Recent content by KathiQuacks

Fingers under their belly and thumbs over their wings. If that’s how you hold them, you need not worry. Their wings will be just fine. You could get them to come for food, like suggested; mine have learned the words “food” and “treat.” You could also create a funnel-shaped fence leading towards...

Maybe.. Welshes also originated from Khakis, so I’m not too surprised you have this coloration.

Looks like a Welsh Harlequin to me. There’s a couple breeds that are yellow as ducklings and turn brown as adults.

Hey! I have 2 ducks with that trait, too :) Their parents do not have it, and the rest of their siblings do not have it, either, so it’s quite strange. Still very cool!

Agreed, I wouldn’t rely on behavior to determine gender right now. If you’d like, you can upload a video of the month old’s voice to YouTube, link it here, and we’ll voice-sex them for you :)

@Canadian Wind @Miss Lydia @oldhenlikesdogs might be able to help better than me. I’ve no knowledge on goslings, and not quite enough on ducklings to help here. Not sure about niacin deficiency with it being a hatchling, and yes, the red spot is where the umbilical cord was.

Couldn’t you label their eggs so it’s less of a guessing game? I write a number and the first letter of the mama’s name.

He’d move out of the way whenever his hens needed to lay, but as soon as they were done, he’d hop right back on the nest and stay there all night ❤️ I think he was upset my girls weren’t broody and tried to take their job haha

Silver / Splash Swedes I believe can be light grey with a white chest / white speckles, or totally white. Not my photos, but some I found online. Also, record a video of their voices, upload it to YouTube, and link it here. We can voice-sex them for you :)

Yes!! My eldest drake was “broody” for a few months. It’s not a very common behavior in ducks, though. Here’s some pictures of him, He doesn’t do this now, but I figure he will start up again next spring :rolleyes:

Very tasty soup there! Your ducks remind me of my own ducks so much.. I love how they chatter and bicker ❤️

Oh, it’s not great.. I’ve heard of people using the deep-litter method in the brooder / coop to help with smell, but I haven’t tried it myself. If you have more of an open-air coop, it might be better, too. I guess it depends on how much space they have. I had to clean once a day for their...

Yes, ducks need duck friends; chickens won’t suffice. Ducks don’t need a swimming pool / pond all the time, but it’s good for their feathers to have a swim once or twice a week at least. Yes, it stinks.. it’s even worse when they eat too much protein! If you only have female ducks, they can...

If you want quiet ducks, you should have Muscovy ducks 😂 Or an all-drake flock, but those can be chaotic. If you mean the duckling that jumps up and chatters, no, that’s a female. In fact, she looks like the same girl you showed before.

Not necessarily. I had one duckling who got too excited and tried to push out early, getting herself stuck halfway through. I had a few in my last hatch who had no egg tooth, making it impossible for them to hatch on their own, despite being perfectly healthy otherwise. There’s certainly other...