Bring ducklings in or not?

[ruthhope]

My hand reared muscovy boy was in the house until 12 weeks old but not in bed with me!! Brooder by the bed: yes, duck in bed: No!. It was bad enough having him on the dining table when I was working. However, having just done a road trip with him and the last two rescues I had in the house, if I had to have a duck in the bed it would be a muscovy. Pekins only rest for 10 minutes at a time and are up chattering away to everyone all night!! Wriggly little white fluffies. At least Daffy sat down and waited patiently for us to arrive

 

[silverlinings]

Is it just me, or are the drakes so much friendlier? (when it's not mating season)

Now that we are pretty sure George & Tilly are boys, I definitely feel this way. The littles are not sweet with us at all but the boys love to be held and pet.

 

[BelovedBirds]

Two of my boys will run up to me to be held
None of my girls do this neither do my other drakes they got way less attention as babies
But @BelovedBirds has 2 girls that love to be cuddled and held. I think it really depends if you get them to imprint

Very much so! Dougie will actually run into my hands excitedly for pick ups, which actually surprises me because when she became a teen she disliked pick ups a lot. Spright accepts pick ups, with a tad more hesitation usually, but really enjoys cuddles and goes to sleep on me, when I sit with them.

I did a fair bit which helped my babies imprint, I was there for both hatches, they followed me around the room when they were just days old, and spent a lot of time having cuddles. I imagine if I had more ducks, they would become a less interested in people, more occupied with the flock life. But for now I get to maintain a very close relationship with them both!

 

[BelovedBirds]

My hand reared muscovy boy was in the house until 12 weeks old but not in bed with me!! Brooder by the bed: yes, duck in bed: No!. It was bad enough having him on the dining table when I was working. However, having just done a road trip with him and the last two rescues I had in the house, if I had to have a duck in the bed it would be a muscovy. Pekins only rest for 10 minutes at a time and are up chattering away to everyone all night!! Wriggly little white fluffies. At least Daffy sat down and waited patiently for us to arrive

I confess, mine did spend a little time on the bed

Not always by choice! Once they were feathered (while living in an X pen in my room during each night due to their set up not being fully done yet), miss Sprightly would get too excited waiting for me to get up and let them outside....
As soon as she saw I was awake, she actually flew out of the pen... And landed on me, on the bed Didn't realise she could do that, until that moment...! Then she would just lay on me, until I agreed to take her outdoors!

Yes, yes. I know.
But it happened, and those are very good memories honestly!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Yes drakes much more loving. My girls will eat out of my hand but don’t you dare pick me up!

 

[stevenz59]

The ridiculous weather continues. It's not 'normal' for it to get this cold this time of year over here. All this week, the overnight temps are going to be below 10c (50f) with some night hovering just above freezing.

My Muscovy ducklings are a month old, and are still covered in down. Should I bring them inside at night or will their foster-momma (whom I think is doing a good job with them) going to keep them warm? I don't want to mess up their natural adaptation by making them warmer than it will be outside during the day (Thursday is supposed to be 10c as a high).

Which also brings to mind the eggs I have incubating (hatching!!!) right now. Am I going to be stuck with ducklings inside for the winter? I did not anticipate such cold weather so soon, last year I didn't need a heater until October. I've been using one at night since mid-August this year.

the babies definately need warmth until FULLY feathered about 4 months old

 

[Luv Ducks]

the babies definately need warmth until FULLY feathered about 4 months old

I had 11 baby ducklings hatch out in March here in Ohio and the new Mama duck was able to rear all 11. She was in a 4 foot tall pet gazebo that I had tarped all the way around except the front door and that kept the wind off of them but they had no heat. At 6 weeks they had their feathers and were rehomed. They were Mallards. About all of the babies I have raised have been feathered out by 6 weeks. I guess I was fortunate as I bought two baby Khaki Campbell last February and after 6 weeks they were outside and did just fine with no heat source.

 

[Canadian Wind]

They did fine, as are my own two Khaki Campbells which are now outside, and have been for a couple of weeks now. They are about 8 weeks old.