FluffTheDuck
Duck love is recognizable in any language
@SansDuck
1) By picture alone, can you see anything wrong with the ducks heathly wise, like feathers, bill, feet? We think they are pretty healthy but I'm not an expert.
Answer: They look pretty healthy. Just make sure to feed them plenty of nutritious things. View this site to see all the goodies they can eat: https://www.fresheggsdaily.com/2013/07/healthy-treats-for-backyard-ducks.html
2) can you tell the age? We're thinking they might be young, when they first arrived they all looked and sound the same. Now that they been here for a few months, one is loud and the other one has curly drake feathers.
Answer: They look like they are 3-5 months. The male has started mating, (that's the "celebration". If you didn't know.) he has his sex feather, he has his raspy quack while the female has the loud quack I heard you say. View this to help with finding out. Scroll down until you find how to find out how old they are: http://www.thegoosesmother.com/id27.html. However, I do think that the female is younger.
3) what are the genders? We are 99% positive that we have one male, one female. Besides the one having a loud quack with no curly feathers, the other one has curly feathers and a soft raspy quack.
The fact that every time we bring them water, the duck with the soft quack will hop onto the others back, grabs their neck, tells me they are not celebrating over having clean water.
And durning one these celebrations, its was very obvious the one on top had a penis.
Well if he as a male mating "piece", that's a male. I know you know that. So a male and also if you look at both of them, can you see how one of them is super colorful? That's the male. The male has bright colors to attract females. The other duck does not have attractive colors, therefore it's a female.
4) if they are dating, when should we expect eggs? They have done this celebration a number of times (almost everytime we bring fresh water) but we cant tell if they were successful? They both get really happy after the one on top falls off and after they will usually shake their tails or take a swim in their water dish lol.
I have tried incubating (at about 5 months on my Pekin ducks) and they were unsuccessful until about the male was at one year was the lucky month. So the male gets his complete fertile-ness I would say around one year. My male started mating at around...3-4 months and then around 3 weeks, she started laying.
5) Also we recently put a fake egg in the ark, they moved it to the back and buried it some in the straw. Does that mean anything? We didnt think putting a egg in there would do anything but it almost seems like they adopted it?
Probably, we made a fake nest and put a fake egg in the nest. When it's about one week until your female starts laying she will start making nests and when she buries the fake egg in her nest, that's when the time starts to come.
6a) this is a three part question. Now that they have a nice house(with straw and cedar bedding), plenty of food, treats including bugs and a good size pen and a moat. Should we eventually allow them to go to the pond durning the day or is it encouraging them to stay in the pond the whole night? Would they learn to come home at night on their own? Or is this just asking for trouble?
They eventually will learn to come during the night. Wait- why'd I say "eventually"? It took my ducks 5 days to learn to "come home". Why? Because I gave them iceberg lettuce at night when it's time to come to bed. But, to be safe, around 6:00 (or whenever it's getting a little dark)
get some iceberg lettuce and crumble it up in their pen. Do that for about 10 days and then around 4:00 if they're out, crumble lettuce in their pen and see if they'll come. If they don't, continue doing this until they learn to come when you crumble lettuce in their pen. Please be patient because all ducks have their own brains and they may be a little dumb.
(Also again I want to clarify, this pond does not get clean and people have fish in it including us in the past.)
Also the ducks would have to cross the street to get to the pond each day, it's not that big of a concern considering we are the last house on a dead end street but accident can still happen.
It is a big concern, have you tried picking them up? How about whenever you want to pick them up and walk across the pond and just throw them in! They love it!
6b) Would I need to worry about snaped fishing lines or hooks that have fallen off into the water hurting them?
Yep! Even snapped fishing lines with no fish hooks can seriously injure them.
6c) opinions on keeping ducks in a backyard with pool/pen vs free range at day and coop at night.
How about planting a lot of trees all around your house/where ever they go that way no evil hawks can get 'em?
And reading about ducks and bacteria from a pond doesnt make me feel safe letting them take a dip either.
Probably not; we built a big pond for them with a recycling waterfall. If you want to do this, go to this website: https://www.thepondguy.com/
7) after a major event or even maturing, do ducks personalities change?
When they first arrived, they were all friendly. Right before the death of the third duck all of them kinda become spooked and weary of humans.
