Attention Muscovy lovers

[Alaskan]

thanks so much for your comments, no one on the picture thread gave me any other thoughts.

After thinking it through, I realized that it was silly to keep the pop door to the coop open, your way is much safer and I do not want to loose these cute babies.

So, the rest of the flock is now stuck in the run (there are two shelters out there as well as a large table to hide under), and my duck Kuh Flecken, is locked in the 8x8 coop.

I did set up a heat lamp right outside of her nesting spot, and I moved the food and water closer to her, so right under the heat lamp.

It looks like she is doing a stellar job. Even though it is cold today (everything frosted and ice in the water buckets) all of the babies looked warm and dry and happy.

I am thinking that I will follow your suggestion, and keep the new family locked in the coop for at least the first 2 weeks, maybe longer. I want to make sure that the babies look like they can maintain some body heat, as well as negotiate the ramp, before I let them loose. I am hoping that an 8x8 coop is big enough that the mess won't be too bad. I wish I could figure out some way to get them to use the nice poop trays that are already there in the coop. It would give them so much more square footage.

After typing in the above, it just dawned on me how I could put in a longer and so less steep ramp.....that might work. hummmmmm

 

[Miss Lydia]

thanks so much for your comments, no one on the picture thread gave me any other thoughts.

After thinking it through, I realized that it was silly to keep the pop door to the coop open, your way is much safer and I do not want to loose these cute babies.

So, the rest of the flock is now stuck in the run (there are two shelters out there as well as a large table to hide under), and my duck Kuh Flecken, is locked in the 8x8 coop.

I did set up a heat lamp right outside of her nesting spot, and I moved the food and water closer to her, so right under the heat lamp.

It looks like she is doing a stellar job. Even though it is cold today (everything frosted and ice in the water buckets) all of the babies looked warm and dry and happy.

I am thinking that I will follow your suggestion, and keep the new family locked in the coop for at least the first 2 weeks, maybe longer. I want to make sure that the babies look like they can maintain some body heat, as well as negotiate the ramp, before I let them loose. I am hoping that an 8x8 coop is big enough that the mess won't be too bad. I wish I could figure out some way to get them to use the nice poop trays that are already there in the coop. It would give them so much more square footage.

After typing in the above, it just dawned on me how I could put in a longer and so less steep ramp.....that might work. hummmmmm

Pics when you get a chance. also go in everyday and fluff up the bedding it will help the babies get use to a human and I am not so sure about the heat lamp. you should get a thermometer
and put it in their house first where they are all laying at the most with mom and then across the room to give you an idea of how warm it is in there, problem being if you keep it too warm they will not be ready to be outside when you open the door and she will take them out.

 

[Alaskan]

Good point.

When I went and checked on them close to noon, she was off the nest to eat and drink, all of the babies were under the heat lamp, and looked comfortable.

I looked in the nest, and there was a pipped egg with no movement (the same one that had been pipped that morning), I picked it up, and it was so cold! The baby was almost dead, i brought him in, warmed him up, he revived perfectly. Then, I had to soak off the egg, since it had dried onto the baby. It actually took a GREAT deal of soaking to get that shell off, so he must have been slightly pipped for a long time.

Anyway, he is now fluffing up, as soon as he is fluffed, I will go back out, and put him with the others, and check the temps at the same time.

What kind of temps do you think are too cold?

I am also going to see if I can snag the rest of the eggs, obviously, with ten ducklings hatched and fluffed, my duck thinks her job of sitting and brooding the eggs is over.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Good point.

When I went and checked on them close to noon, she was off the nest to eat and drink, all of the babies were under the heat lamp, and looked comfortable.

I looked in the nest, and there was a pipped egg with no movement (the same one that had been pipped that morning), I picked it up, and it was so cold! The baby was almost dead, i brought him in, warmed him up, he revived perfectly. Then, I had to soak off the egg, since it had dried onto the baby. It actually took a GREAT deal of soaking to get that shell off, so he must have been slightly pipped for a long time.

Anyway, he is now fluffing up, as soon as he is fluffed, I will go back out, and put him with the others, and check the temps at the same time.

What kind of temps do you think are too cold?

I am also going to see if I can snag the rest of the eggs, obviously, with ten ducklings hatched and fluffed, my duck thinks her job of sitting and brooding the eggs is over.

