Jenjenners
Chirping
Hello! My name is Jen, I live outside of Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii, and I am now proud mama to 3 ducklings who will be 4 weeks old on Monday (or so). We got them at about a week old, and they are very happy, healthy and spoiled. They are from a mixed flock, but seem to be Pekin, Swedish, and the gray one is at least part/mostly runner. (Definitely runs ‘taller’ than the other two!). Waiting on names until we know sex. Indoor mostly for now in big Rubbermaid and bathtub depending on napping vs.swimming, but we go out daily to forage and are going to probably transition them outside soon to a chain link dog run w/a house inside, free range when we’re home. (Only predators here are domestic dogs/cats, and the occasional mongoose or hawk, which I don’t see much around our area).
We just moved on from chick starter to a mix of Nature’s Best organic duck crumbles and Purina Flock Raiser (because there were only a few small bags of the duck and it’s hard to get here!). Have been reading up a lot, been supplementing w/yeast for Niacin.
So a few questions—should they still be eating free choice? (Really it’s more like 4 times a day or so, but I’m home to see when they’re awake and hungry, so it’s pretty much free choice..). I’m fine with that, but don’t want to over feed them. Should I cut feed w/oatmeal even though at least half the feed is formulated for ducks? Think one is 18% and one is 20%, which at an average of 19 is still a bit high for ducks, right?
Second question—black duck is almost definitely a girl, I am hearing more and more quack-like noises from her. My daughter swears she hears the yellow/white one quacking a tiny bit too, that one has definitely seemed the most ‘girly’ from day one in personality and appearance (even though I know that means nothing until we actually hear a quack or don’t see a curly feather). The gray runner still peeps mostly, so guessing that’s a male (hoping only one male or all girls!). Do runners mature at the same rate, though? Would we expect the voice to change around the same time? He/she is definitely just a bit different from the other two, a bit shyer, more alert to noises, and the running of course, but otherwise seems to be developing at the same rate (albeit a bit lighter weight like I guess you’d expect from a runner...)
K that’s already a lot, lol—thank you in advance!
We just moved on from chick starter to a mix of Nature’s Best organic duck crumbles and Purina Flock Raiser (because there were only a few small bags of the duck and it’s hard to get here!). Have been reading up a lot, been supplementing w/yeast for Niacin.
So a few questions—should they still be eating free choice? (Really it’s more like 4 times a day or so, but I’m home to see when they’re awake and hungry, so it’s pretty much free choice..). I’m fine with that, but don’t want to over feed them. Should I cut feed w/oatmeal even though at least half the feed is formulated for ducks? Think one is 18% and one is 20%, which at an average of 19 is still a bit high for ducks, right?
Second question—black duck is almost definitely a girl, I am hearing more and more quack-like noises from her. My daughter swears she hears the yellow/white one quacking a tiny bit too, that one has definitely seemed the most ‘girly’ from day one in personality and appearance (even though I know that means nothing until we actually hear a quack or don’t see a curly feather). The gray runner still peeps mostly, so guessing that’s a male (hoping only one male or all girls!). Do runners mature at the same rate, though? Would we expect the voice to change around the same time? He/she is definitely just a bit different from the other two, a bit shyer, more alert to noises, and the running of course, but otherwise seems to be developing at the same rate (albeit a bit lighter weight like I guess you’d expect from a runner...)
K that’s already a lot, lol—thank you in advance!
Our temps are a bit warmer—about 80 daytime, mid60s-70 night time, and for our situation I’ll probably keep bringing them in at night for a while once we get the outdoor pen done—but we have mostly single wall construction (human) houses here w/no insulation, so pretty much same temp indoors and outdoors. 