And after the death, they would run away from people if approached to closely.
Yep! My male went from super sweet to ultra-protective when my female started laying.
8)Could a human or something that resembles it killed the third duck and now they're scared of humans? I know we have young kids and teens that hang around the pond occasionally.
If whatever killed the duck was big, the answer is most likely yes.
9) like mentioned we are pretty sure they are pekins, but we could be wrong too. They dont fly but the one that appears female knows how to jump quite high off the ground. Can anyone tell from the provided pictures that they are 100% pekin?
They're definitely a Pekin, but there are different types of Pekins.
American Pekin
The American Pekin duck is a large hearty bird that doesn't feel as fragile as other common domestic ducks. They were introduced to America from China in 1873 by James E. Palmer who started the American flock with 6 hens and 3 drakes. Palmer loaded 15 birds on the ship and only 9 made the trip across the pond. Over half of America's commercial ducks are Pekins today!
These ducks are seen throughout America today at local ponds, commercial farms, backyard farms as pets and even parks. The American Pekin duck lays about 200 eggs per year and is rarely broody, you often need to incubate the eggs. Sexing the duck is often hard until maturity, the drake possesses a drake feather. A drake feather is a single curled feather on its tail. The female has a much louder quack than the drake.
Aylesbury
Aylesbury ducks, although extremely similar in appearance, aren’t actually Pekin ducks. These ducks get their name from the town they originated in Aylesbury, England. Since at least the 1690’s Aylesbury and the surrounding areas have bread ducks. Given the similarities, this breed seems to have been inspired by the Chinese Pekin.
The preferred duck was a hearty white meat bird with clean feathers, this led to selective breeding and by the early 1800s, Aylesbury ducks were a sought-after meat bird being shipped throughout England including London regularly. Aylesbury ducks were considered more flavorful and less fatty than Pekin ducks. Over inbreeding and war led to the Aylesbury's decline, there is only 1 major flock left in England today.
German Pekin
Breeding the Chinese version with an upright Japanese duck from Dutch ships gave the German Pekin an upright stance, much like an Indian Runner Duck but boasts a much stockier appearance.
Pekin ducks arrived in Germany from France and from the UK shortly after they were imported by Walter Steward in 1872, and the German version of Pekin was born. The Pekin duck didn't make it back to the United Kingdom until 1970, Aylesbury is the preferred duck meat choice in the UK to this day.
Germany has not farmed the German Pekin commercially since the second world war and is listed on the critically endangered species list. Today these birds are kept as pets and displayed in shows.
The German Pekin started shortly after they were imported into the UK in 1872 by Walter Steward, that's how they made their way to Germany and the German Pekin duck was born. The Pekin duck didn't make it back to the United Kingdom until 1970.
Jumbo Pekin
Jumbo Pekins are bred by crossing a meaty strain Pekin drake with a medium sized Pekin hen. The largest Pekin you can get, these birds are often a preferred choice for meat birds because of their size and fertility rates. Because these ducks grow so fast their legs aren't built to hold their own weight which reduces their life cycle and productivity. This is the reason people do not usually keep them as pets.
White Crested Duck
A domestic White Crested Duck looks nearly identical to a Pekin duck, but it's not exactly a Pekin. Domestic Crested Ducks most likely originated in the East Indies being depicted in paintings over 2000 years ago.
So how do these guys get their cute little hair do’s? It's a deformity of the skull caused by a genetic mutation called Hemizygous. This gene causes a sharp decrease in hatchability rates, ⅓ of the ducklings that survive incubation will not have a crested head.
Please note that there is a difference between wild and domestic crested ducks. Wild crested ducks don't have that cute little fluff ball on their heads.
Grimaud Hybrid Pekins
With an American Pekin like appearance, these ducks are created in France by Grimaud Freres. Grimaud ducks are genetically modified to be fertile, high output egg layers with an improved feed conversion ratio for meat birds. Due to the proprietary nature, little is known about this breed other than what's posted on Mr. Freres website.
10) what are the most important things i should know as a new duck owner? Suggestions, tips, tricks, and other helpful information you cant easily find online would be greatly appreciated.