I'd say she is through, and if ducklings were comfortable under heat lamp then leave it by all means. And how awesome you were able to get the last one out of the shell and it's doing so good. Put it with the rest with you hand over top so mama doesn't see what your bringing her they can be persnickety and you want this one to be with the rest. You want to keep the area a little on the cool side so the ducklings will be able to acclimate to the out side better when time to take them out. Mama will keep them warm and they will snuggle together for warmth also. When I say cool I mean above 70 and as the days go by maybe adjust the lamp so it's not as close to them. so they are gradually getting use to temps. Ducklings are pretty tuff, and acclimate better when they have a mama caring for them. Just make sure she is doing her job. So none get left out in the cold so to speak.

 

[Alaskan]

OK, the one I helped hatch, fluffed up ( I actually had to get it wet again with some soap, and then blow dry....I hadn't realized that there was so much 'guck' still stuck to the fluff), and I took it out.

The coop is 54F away from mama or the heat lamp.

I couldn't get a temp reading next to the heat lamp, since the thermometer looks like a snake or something scary, and all of the ducklings are right there.

Anyway, it took me what seemed like FOREVER, to sneak the duckling in. I am glad you mentioned how important it is to sneak it in, or there is no way I would have been so patient.

I finally managed to calm mama down enough that she walked a bit farther away from the ducklings, so that she could eat and drink. Then I did a slight of hand trick. I help up a paper towel with one hand, and quickly moved my other hand over the duckling pile to deposit the new one.

All of the ducklings look like my baby chicks do after they hatch, all sleepy. None of them wanted to follow mama to eat and drink, but they did peep at each other. They don't look cold.

I have raised chickens from hatch as well as shipped chicks, and I have raised shipped ducklings, but I haven't raised ducklings from hatch.

I am guessing that I don't have to worry about them eating and drinking until tomorrow (they started hatching Friday morning). Do you agree?

Also, oh wise woman!

What do you think I should feed them? I live in a tiny town, many many hours drive from any larger town. So......they had no duckling feed, no game bird starter....... They only have the following:

Adult duck and goose pellets (which I am feeding to the adults, duh)
They had broiler grower crumbles
Pullet grower crumbles
Layer crumbles
NON - medicated chick starter.

I decided that the non-medicated chick starter was probably the best bet. That is what I bought and put in from of them.

Anyway, will that be OK? Do I need to supplement with something? I guess I could take the adult duck and goose and crush it for them (blach, pain in the rear), but that would have slightly lower protein. Thoughts?

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL OF YOUR INPUT!!!

 

[Miss Lydia]

OK, the one I helped hatch, fluffed up ( I actually had to get it wet again with some soap, and then blow dry....I hadn't realized that there was so much 'guck' still stuck to the fluff), and I took it out.

The coop is 54F away from mama or the heat lamp.

I couldn't get a temp reading next to the heat lamp, since the thermometer looks like a snake or something scary, and all of the ducklings are right there.

Anyway, it took me what seemed like FOREVER, to sneak the duckling in. I am glad you mentioned how important it is to sneak it in, or there is no way I would have been so patient.

I finally managed to calm mama down enough that she walked a bit farther away from the ducklings, so that she could eat and drink. Then I did a slight of hand trick. I help up a paper towel with one hand, and quickly moved my other hand over the duckling pile to deposit the new one.

All of the ducklings look like my baby chicks do after they hatch, all sleepy. None of them wanted to follow mama to eat and drink, but they did peep at each other. They don't look cold.

I have raised chickens from hatch as well as shipped chicks, and I have raised shipped ducklings, but I haven't raised ducklings from hatch.

I am guessing that I don't have to worry about them eating and drinking until tomorrow (they started hatching Friday morning). Do you agree?

Also, oh wise woman!

What do you think I should feed them? I live in a tiny town, many many hours drive from any larger town. So......they had no duckling feed, no game bird starter....... They only have the following:

Adult duck and goose pellets (which I am feeding to the adults, duh)
They had broiler grower crumbles
Pullet grower crumbles
Layer crumbles
NON - medicated chick starter.

I decided that the non-medicated chick starter was probably the best bet. That is what I bought and put in from of them.

Anyway, will that be OK? Do I need to supplement with something? I guess I could take the adult duck and goose and crush it for them (blach, pain in the rear), but that would have slightly lower protein. Thoughts?

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL OF YOUR INPUT!!!

