23 ducklings in one clutch?!

[chris330r]

Oh, he's a handsome boy! Babies are getting so big. It's almost like overnight they suddenly grow!

Can't wait for mine to get to this size, then I'll worry less about them.

I can see the beginnings of their big tail feathers growing in so it won't be long before their little wings start growing too and they'll be able to fly. Right now when they flap them, they're still so very tiny but so cute. I'm really enjoying watching them grow and each day I count and there's still 20.

Are yours wild as well and why you worry for them? If they have a Mama even half as good as this one they shouldn't have any problems.

 

[Canadian Wind]

I can see the beginnings of their big tail feathers growing in so it won't be long before their little wings start growing too and they'll be able to fly. Right now when they flap them, they're still so very tiny but so cute. I'm really enjoying watching them grow and each day I count and there's still 20.

Are yours wild as well and why you worry for them? If they have a Mama even half as good as this one they shouldn't have any problems.

No, there aren't any wild Muscovy here (that I know of). These are from my own flock.

I worry because I lost a bunch of babies earlier on in the season due to an inexperienced mom that simply decided that she couldn't be bothered anymore. I don't know exactly what happened but I found most of them dead one morning, in the coop.

Right now, I have a Muscovy and a Buff sharing mothering duties on 25 little ones. The youngest (about 4-5 days younger than the oldest) hatched out around July 1st.

 

[chris330r]

No, there aren't any wild Muscovy here (that I know of). These are from my own flock.

I worry because I lost a bunch of babies earlier on in the season due to an inexperienced mom that simply decided that she couldn't be bothered anymore. I don't know exactly what happened but I found most of them dead one morning, in the coop.

Right now, I have a Muscovy and a Buff sharing mothering duties on 25 little ones. The youngest (about 4-5 days younger than the oldest) hatched out around July 1st.

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I wonder if they died from exposure to cold? I believe real small baby chicks need the heat from their Mama in the first few days to keep them warm and if Mama can't be bothered, they probably freeze to death? It must have been terrible to find them all that way. I hope these survive.

Are they all from the same clutch? I've never seen the Muscovies here have chicks of such beautifully different coloring like this. I love how they're all so different from one another. Mama's brood here looks like a set of 10 twins, though i'm beginning to tell them apart from their sizes. Some are larger and some are little runts lol.

But i'd love to have a clutch as beautiful as this. They're so adorable!

 

[Canadian Wind]

I wonder if they died from exposure to cold? I believe real small baby chicks need the heat from their Mama in the first few days to keep them warm and if Mama can't be bothered, they probably freeze to death? It must have been terrible to find them all that way. I hope these survive.

Are they all from the same clutch? I've never seen the Muscovies here have chicks of such beautifully different coloring like this. I love how they're all so different from one another. Mama's brood here looks like a set of 10 twins, though i'm beginning to tell them apart from their sizes. Some are larger and some are little runts lol.

But i'd love to have a clutch as beautiful as this. They're so adorable!

Thank you!

It's possible, although it was fairly warm in the coop. They were at least a week old though, if not two.

They are technically from two 'clutches' but Muscovy are communal breeders so eggs were laid by various females in the nests. One abandoned her nest close to hatch time so I gave the eggs to my Buff to hatch out. The colour variety is due to the colours I have in my flock. I have blues, chocolates and blacks. And one lone white but she's base black. Their beautiful markings are because I have solids, pieds, whiteheads, magpie, and duskies. I wasn't able to this year, but hopefully next I can have my breeding pens in and get specific pairs/trios to get my colour breeding going.

In that picture, they were between a few days old and a week old.

 

[chris330r]

Thank you!

It's possible, although it was fairly warm in the coop. They were at least a week old though, if not two.

They are technically from two 'clutches' but Muscovy are communal breeders so eggs were laid by various females in the nests. One abandoned her nest close to hatch time so I gave the eggs to my Buff to hatch out. The colour variety is due to the colours I have in my flock. I have blues, chocolates and blacks. And one lone white but she's base black. Their beautiful markings are because I have solids, pieds, whiteheads, magpie, and duskies. I wasn't able to this year, but hopefully next I can have my breeding pens in and get specific pairs/trios to get my colour breeding going.

In that picture, they were between a few days old and a week old.

I've never seen that kind of coloring on them before. Here in central FL all the wild Muscovies i've seen over the years have always been just black and white. I've seen a few that look like little cows with their black/white markings, but never any with these beautiful colors.
If I had a home with a little backyard i'd seriously consider making a pen and raising them like this too. It seems like such fun and rewarding work.

 

[Canadian Wind]

Here's some of them that I took a pic of this morning. I do enjoy the variety of colours! And they are overall very sweet birds.

The States have access to more colours than I do here. If I lived there, I would be getting so many more, lol!

 

[chris330r]

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Here's some of them that I took a pic of this morning. I do enjoy the variety of colours! And they are overall very sweet birds.

The States have access to more colours than I do here. If I lived there, I would be getting so many more, lol!

That's a big Mama duck! She almost looks the size of a Drake. My Mama duck is so scrawny in comparison, but I guess in the wild food is harder to come by for them and that's why they're smaller. Mama looks so well fed and healthy here.

The babies look like they're enjoying the sun.

 

[Canadian Wind]

That's a big Mama duck! She almost looks the size of a Drake. My Mama duck is so scrawny in comparison, but I guess in the wild food is harder to come by for them and that's why they're smaller. Mama looks so well fed and healthy here.

The babies look like they're enjoying the sun.

Thank you, I try to keep them all well nourished! She's about average for a domestic Muscovy, I'd say. But you're right, she's probably larger than a wild one! She is one of the bigger females I have. One of my drakes is barely bigger than her, but he's not large (probably too much inbreeding).

With some of the horrible rainy weather we've been having, I think all of the residents here enjoy the sun! We had another downpour this afternoon.

 

[chris330r]

Here they are this morning. Each day i'm surprised at how much bigger they are from the previous day. They seem to be literally growing overnight and their little tails are sprouting out so quickly. There's still 20 and look how proud Mama looks while watching over them lol.

 

[Canadian Wind]

Awww, look at all those little tails! Adorable! She does look proud of herself, and for good reason.