Always watch out for diseases. Daily check their bottom feet (or once a week check for diseases). My article "Bumblefoot: What is it?" will help you find if they have bumblefoot. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/bumblefoot-what-is-it.74647/
1) By picture alone, can you see anything wrong with the ducks heathly wise, like feathers, bill, feet? We think they are pretty healthy but I'm not an expert.
Answer: They look pretty healthy. Just make sure to feed them plenty of nutritious things. View this site to see all the goodies they can eat: https://www.fresheggsdaily.com/2013/07/healthy-treats-for-backyard-ducks.html
2) can you tell the age? We're thinking they might be young, when they first arrived they all looked and sound the same. Now that they been here for a few months, one is loud and the other one has curly drake feathers.
Answer: They look like they are 3-5 months. The male has started mating, (that's the "celebration". If you didn't know.) he has his sex feather, he has his raspy quack while the female has the loud quack I heard you say. View this to help with finding out. Scroll down until you find how to find out how old they are: http://www.thegoosesmother.com/id27.html. However, I do think that the female is younger.
3) what are the genders? We are 99% positive that we have one male, one female. Besides the one having a loud quack with no curly feathers, the other one has curly feathers and a soft raspy quack.
The fact that every time we bring them water, the duck with the soft quack will hop onto the others back, grabs their neck, tells me they are not celebrating over having clean water.
And durning one these celebrations, its was very obvious the one on top had a penis.
Well if he as a male mating "piece", that's a male. I know you know that. So a male and also if you look at both of them, can you see how one of them is super colorful? That's the male. The male has bright colors to attract females. The other duck does not have attractive colors, therefore it's a female.
4) if they are dating, when should we expect eggs? They have done this celebration a number of times (almost everytime we bring fresh water) but we cant tell if they were successful? They both get really happy after the one on top falls off and after they will usually shake their tails or take a swim in their water dish lol.
I have tried incubating (at about 5 months on my Pekin ducks) and they were unsuccessful until about the male was at one year was the lucky month. So the male gets his complete fertile-ness I would say around one year. My male started mating at around...3-4 months and then around 3 weeks, she started laying.
5) Also we recently put a fake egg in the ark, they moved it to the back and buried it some in the straw. Does that mean anything? We didnt think putting a egg in there would do anything but it almost seems like they adopted it?
Probably, we made a fake nest and put a fake egg in the nest. When it's about one week until your female starts laying she will start making nests and when she buries the fake egg in her nest, that's when the time starts to come.
6a) this is a three part question. Now that they have a nice house(with straw and cedar bedding), plenty of food, treats including bugs and a good size pen and a moat. Should we eventually allow them to go to the pond durning the day or is it encouraging them to stay in the pond the whole night? Would they learn to come home at night on their own? Or is this just asking for trouble?
They eventually will learn to come during the night. Wait- why'd I say "eventually"? It took my ducks 5 days to learn to "come home". Why? Because I gave them iceberg lettuce at night when it's time to come to bed. But, to be safe, around 6:00 (or whenever it's getting a little dark)
get some iceberg lettuce and crumble it up in their pen. Do that for about 10 days and then around 4:00 if they're out, crumble lettuce in their pen and see if they'll come. If they don't, continue doing this until they learn to come when you crumble lettuce in their pen. Please be patient because all ducks have their own brains and they may be a little dumb.
(Also again I want to clarify, this pond does not get clean and people have fish in it including us in the past.)
Also the ducks would have to cross the street to get to the pond each day, it's not that big of a concern considering we are the last house on a dead end street but accident can still happen.
It is a big concern, have you tried picking them up? How about whenever you want to pick them up and walk across the pond and just throw them in! They love it!
6b) Would I need to worry about snaped fishing lines or hooks that have fallen off into the water hurting them?
Yep! Even snapped fishing lines with no fish hooks can seriously injure them.
6c) opinions on keeping ducks in a backyard with pool/pen vs free range at day and coop at night.
How about planting a lot of trees all around your house/where ever they go that way no evil hawks can get 'em?
And reading about ducks and bacteria from a pond doesnt make me feel safe letting them take a dip either.
Probably not; we built a big pond for them with a recycling waterfall. If you want to do this, go to this website: https://www.thepondguy.com/
7) after a major event or even maturing, do ducks personalities change?
When they first arrived, they were all friendly. Right before the death of the third duck all of them kinda become spooked and weary of humans.
And after the death, they would run away from people if approached to closely.