Sounds like you have it all under control good job getting gunk off baby and getting it in with the rest. I like the slight of hand move too. lol I'd get some Brewers yeast or plain niacin and add some to their feed for BY and water for niacin. you want plain niacin though not time released or flush free, Most say they have to ask for it at pharmacy. I have always just used BY sprinkled on top of feed, Chick starter doesn't have the niacin ducklings need. and it will be fine for mama to eat it too. They should be getting hungry by tomorrow all but maybe newbie from today but he will probably follow the rest. Again Congrats and look forward to updates. I'd say temps are perfect. you have given them heat if they want it and they can get away if they don't.

 

[Alaskan]

So, when I went out to put the assisted hatch duckling in with the others, I took out all of the remaining eggs.....don't know why I didn't do that before... Would have been smarter.

Anyway, the left over eggs were:
One total stink bomb (not sure how we missed that last week when we candled)
Three no where near ready
Two pipped and dead looking

The two pipped I warmed up, and one revived, the other is definitely dead, poor duckling. The one that revived I helped hatch, its bellybutton area does not look as nice as I would like....not bad....just not great. So, I got him cleaned up and fluffed, and took him out to the rest.

So, there in the coop, the first assisted chick was all by itself and limp and way too cold. I don't think the duck tossed it out..... But I don't know. It wasn't very far away from the duckling huddle under the heat lamp, less than a foot anyway, maybe only six inches.

So, I scooped up the first assisted hatch duckling, and kept both assisted hatch ducklings under my shirts and coats, and sat down to watch this duck for awhile.

She never treated her ducklings the way my broody hen treated her chicks.

My hen would call the chicks to her, and actually tuck them all under her skirts. She wouldn't relax until all chicks were tucked under her, every single one!

This duck never did that. She talks to them, and after a while she went and drank and peeped for them to come drink, and some came and drank.....you could tell that only the first to hatch were at all interested....but it was good to see that she was doing her job. She also took them to the feeder and peeped, but only one duckling was interested, and after looking at the food for a few seconds just walked away, not interested yet.

She did then go to her nest and peeped, some ducklings came close to her, but then didn't know what to do when they came up to her chest. She didn't tuck them under her, didn't touch the duckling at all. The ducklings that had come towards her gave up and went back to the heat lamp and the duckling huddle.

Is this normal behavior? I thought that this duck had raised ducklings completely by herself....but now I am wishing that I had asked their previous owner more questions. (I just got this flock, my first muscovy, late summer)

Anyway, the two assisted hatch ducklings are back in the house, in my incubator/brooder (that I hate, because it does NOT keep reliable temperatures). I have them at 84F, I think that should be good for their first night.

They both look fine, just very tired, but they are acting exactly like my late hatch chicks look, so I shall call it normal.

 

[Miss Lydia]

So, when I went out to put the assisted hatch duckling in with the others, I took out all of the remaining eggs.....don't know why I didn't do that before... Would have been smarter.

Anyway, the left over eggs were:
One total stink bomb (not sure how we missed that last week when we candled)
Three no where near ready
Two pipped and dead looking

The two pipped I warmed up, and one revived, the other is definitely dead, poor duckling. The one that revived I helped hatch, its bellybutton area does not look as nice as I would like....not bad....just not great. So, I got him cleaned up and fluffed, and took him out to the rest.

So, there in the coop, the first assisted chick was all by itself and limp and way too cold. I don't think the duck tossed it out..... But I don't know. It wasn't very far away from the duckling huddle under the heat lamp, less than a foot anyway, maybe only six inches.

So, I scooped up the first assisted hatch duckling, and kept both assisted hatch ducklings under my shirts and coats, and sat down to watch this duck for awhile.

She never treated her ducklings the way my broody hen treated her chicks.

My hen would call the chicks to her, and actually tuck them all under her skirts. She wouldn't relax until all chicks were tucked under her, every single one!

This duck never did that. She talks to them, and after a while she went and drank and peeped for them to come drink, and some came and drank.....you could tell that only the first to hatch were at all interested....but it was good to see that she was doing her job. She also took them to the feeder and peeped, but only one duckling was interested, and after looking at the food for a few seconds just walked away, not interested yet.

She did then go to her nest and peeped, some ducklings came close to her, but then didn't know what to do when they came up to her chest. She didn't tuck them under her, didn't touch the duckling at all. The ducklings that had come towards her gave up and went back to the heat lamp and the duckling huddle.

Is this normal behavior? I thought that this duck had raised ducklings completely by herself....but now I am wishing that I had asked their previous owner more questions. (I just got this flock, my first muscovy, late summer)

Anyway, the two assisted hatch ducklings are back in the house, in my incubator/brooder (that I hate, because it does NOT keep reliable temperatures). I have them at 84F, I think that should be good for their first night.

