i was always told, 3-4 ducks to 1 drake. one drake is enough to get some fertile eggs, but if you want lots of fertile eggs i would probably keep 2-3 drakes and get 3-4 more ducks, if that's an option. otherwise i would think you are going to have a problem with the drakes over breeding your...
Everyone: I am sorry I made you cry, but just wanted to extend my gratitude to you all. I will probably stay on BYC, bc that will keeping me wanting more someday.
Thank you all for your kind words of encouragement. I know the breeder will give me the respect I gave her. I kept her up to date...
I know this may seem random, but get him a clean feather duster or a stuffed duck and put in with him. so he can "cuddle" with it. the more you handle him the more he will imprint on you and that will make putting him in your flock much harder. when mine were babies i got the a stuffed duck in...
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Thanks, it's bittersweet. I will miss them tremendously but I have to do whats best for them. Part of life is enjoying the things and people in our life at the moment, and accepting when it's time for them to float out of our lives. Life isn't all about our own personal satisfaction...
I just wanted to take some time to say thanks to everyone on here that has given me advice throughout my ducky motherhood. After long debate with myself and some logical thinking I have decided to return my ducks back to the breeder. With their recent flying endeavors and their random trips deep...
do you have a side picture of her/him? i agree with chickenbottom on the showing dominance part. but the pic of the rouen looks like theres a slight curl at the base of her/his tail. it could just be the angle of the picture though. too males won't be in "mating" colors during off season. i'm...
yes, my DH and i crack up when they do it. i would bet to say it has something to do with the male hormones, but mine have never seen a female. either way it's craziness...
I have cayugas which are similar to BEIs. Mine all sounded the same the whole time, and they all ended up being drakes (boys). Their tail feathers came in at 16-18 weeks. So you have a little ways to go before the tail feather starts to curl. More than likely, by the way you described the sound...
All mine ducks are drakes and they all do it. It's pretty funny. There's one who does it more than the others, I always thought it was a dominant gesture. When mine do it, their feathers stand up on their heads like a tomahawk.
Yeah I feed them...lol. I'm going to get more feed today and goin to get a higher protein and hope that will help. They do a lot of free ranging and I wonder if that is considered exercise in a ducks life...haha. But I promise they eat, lots! Could they have worms that's causing them to not gain...
you're right, they don't scratch but they do dig holes while they are rooting around for bugs. they will also eat your vegs. if you don't protect them with some type of wire.
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He had been digging in the mud and the picture is edited a bit with black and white with splash coloring. I didn't notice his bill looked red in that picture. Its more of a blackish green.
do you're males have tail feathers? because female ducks can go through the "motion" of mating and still be females. the shell less egg, i'm not sure about.
I have what I believe are Cayugas, however they are flying, well. They all look identical to Cayuga pictures I've seen online. The BEI pictures seem to be a lot smaller than my birds. My birds have longer necks and longer beaks than the BEIs do. The BEIs look like a Cayuga version of a Call to...
As far as their breed, I held the drake that was the "dad" and I seen pictures of the duck (she was killed by a predator) they both were really big. I asked the breeder and she order Black Cayugas from a Hatchery. She's had the drake for about 8 years and the duck was 2 years old. I recently...
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Thanks for the offered help. I will attempt this and if I need you're help I will let you know
Thanks, but no thanks on the drake, all of mine turned out to be drakes, so now I have three.