Yep! My male went from super sweet to ultra-protective when my female started laying.
8)Could a human or something that resembles it killed the third duck and now they're scared of humans? I know we have young kids and teens that hang around the pond occasionally.
If whatever killed the duck was big, the answer is most likely yes.
9) like mentioned we are pretty sure they are pekins, but we could be wrong too. They dont fly but the one that appears female knows how to jump quite high off the ground. Can anyone tell from the provided pictures that they are 100% pekin?
They're definitely a Pekin, but there are different types of Pekins.
American Pekin
The American Pekin duck is a large hearty bird that doesn't feel as fragile as other common domestic ducks. They were introduced to America from China in 1873 by James E. Palmer who started the American flock with 6 hens and 3 drakes. Palmer loaded 15 birds on the ship and only 9 made the trip across the pond. Over half of America's commercial ducks are Pekins today!
These ducks are seen throughout America today at local ponds, commercial farms, backyard farms as pets and even parks. The American Pekin duck lays about 200 eggs per year and is rarely broody, you often need to incubate the eggs. Sexing the duck is often hard until maturity, the drake possesses a drake feather. A drake feather is a single curled feather on its tail. The female has a much louder quack than the drake.
Aylesbury
Aylesbury ducks, although extremely similar in appearance, aren’t actually Pekin ducks. These ducks get their name from the town they originated in Aylesbury, England. Since at least the 1690’s Aylesbury and the surrounding areas have bread ducks. Given the similarities, this breed seems to have been inspired by the Chinese Pekin.
The preferred duck was a hearty white meat bird with clean feathers, this led to selective breeding and by the early 1800s, Aylesbury ducks were a sought-after meat bird being shipped throughout England including London regularly. Aylesbury ducks were considered more flavorful and less fatty than Pekin ducks. Over inbreeding and war led to the Aylesbury's decline, there is only 1 major flock left in England today.
German Pekin
Breeding the Chinese version with an upright Japanese duck from Dutch ships gave the German Pekin an upright stance, much like an Indian Runner Duck but boasts a much stockier appearance.
Pekin ducks arrived in Germany from France and from the UK shortly after they were imported by Walter Steward in 1872, and the German version of Pekin was born. The Pekin duck didn't make it back to the United Kingdom until 1970, Aylesbury is the preferred duck meat choice in the UK to this day.
Germany has not farmed the German Pekin commercially since the second world war and is listed on the critically endangered species list. Today these birds are kept as pets and displayed in shows.
The German Pekin started shortly after they were imported into the UK in 1872 by Walter Steward, that's how they made their way to Germany and the German Pekin duck was born. The Pekin duck didn't make it back to the United Kingdom until 1970.
Jumbo Pekin
Jumbo Pekins are bred by crossing a meaty strain Pekin drake with a medium sized Pekin hen. The largest Pekin you can get, these birds are often a preferred choice for meat birds because of their size and fertility rates. Because these ducks grow so fast their legs aren't built to hold their own weight which reduces their life cycle and productivity. This is the reason people do not usually keep them as pets.
White Crested Duck
A domestic White Crested Duck looks nearly identical to a Pekin duck, but it's not exactly a Pekin. Domestic Crested Ducks most likely originated in the East Indies being depicted in paintings over 2000 years ago.
So how do these guys get their cute little hair do’s? It's a deformity of the skull caused by a genetic mutation called Hemizygous. This gene causes a sharp decrease in hatchability rates, ⅓ of the ducklings that survive incubation will not have a crested head.
Please note that there is a difference between wild and domestic crested ducks. Wild crested ducks don't have that cute little fluff ball on their heads.
Grimaud Hybrid Pekins
With an American Pekin like appearance, these ducks are created in France by Grimaud Freres. Grimaud ducks are genetically modified to be fertile, high output egg layers with an improved feed conversion ratio for meat birds. Due to the proprietary nature, little is known about this breed other than what's posted on Mr. Freres website.
10) what are the most important things i should know as a new duck owner? Suggestions, tips, tricks, and other helpful information you cant easily find online would be greatly appreciated.
Always watch out for diseases. Daily check their bottom feet (or once a week check for diseases). My article "Bumblefoot: What is it?" will help you find if they have bumblefoot. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/bumblefoot-what-is-it.74647/
hoping 