They both look fine, just very tired, but they are acting exactly like my late hatch chicks look, so I shall call it normal.

Mama Muscovy's and maybe all ducks I can only relate to Muscovy, are nothing like chickens mamas, It seems it's all up to ducklings to find their way in and under feathers. My duck that hatched this summer 2 yrs old has been my best mama duck so far and I've had ducks going on 10 yrs now. She would sit and let the duckling get under her and she was very interested in them. But I think you did the right thing by putting the heat lamp in there. and the 2 inside should be at around 85 first week then drop temp by 5* each week there after. Hopefully you'll find the rest doing well this morning. That's one reason I encourage those with new ducklings and with a mama duck to keep them separate from the rest of the flock for a while ducks don't protect like chicken mamas either.

 

[Alaskan]

OK, you asked for an update......

OK, remember that mama duck hatched out ten, and had three that pipped and that got way too cold to finish hatching.

Of those three:
1. The first one I assisted ended up perfect. I first tried putting it back with the others too early, so I kept it in the house, in my brooder/incubator (that actually managed to behave temp. wise, so marvelous!). I did have to wash it's eye once...didn't look like an infection, just got something on it. After it ate and drank for me, I out t back with mom. It has been perfect, no problem with the eye, and it is keeping up with the others and perfectly integrated.

2. The one that was alive, I helped hatch, but had the not quite right navel. Anyway, it did NOT, make it. It was interesting, I didn't think that the navel looked infected, but it didn't look right either.

3. Remember this one was dead by the time I tried to rescue it.


Anyway, I got the brewers yeast to sprinkle on their food. The chicks are getting better at stuffing themselves under mama, or the heat lamp. And it looks like they are eating and drinking enough. It is a little hard to be positive about that, since mama does not want us picking up her babies.

They are SUPER cute. But mama HATES the camera. Not sure why, but I decided not to bring it out for a few days.....I didn't want to bug her too much.

I am trying to figure out how to make a better winter shelter for the ducks though........I wish there were a bunch of duck coop pictures on this site.

Mama and babies are now in my chicken coop (no chickens in there, they got kicked into the chicken shed), but I would very much like to eventually give the chicken coop back to the chickens.

Even though the rest of my muscovy have shelter now, I don't think it will work with deep snow. I like having the ducks and chickens separate, but I guess I could put them together.....I would just hate to do it because of the mess and the food.

Do you keep your chickens with your ducks?

 

[Miss Lydia]

OK, you asked for an update......

OK, remember that mama duck hatched out ten, and had three that pipped and that got way too cold to finish hatching.

Of those three:
1. The first one I assisted ended up perfect. I first tried putting it back with the others too early, so I kept it in the house, in my brooder/incubator (that actually managed to behave temp. wise, so marvelous!). I did have to wash it's eye once...didn't look like an infection, just got something on it. After it ate and drank for me, I out t back with mom. It has been perfect, no problem with the eye, and it is keeping up with the others and perfectly integrated.

2. The one that was alive, I helped hatch, but had the not quite right navel. Anyway, it did NOT, make it. It was interesting, I didn't think that the navel looked infected, but it didn't look right either.

3. Remember this one was dead by the time I tried to rescue it.


Anyway, I got the brewers yeast to sprinkle on their food. The chicks are getting better at stuffing themselves under mama, or the heat lamp. And it looks like they are eating and drinking enough. It is a little hard to be positive about that, since mama does not want us picking up her babies.

They are SUPER cute. But mama HATES the camera. Not sure why, but I decided not to bring it out for a few days.....I didn't want to bug her too much.

I am trying to figure out how to make a better winter shelter for the ducks though........I wish there were a bunch of duck coop pictures on this site.

Mama and babies are now in my chicken coop (no chickens in there, they got kicked into the chicken shed), but I would very much like to eventually give the chicken coop back to the chickens.

Even though the rest of my muscovy have shelter now, I don't think it will work with deep snow. I like having the ducks and chickens separate, but I guess I could put them together.....I would just hate to do it because of the mess and the food.

Do you keep your chickens with your ducks?

I don't keep my chickens and ducks in same housing there is a wall with a door separating them. My ducks tolerate the chickens but It would not work out them sleeping together. Go up to search bar and type in duck houses you should get quite a few links with pics.

And I am sorry you lost the one lil one but goodness you tried and sounds like the rest are doing well so that's a big plus. I'm sure having ducklings this time of year in Alaska is a challenge for mama and you. Look forward to pics when you can.
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