23 ducklings in one clutch?!

[Miss Lydia]

What a nice group you have I just love how mama has done so well with her brood. She deserves a nice long rest after these babies go on their way.

 

[chris330r]

What a nice group you have I just love how mama has done so well with her brood. She deserves a nice long rest after these babies go on their way.

I think she trusts me enough to have herself a little nap while I feed the babies. Earlier today she waddled far off while the kids didn't even bother following her in favor of staying and gobble up more seeds, so it probably won't be long before they all scatter and Mama can finally rest. She's definitely earned it.

BTW what's a low cost duck food I can buy that comes in a 5 or 10lb bag? Right now i'm scooping out conure food from my bird's stash for them and it's pretty expensive to replace that so hopefully the duck food would be cheaper.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I think TSC Carrie’s small bags of feed I have no idea the price though but it’s probably on line.
My mama duck turned 12 in July and she is still watching over her 2 Runner ducklings. They were 8 weeks this past Wednesday. I often wonder how a Muscovy sees her ducklings when they are a different breed than her they are taller than her now.

 

[Canadian Wind]

That's a Roseate Spoonbill. Cool!

Yes, feeding them your Conure's food *would* be expensive! They charge and arm and a leg for that stuff to begin with. As Miss Lydia said, check out TSC or other local farm-feed stores. I pay less than $30 for a 25 kg bag of duck feed. And it's even cheaper to get a 'scratch' mix which is seed-based. And I think a 50 kg bag of cracked corn is also less than $30.

Glad to see them all growing healthy and strong! I lost two of my 25 month-old babies this week, and have no longer allowed other ducks in the coop with them at night. I have two coops, so the others all get stuffed in the slightly bigger one for the time being.

 

[chris330r]

Thanks for the info. I went to the site and see they have a 10lb bag called DuMor Duck feed crumbles for just $8.99 which is very affordable and 10lbs should last long---but with 19 babies, who knows? lol
It has good reviews so i'll order a bag and hope they like it...I just can't keep sharing my Conure food with them due to the expensive price---and I think my Conure is getting jealous that i'm giving them his food.

 

[chris330r]

I haven't seen them for a couple of days but they all came today for treats. It's a real bad heatwave going on even for FL in August (the current heat index at the moment is 112!!) So surely they're taking refuge somewhere shady. Even I won't go out there too long!

Here they are this morning....only 18 counted, so sadly 1 probably became some lucky animal's lunch or dinner. Their wings are getting so big so hopefully they'll be able to take flight from predators pretty soon.

It looks like there's a lot more females than males, which is good...I don't want too many Drakes hanging around fighting for territory!

 

[Miss Lydia]

I haven't seen them for a couple of days but they all came today for treats. It's a real bad heatwave going on even for FL in August (the current heat index at the moment is 112!!) So surely they're taking refuge somewhere shady. Even I won't go out there too long!

Here they are this morning....only 18 counted, so sadly 1 probably became some lucky animal's lunch or dinner. Their wings are getting so big so hopefully they'll be able to take flight from predators pretty soon.

It looks like there's a lot more females than males, which is good...I don't want too many Drakes hanging around fighting for territory!View attachment 3605287

View attachment 3605281

Those faces are so precious Sad to hear one is missing.

 

[chris330r]

Those faces are so precious Sad to hear one is missing.

I love the way they all look up when I open the window to toss them treats. Some even jump up to nip my hand lol. They're all just so adorable.

I thought by this stage they were all well past danger due to their size, but I guess until they're fully flighted they're still not safe. I suspect raccoons got the last one as they're way too big for the egrets to swallow and too big for hawks to snatch up in their claws.

 

[Miss Lydia]

What about snapping turtles they will drag them under and drown them then eat.

 

[chris330r]

What about snapping turtles they will drag them under and drown them then eat.

I've seen the babies many times jump up in the water when a turtle underneath nips at them...it's actually comical how they jump up and speed away in the water, so I really don't think the turtles are that big and strong to pull one of them under, especially at the size they are now.
Unless there's some horror movie type giant ninja mutant turtle lurking down there lol. I've seen raccoons scurrying in and out of the bushes across the pond where Mama and the brood head towards at the end of the day so that's my guess.
Or maybe snakes? I moved my recycle bin last week and saw a black snake coiled underneath and dropped everything and ran for my life lol. It was probably harmless but those things scare the heck out of me.