This spring our Rouen hen laid 19 eggs, 10 hatched (early July). Late September she started laying again. She's been pretty regular at one egg per day. Is this normal?
We got our drake and hen last year when they were about 7 weeks old. She started laying her first few eggs around this time...
I read through several threads on sexing and understand sound, quack or hiss, is the best way other than looking for the corkscrew method. But seems I read somewhere that one has a single black stripe across the eyes and the other has a double stripe across the eyes. When our two were still...
There was originally only one clutch of 17 eggs. Ten hatched, seven did not. Since my post I have not seen her on the remaining seven. She is being a great Mom to the ten ducklings that did hatch. I'll probably just toss the 7 unhatched eggs.
Thanks,
Another twist to the duckling saga. I set up a barricade in the door of the run high enough to keep our new ducklings in but low enough so the adults can come and go. Placed some fresh straw in the run and Waddles built a nest for the ducklings. I thought Waddles had abandoned the remaining 7...
Here's our day-old ducklings going for their first swim. Around 42 seconds Mom grabs one by the scruff of the neck and throws it in. It's amazing how much natural instinct these birds have. Both as ducklings and adults.
Here's our proud Mamma with the first couple ducklings. Around 7AM there was one duckling. Around 6PM I counted seven. She laid 12 eggs total that I could count.
Found this among many others by Googling "Ducks Molting" :
Molting: Putting on a New Feather Coat
Ducks depend on their feathers and old, worn feathers must be replaced. Molting is the process of replacing worn feathers. Ducks molt in the late summer and in the early spring.
During the fall...
Our Rouen drake has some color changing going on. He's just over a year old. In the picture you can see the lighter color coming in around his lower beak, a few speckles near his upper beak and above his eye. What doesn't show up in the photo is around his eyes is turning from the emerald green...
One morning I went out to spend some time with our drake. I set him on the bench next to me and after a short time he jumped in my lap. I found a spot just below the white ring on his neck that when gently rubbed makes him drowsy. Soon he tucked away one foot, closed his eyes and dozed off...
Our female Rouen has been sitting on about 8 eggs since the last week or so of March. Temps were pretty low back then. Last week she rejected one egg by pushing out of the nest. It had a hole in it and some pretty gross grey stuff was coming out.
I'm wondering what I should do in a week or...
I wish I could have gotten this on video but it happened in seconds. A wild mallard landed next to our pond. He barely touched ground when Wade (our rouen) was on the poor unsuspecting mallard. They fought for a couple seconds and the Mallard took off. I finally got my wish of seeing our rouen...
Back story: Even though I built our two Rouens a nice snuggy coop, they insist on hanging out on our patio door step, which is just a single step made of wood. Even when the temps dropped below zero they spent the night on the step instead of the coop except if it was windy.
Problem: Ducks...
This was our first winter with ducks and I feel your pain. We're in Northeast Wisconsin and had a record breaking winter. I found that timing was key. I used to check for eggs when I got home from work around 5 PM. As you, I always found the eggs froze and cracked. Then I started going out in...
Finny, thank you very much for the "ovation". Just one question,please, what is an ovation?
In all fairness, someone shared it with me on FaceBook. I just thought it would be appropriate to share it here. Glad people are getting as big a quack out of it as I did.
We live in De Pere, WI, just south of Green Bay. Ordinances in both cities allow up to four fowl without a permit. Absolutely no roosters. The four can be any combination of chickens, ducks or geese. If you want more than four, then you must get an annual permit. That's the way I read it anyway...
I read somewhere it could take up to a year for ducks to get used to you. We got our two Rouens last June. As others have indicated, I picked them up against their will, talked to them or sometimes just pet them while they are cornered with no place to run. Well, a few weeks ago I was straddling...
Thanks for the response. I do keep water in their run 24/7. I noticed lately they've been digging their beaks in the snow and eating it. Where would I get an antibiotic cream for animals?