Ancona Ducks

[carolynm]

I'm so happy I can finally join this thread and post pics of my Ancona Ducklings. They arrived from Boondockers last week, as well as three I bought just in case the Boondocker hatch didn't work out. Amongst the Boondocker ducklings is this one. Do you think it could be a Silver? Or is it just a yellow duck? It definitely looks like it' has lighter patches within the yellow...

 

[AuroraSprings]

No way, that I have found, to really know until it feathers out.

 

[toadbriar]

I'm so happy I can finally join this thread and post pics of my Ancona Ducklings. They arrived from Boondockers last week, as well as three I bought just in case the Boondocker hatch didn't work out. Amongst the Boondocker ducklings is this one. Do you think it could be a Silver? Or is it just a yellow duck? It definitely looks like it' has lighter patches within the yellow...

I haven't had any turn silver or lilac unless I already saw shading on them (warm grey, blue-grey.) But it can be easier to see right out of the egg when they're still spiky. Anything on the bill or feet?

Solid white is a recessive gene, and birds can carry the trait invisibly and produce white offspring. If it stays white, you probably ought not breed from it or you'll get more.

 

[toadbriar]

Toad briar: the last duckling you have pictured is a fawn tricolor.

Thanks, do you think so? I compared it to pics of fawn/white runner babies, they all looked much lighter. Now (still not feathered yet) it looks quite a bit like my chocolates, but legs are more 'airbrushed' color shading than the solid brown of the chocolates.

 

[SilkieSensation]

Quote: The runners I had that started out that color ended up blue fawn.

 

[AuroraSprings]

Could be closer to a Khaki Campbell color, either way it's a tricolor. I'm still trying to learn all the specific patterns. The blue fawns usually start out with a blue type down.

 

[toadbriar]

Could be closer to a Khaki Campbell color, either way it's a tricolor. I'm still trying to learn all the specific patterns. The blue fawns usually start out with a blue type down.

Yeah last year I had one that I think was a blue fawn, it was very blue/muted mallard and had faint eye stripes. This one does look a lot like KC color, the lighter end of them.

My friend's broody hen delivered me a nice quartet of 4 blacks and what I hope is a silver - see faint leg markings:



I hope to get better shots of markings as they grow - on the blacks there's a lot of intermingled color and white that's almost like roan. It might turn into breakthrough mallard, I dunno. Upper left is the best shot I could get.

 

[Anconamumma13]

I love Anconas!!!
Hi everyone! I currently have 3 Anconas:

Smith - is my 1.5yo Brown broody-mamma,currently sitting on 7 fertile eggs!! So far she is doing a great job!! There were 15 eggs I candled this morning and I left only the live ones for her.

John - is my blue bully, age unknown <1y

Wayne - is my lavender or lilac sweet, gentle boy, age unknown <1y

Wesson -WAS my black female, she was killed last year by a Great Blue Heron. She had the most vibrant green feathers on both her wings!!

I would like to know what to expect when and if the eggs hatch. I do not have an incubator and I am just letting nature do its thing. She appears to be caring for them, turning them, covering them when she goes for food and water and even Wayne has been seen standing by the door while she steps away.
I would expect she will care for them when they hatch, however, I would like to know if i should be making any changes when or after the hatching happens??

Does anyone let ducks do it themselves anymore?

-When can I change bedding? I assume not now.
-When should I provide duckling food?
-Should I quarantine mum and babies from the drakes at any time?

I think I have more questions, but I can't think of any right now....even though I have been researching this all day....my brain is scrambled

I can seem to find much info out there regarding letting ducklings stay with mom!! Believe it or not.

 

[toadbriar]

I'd fence the boys off from her when you think she's close to hatching. Use hardware cloth or something similar that ducklings can't run through. I'm glad they're not chasing her off the nest to mate, actually. Chances are she'll raise her babies up just fine. If you provide starter crumble and a shallow pan of water in containers low-sided enough for ducklings, she'll take care of them just fine. As they get a little larger and more mobile, you can upgrade them to a dog dish with a brick inside and outside for climbing in and out, and then a little further on, give them a bathing pan (I use a cement mixing pan from the hardware store) with bricks stacked outside and some inside so babies can climb in and out. Mama will be glad to have a bath too. She can eat the baby food, it won't do her any harm and she'll likely be a little underweight after brooding eggs.

You'll need to keep back some more girls, two drakes to a hen leads to overmating and injury.

Your birds are pretty, you'll have to share photos when they hatch!

oh - bedding. can you work around her? And then offer her some clean straw to work into her nest? That's what I do. Maybe they tolerate more messing around, but I haven't wanted to risk running them off and making their nest look unfamiliar.

 

[SilkieSensation]

I just sit bedding next to my broodies & they add it into the nest themselves.