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Our New Additions
After the raccoon attack late this winter, we were down to having only two laying ducks. Nipper is still recovering and has not resumed laying. We don’t know whether she ever will. I started searching for some year-old duck hens and finally found some advertised less than an hour from home... -
White ducks with dark bills/feet. Breed?
I am considering replacing my lost duck with one from a farm. The owner thinks they are pekins, but the picture on his add shows adult, white ducks with dark bills and feet along with a few that have pink to orange bills and feet. I didn’t get the impression that he actually knows for sure... -
Lost Flipper to Unknown Predator
While we were at church this evening, some predator breached our enclosed duck pen and killed Flipper and injured our other ducks. We don’t know how it got in, but will figure more out in the morning. The survivors are indoors in the bathtub on towels until morning. They don’t look badly... -
Duck being picked on—pulling feathers
I have four female welsh harlequin ducks, who arrived together almost two years ago and have always been together in the same duck house/pen setup. Recently, I notice that one duck (our most consistent layer) had rough looking feathers. Then, I realized that she had a few feathers missing and... -
Soft shell egg--first egg for my last non-laying duck?
Sometime this afternoon, one of my ducks laid a soft shelled egg in the doorway to the enclosed run. There were three normal eggs in the nest in the duck house this morning, as usual. I have four WH ducks, but until today, I have always had three eggs in the nest each morning, so I have been... -
My Halloween Pumpkin Guts Started Fermenting
Can I still safely offer them to my ducks? I carved fresh pumpkins on Tuesday evening and put all the guts and seeds into a container, thinking that I would get to separating the seeds for baking the next day. But something came up, so I put a lid on, to avoid attracting fruit flies and... -
Bedding Choices - Fallen Oak Leaves?
I live in the Central Plains and our winters usually include many weeks of subfreezing weather, without a thaw. I have a 50-60 foot pin oak tree in my yard that drops a LOT of leaves this time of year. I thought I read somewhere that fallen oak leaves are useful as bedding for ducks. I'm... -
Dried blood on outside of duck egg
I have four Welsh harlequin hens, two of which appear to lay daily. I don't know which two. Since they started laying about a month ago, there have been two eggs every morning. This morning, one of the eggs had blood streaks on the outside. There was no apparent blood on the straw inside... -
First ever duck egg today
Our ducks finally moved outside full time last week and this afternoon, I found our first ever duck egg. Our Welsh harlequins are 23 weeks old. I didn't know whether we would get eggs before winter. I'm going to buy oyster shell this afternoon. Anything else I should know? I'm new at all of... -
Preparing new duck house/pen for winter
My Welsh harlequins are 23 weeks old and just moved outside full time last week. Overnight temps are currently in the fifties and sixties F and days are sixties to low nineties, now, but will be dropping with the approaching fall. We get a lot of winter days with highs in the teens and lows...