2019 Spring Ducklings are here!

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Duckling update: Despite howling winds here in WV - the national weather service interrupted the radio program to warn for gusts over 50 mph - i assembled duckling's new home!
Handling the tarps in that weather was quite a challenge! Here we go, this is the new duckling cave, i closed up the area under the (chicken) nest boxes with plywood.

This part will be filled with a thick layer of straw and an infrared-lamp will be installed to provide warmth.

To convince the ducklings that this is in fact a duck-house i have added the duck-family sign (stolen from a dutch traffic sign…)

This is how the new duckling cave looks inside:

Here is the whole house fully assembled:

There is a door at the end of the run, that i may use to add an extension so that the (not so) little ones have more space:

The whole house is 204cm (80") long and 92cm (36") wide, the height without the roof is 106cm (42"). The upper level is blocked off, as the little ones won't use the ramp to get up there, i will use it to store some »equipment« (meal-worms) and the infrared-lamp. Starting Wednesday the forecast predicts no frost over night, so they may move out of the garage that day.

 

[DuckyDonna]

that is so exciting. YOu have done a beautiful job in every way! I can't wait to see how they like it!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Looks great can't wait to see them in their new home.

 

[SailorNoMore]

Good Job!

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Duckling Update:
I came back from town yesterday (2/27) opened the garage door and out came three ducklings! They removed the clips that secured the tarp to the cardboard, pulled the tarp back into the brooder and chewed through the cardboard box wall and i had to chase them down in the garage. All 14 are accounted for, there's poop in the most unlikely places, like in a box with Christmas decoration. My garage is a very dangerous place for little ducklings, there's a chain-saw, a razor-sharp machete and a large box with screws and nails, that if ingested...
So they had to go into their new outside home immediately. I attached a heat-pad to one side, installed the heat lamp and placed all the cables neatly into the upper level of the house, out of reach for curious duckling bills:

And then the first five, the Magpie ducklings went into the house:

And Katharina, one of my grown-up ducks flipped out! - I don't know if she is upset about the ducklings, about them being locked away or about me approaching the duckling-house. (?)
Next the five Buff Orpington ducklings went in, while i was walking towards the duckling home Katharina and Curiosity Duck were chasing at me.
Finally i carried the four White Layer ducklings to their new home and almost dropped the box when they tried to bite my nose… After they were all in the house, i sat down and let the camera roll:

What do you think about the two older ducks behavior?
Nona and Limpy seem to be fine with the new ducklings, today Limpy laid down in front of the house and was chatting with them, but i don't know what to make out of Katharina's and Curiosity's behavior.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Additional Duckling Update: I somehow managed to weigh the ducklings while moving them from the brooder into the outside-house so here is a picture of the current spread-sheet:

All White Layer ducklings are over 1000 grams - and have long sharp toenails!!!
The Buff Orpington with the violet ring is the lightest duckling and Magpie "blue" again on the second spot. Not entirely sure, but i suspect the BO "violet" to be the drake i had ordered. The four other BOs yelled "bloody murder" when i picked them up yesterday and put up one hell of a fight before going into the scale-bowl, this one was quiet, just peeped a bit and showed no sign of a »quack«. I'm not sure if i ever be able to weight them again…

 

[SailorNoMore]

Thank you for the two movies! Do you think that Katharina's reaction was because she thought your work on painting and assembling the duck house was meant for the older ducks instead of the ducklings?

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

DO
NOT
FEED
MEAL-WORMS
TO DUCKLINGS!!!
​

Feeding meal-worms to ducklings will cause severe addiction and withdrawal symptoms that can never ever ever be cured!
It will also rob them of what little dignity they have left and makes them vulnerable to human petting-attacks…
See below example of fourteen ducklings with a severe (stage 3+) meal-worm addiction:

​

These poor creatures will never be able to resist the temptation of the meal-worm!!!

Stop feeding meal-worms to your ducklings! Or you will be bitten!

​

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Thank you for the two movies! Do you think that Katharina's reaction was because she thought your work on painting and assembling the duck house was meant for the older ducks instead of the ducklings?

I have no clue! - When i was working on the house, only Miss Nona was interested in what i was doing. She is my duck project-manager and if she likes what i'm doing she says quack-wack-wack and walks away.
I am not sure weather Katharina was upset about the ducklings, the fact that she can't get to the ducklings or about me, handling the ducklings. She stopped laying eggs a month ago, together with her sister Curiosity and they both sit on fake eggs, trying to hatch »wooden-ducklings«. Maybe i should break their broodieness…

 

[CrystaBub]

I love these videos WannaBe!!! It’s really making want my ducklings to hurry up and get here!!!