Blue swedish

[CorinneP]

I think Blue would be a great name !

 

[Oregon Blues]

Whats the personality like on the Swedish 70%cocoa?

I had a batch of Blue Swedish from a hatchery and my son dubbed them "The Nut Cases". They were teetering on the edge of hysteria 24 hours a day. They were high strung and empty headed and perfectly willing to injure themselves in a panic, which was their constant state of being. I was happy to see the end of them because they were miserable to work with. They were that way from day 1 and never grew out of it.

I also have exhibition blues, and they are alert, friendly, moderately high energy. They come out to greet me and to see what entertaining thing I might do for them. If they are picked up, they protest, but their day hasn't been ruined. They will shake it off, and other than scolding me briefly, there are no repercussions.

So, when you ask what personalities are like, all I can tell you is that it depends upon where you get them.

I do not find them to be noisy, compared to other ducks. No ducks are quiet, but these are mostly chatter rather than blasts of sound. They are excellent foragers. They will come when called and go into their coop at might without protest, unlike the Appleyards who want to stand and discuss it every night. They have really good appetites and each Swedish eats about the same as an Appleyard, even though they are barely over half the size. I assume because their little motors rev faster.

Coming from a breeder who breeds for temperament, they are great ducks. Coming from a place where nobody cares about temperament , they are miserable little freak-outs.

 

[CarolinaASTchic]

Ah..ok..well I guess we shall see...ours isnt the most friendly of the bunch...but seems to be coming around ok...guess we will have to cross our fingers...

 

[ducklover700]

Mine is pretty laid back-she doesn't like being left on her own but when she's out in the open able to run around with my family she's as happy as can be.

 

[ducklover700]

What a cutie

I'd guess that your duckling is going to have a pretty small bib with perhaps some sparse blotchiness extending down the chest. I say that because her bib isn't solid yellow and has a lot of blue underneath the top layer of down. Anything that is not solid yellow all the way to the skin at hatch will not go white in the adult feathering. I'd be really keen to see pics of this little one at about 5 to 6 weeks old - you should have a much clearer idea then of what the bib will end up like.
Good on you for choosing a blue Swedish - I love my Swedish!!

the yellow is pretty small, she has more of it up top than what can be seen in these pictures, but yes I'm sure It won't be that large. I notice that her blue coloring is all there but the tips are kind of bronze/yellow over top on her back/wings. Is she going to grow out of that?

I'll definitely post pictures as she/he grows up! I did decide on naming her/him blue bell: blue for short. Blue's been hanging out with my chocolate runner, and she surprised me by diving under the water in my tub only the second time she went swimming. I don't know a whole lot about blue swedish in particular, but I've seen pictures, and when I saw Blue in the country store I knew I had to take her home with me!

 

[Nsampsel]

My BS is named Blue too...lol Guess it's unanimous

My Blue is actually the calmest of my ducks (at 2 wks old) but it's also MY duck. It & my black Indian Runner (Indy) are mostly handled by me, whereas my B&W Magpie (Sweetheart-has a heart shaped black spot on the back of her neck) belongs to my 8 yr old daughter & my Crested Kahki Campbell (Punk Rocker Dude) was named by & belongs to my 5 yr old son. As you can imagine, they get just a bit rougher treatment than ones handled by Mom do. My 2 Mallards (about 7-8 wks old), Mallory & Pipsqueak, are extremely flighty...but that is typical of the breed.

 

[ducklover700]

My BS is named Blue too...lol Guess it's unanimous

My Blue is actually the calmest of my ducks (at 2 wks old) but it's also MY duck. It & my black Indian Runner (Indy) are mostly handled by me, whereas my B&W Magpie (Sweetheart-has a heart shaped black spot on the back of her neck) belongs to my 8 yr old daughter & my Crested Kahki Campbell (Punk Rocker Dude) was named by & belongs to my 5 yr old son. As you can imagine, they get just a bit rougher treatment than ones handled by Mom do. My 2 Mallards (about 7-8 wks old), Mallory & Pipsqueak, are extremely flighty...but that is typical of the breed.

awe, that sounds so fun. It's so cool that your kids get to help raise their own little ducks; How are they with them? I have a young cousin that begs to hold my ducklings but I haven't let her because the babies just seem too tiny, and fragile to me.
Love the names, especially Punk Rocker Dude! It's original at least right? Two of my ducks are named after hiccup and toothless from the "how to train your dragon" movie. I doubt they'll ever get THAT big, but they're fun names anyhow.

I have just the one swedish (Blue), and then I have two anconas(Whimsy, and hiccup) who are getting huge at 5 weeks old, and I have one chocolate runner (Toothless) who is about 3 weeks old I think. I'm expecting 3 Welsh Harlequins within the next two weeks, I'm so excited! I seem to have a bit of an addiction, but from the looks of BYC I won't ever be the only one.

 

[Nsampsel]

My 8 yr old does great but my 5 yr old has dropped a few on occasion. Don't think he's ever actually hurt 1 tho. They usually don't fall far cuz he's usually sitting with them & they jump out of his hands. At least I know he isn't squeezing them if they escape that easily

Chicks & ducks really aren't as fragile as we all seem to think. They are actually pretty hearty animals. If they weren't all of mine would likely be dead by now...lol

 

[ducklover700]

We had some family friends over this past Saturday-they have five children ages 9,7,5,3, and 1! They each got to hold my duck, and did very good considering they haven't had any before; and the duckling loved all the attention of course.

 

[ducklover700]

Here's an update on blue! It's official, Blue is definitely a GIRL! yay! She's a momma's girl for sure, she's getting big, but loves to cuddle up with me still. I had her sitting on my lap today, and listened to her baby peep turn into a little quack. (or not so little, when I left her to get some Kale from the kitchen!)

she'll be four weeks old tomorrow, her feathers look silly, but are growing in nicely. Let me know what you think, now that she's getting bigger!






she was preening/sleeping here.