat the duck eggs, maybe try baking with them? They are the choice of chefs for baking!
As for the mounting - yes, you can be assured your male is covering them. They are little sex machines and it is usually necessary to have 3 girls to 1 boy to keep any of your girls from being over-mated.

Today was a sad, sad day. A fox got both of my ducks, little Billie-Beak and Raptor. I had taken them to my mom's to watch them while we went to a family event out of state and she left their pen open and a fox made off with them. I have been so upset all day. They were such happy birds and lived a good life. Rest in peace my little beakies!

So sorry!!!