Ended Contest #3 Cutest Baby Fowl - 8th Annual BYC Easter Hatchalong

[shelly17]

My baby duckling 3 days old

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Welcome to all our new members! ​

What adorable pics of everyone's babies! ​

 

[LoriJo]

Last Spring my Mother-in-Law found an abandoned (very obviously) mallard duck nest with 6 eggs. We had a hen, Farrah (Buff Orpington), that was a brooder. We don't have a rooster. We figured we'd give Farrah something constructive to do so we put the duck eggs on the nest.Well, come June 15, 2016, (although 2 of the eggs never hatched) she was a proud mother of 4 cute baby ducklings...

She definitely treated them like they were her baby's.She protected them from a kestrel that was after them, as well as from our other 3 chicken (especially when they were so young), which really wasn't a big deal. They pretty much left them alone.

I have pictures the first time she took them out of the coop and run and their first swim (6/23/16)...One of them is surfing...

Farrah paced around the pool, looking at them-probably thinking a'what the heck are you doing!" She'd eventually make a sound that I imagined was time to get out of the pool, and they did, but as soon as Farrah's back was turned, they all got back in the pool.

Seeing these ducklings from the very beginning and growing up has been an amazing experience! I was going to keep my Facebook site pretty much strictly for my scrimshaw/art business, but couldn't help post the quadruplet's progress. If interested you should be able to view the posts yourself (search for Lori Ristinen). I so wanted to out a band on their legs saying "raised by a chicken - call (our number)" but that's illegal. I couldn't tell them apart until they were almost full grown, and named one "Freckles" (She had a lot of little dots on the side of her bill.

They didn't leave all together (which would have been nice) but the last one to leave us my husband named "Hope". I have no Idea how many of the 4 made it south or not (I live in Northern Minnesota).I'd like to know... I have my suspicions (they were raised by a chicken after all), but then, maybe I'll just think they all did and will fly back this Spring....

 

[DodieSable]

We're just hatched and we're trying to figure out why our mama's skirt is green. (Dodie Sable, submitted 03/17/17)

 

[AnneLC]

Less than a week old Americaunas!

 

[colleenhelga]

 

[paulaspina]

Brand new Muscovy hatchlings

 

[mom2freespirits]

 

[mom2freespirits]

 

[mom2freespirits]