➡I accidentally bought Balut eggs: 2 live ducks! Now a Chat Thread!

[ShrekDawg]

I’ll be honest, I have no idea.

Me neither. Maybe the solid part?? But then that’s like half the coop... hmmm.... idk...

 

[ShrekDawg]

They’re a little unsure about their big girl roost LOL

And yes I’m going to come up with something more permanent but I just quickly cleaned the brooder and put new shavings down cause it was starting to smell a little funky (though that could be from the big girl side too. Will clean that tomorrow) and I didn’t want to put the gross poopy MHP back in and it was near bedtime so had to find something fast sooo.... makeshift big girl roost it is!! They did fine with the heat off last night. And I am waiting until they settle in a bit and figure it out before I go take a picture of them all snuggled up on it haha

 

[ShrekDawg]

They were a little disturbed by the flash and started moving around a little bit but they figured it out and were all snuggled in when I just went out to check again.

Took some family photos lol

 

[CrazyCrttr75]

I’ll be honest, I have no idea.

Maybe I need to ask in the duck forum. I thought I would ask y'all first since most of you have been keeping animals a lot longer than I. I didn't know if maybe y'all could see something since you'd be looking through different eyes/point of view. I just don't have a clue either. Thx though!

 

[Conan]

I need some advice y'all. I'm trying to plan ahead. This is my duck area. It's around 48'x40'.
View attachment 1796561
A closer look at the coop.
Front
View attachment 1796567 View attachment 1796570
Originally it was just an open porch and we put sides and a door on to lock them up. Then I came up with a better fold up ramp idea. At night, we pull the ramp up and it has a latch on each side to lock it in place. Then when we let them out in the morning, we just unlatch it and lower it down. Kind of like a drawbridge I guess. So that inner door is just decorative at this point. It stays open at all times. You can see a rectangular area cut out above the inner door. It's covered in HC. The upper portion of the porch is covered in HC on each side. Just helps with ventilation. The sides have those 2 vents. We're going to put 2 more on the other side, just haven't yet. And we want to put on a metal roof. We still need to do that. The black thing on the back is a solar fan that helps circulating the air etc. Then the drop down drawer where I can scoop out the poop, which they love to do right at that back door, clean and/or refresh shavings. It's rough and definitely could use some touch-ups but we make it work.
Side Back
View attachment 1796574 View attachment 1796568

My concern is this. Annabelle likes behind the door area. We normally keep their food and one of their waterers on the porch. It helps keep their food from getting a soggy mess if it rains. I also like that Annabelle has close access to food and water. Not sure that matters, but I like it. I need help coming up with where to move momma and babies. The coop isn't exactly huge, where I can partition them off. Should I build? Would it be easier to buy something? What do I really need or should look in to buying? So basically I am just trying to plan ahead. Am I even making sense lol?

Are you concerned that the other ducks are going to bother Annabelle and the babies? I'd honestly not overthink it and let her do her thing. She will be a force to be reckoned with if anyone tries to mess with her ducklings. If the drake is a problem, I'd remove him before her and her babies.
A dog house would be a back up plan. We built a little door for our dog house (like a tiny drawbridge version of yours) for the call ducks and it works nicely. This would work for both mama and babies or a drake jail. I honestly haven't witnessed any bad behavior by the group if the babies are hatched out by a member. That is not saying that it can't/doesn't happen. Always good to be prepared.

 

[CrazyCrttr75]

Are you concerned that the other ducks are going to bother Annabelle and the babies? I'd honestly not overthink it and let her do her thing. She will be a force to be reckoned with if anyone tries to mess with her ducklings. If the drake is a problem, I'd remove him before her and her babies.
A dog house would be a back up plan. We built a little door for our dog house (like a tiny drawbridge version of yours) for the call ducks and it works nicely. This would work for both mama and babies or a drake jail. I honestly haven't witnessed any bad behavior by the group if the babies are hatched out by a member. That is not saying that it can't/doesn't happen. Always good to be prepared.

I guess my biggest concern was how the others would react to a bunch of little ducklings being thrust on them in "their" territory/sleeping area. I read that you should keep them separated for the first week with a look but no touch kind of treatment and then you could let them all interact. Something like that. So I was just trying to figure out the best way to do that. I didn't think about the possibility of removing Noah from the equation instead of trying to move Annabelle and any ducklings. You see? That is why I ask. Coming from a different perspective can be a good thing.

 

[The Farmers' Daughter]

 

[Conan]

I guess my biggest concern was how the others would react to a bunch of little ducklings being thrust on them in "their" territory/sleeping area. I read that you should keep them separated for the first week with a look but no touch kind of treatment and then you could let them all interact. Something like that. So I was just trying to figure out the best way to do that. I didn't think about the possibility of removing Noah from the equation instead of trying to move Annabelle and any ducklings. You see? That is why I ask. Coming from a different perspective can be a good thing.

I'm definitely not the most experienced duck person out there, but those that I have, and those I've been around, have not required separate housing. I have heard some awful drake stories, though.
You could always pop that inner door up if you witness any bad behavior. Sounds pretty nifty to me!

 

[Conan]

Michelle! Did you hear? My "partridge Chanteclers" are Russian Orloffs... Oh, and I'm pretty sure your namesake is a rooster! He's lovely. That's 'you' on the far left.

 

[Conan]

How is the house? Are you moved in yet?