Da' Cute and Cuddly Call Duck thread!

[peachncrm37]

30% during incubation? Isn't that a bit low? And this is for call ducks, yes? Sorry for the rapid-fire questions, I can't get hold of the breeder otherwise I'd get my info straight from the horse's mouth.

No that is perfect. Follow clousert's directions to the T and I promise you will have a better hatch, we've tweaked around with it and these produce the best hatch rates for several of us.

I just got done trying to hatch upright, definitely lowered my hatch rate.

The humidity is good at 30%, main problem with calls and incubation is they fail to absorb their yolk sac, so humidity is crucial.

 

[Amykins]

I will, thank you so much! I'll read his other posts and look for stickies or hatch-alongs of his. I'm so nervous, I just want my babies to be okay but I know the cards are stacked against me. Sigh.

 

[cat1994]

Had this happen to me with 1 of my babies a couple of hatches ago. I gave her polyvisol (baby vitamins) without iron in her water for a couple of days and carried her and round in my sports bra whenever I could so she couldn't tip over. On the 3rd day she was fine and running around with her siblings. Hope your little one gets better

Thanks so much I'm up for trying anything at this point to help this lil guy out

 

[BigRedRoo]

So Im at a loss as where to start. Two winters ago I rescued a duck that I was told was a mallard. As the following year went on I learned that she was more than likely a "call" duck. So I decided to get her a friend. A rescue drake and start a breeding program. I figured if she was going to live on the farm she had to pay for her own feed and that ment producing. I was allready collecting the eggs but one was buying them so I was turing them back into feed and thought one day; Hey why not let her sit on her own clutch and see what happens. .....
So heir I am now .... I farm chickens for eggs as a hobby I dont dabel in ducks nor do I really care to but now I have these cute little fuz balls in my coop in a cage with a ruber maid to swim in and a feeder really ment for chicks. What do I do, how do I feed these babys? should I make a pen outside so they can forrage on grass? How do I stop them from leaving if I dont pen them off? What do I need for watter for these litle guys? if they jump in the water thell surely be dead, theyd never jump out like mom and dad do! My chcken Brooder is filled with week odl turkeys that can NOT come out. Im sure mom can keep them worm enough but I guess Im just worried about how to feed and watter little ducks. I dont even know how many thier are I just wet down to check the lights and seen broken shells out of the nest!
I Hope some one can give me the basics on what to do with mama and her little ones. if I just let them out thell be gone she wont stick around on 350 acres of grass lands

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

@BigRedRoo

Yes you're going to need to keep the ducklings and mom fenced up. Yes, you're going to need a special non-drowning waterer. I like bell waters for littles, shallow Rubbermaid style dishpans after a few weeks. I have always just provided them with chick starter, in the neighborhood of 20% for 3 wks or so, until the feathers are in. Vitamins, especially the Niacin, are great to add to the water. If mom is raising them, it's really much better for them than if you were to be in charge of the brooding: ducklings will get their waterproofing from Mom, plus she can teach them to forage, plus she knows how to keep them the perfect temperature. What she can't do is protect them from predators of any kind tho. Or an aggressive flock mate. So fence her off and read here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/750869/raising-and-caring-for-ducklings

 

[Going Quackers]

So Im at a loss as where to start. Two winters ago I rescued a duck that I was told was a mallard. As the following year went on I learned that she was more than likely a "call" duck. So I decided to get her a friend. A rescue drake and start a breeding program. I figured if she was going to live on the farm she had to pay for her own feed and that ment producing. I was allready collecting the eggs but one was buying them so I was turing them back into feed and thought one day; Hey why not let her sit on her own clutch and see what happens. .....
So heir I am now .... I farm chickens for eggs as a hobby I dont dabel in ducks nor do I really care to but now I have these cute little fuz balls in my coop in a cage with a ruber maid to swim in and a feeder really ment for chicks. What do I do, how do I feed these babys? should I make a pen outside so they can forrage on grass? How do I stop them from leaving if I dont pen them off? What do I need for watter for these litle guys? if they jump in the water thell surely be dead, theyd never jump out like mom and dad do! My chcken Brooder is filled with week odl turkeys that can NOT come out. Im sure mom can keep them worm enough but I guess Im just worried about how to feed and watter little ducks. I dont even know how many thier are I just wet down to check the lights and seen broken shells out of the nest!
I Hope some one can give me the basics on what to do with mama and her little ones. if I just let them out thell be gone she wont stick around on 350 acres of grass lands

Is the mama with kids? i have mine penned(but my calls are always penned) with a chick waterer and i feed them all(mama included) a duck starter crumb. For now they have a cake pan lol but as Holly said, they are more waterproofed since they have their mama, she also nudges them in/out mind you they jump out well on their own.

 

[BigRedRoo]

 

[BlackBrookPoultry]

My mama call is running around the yard every day with her little ones. But today she's down from 6 to 5. I'm trying to sell them but haven't had anyone commit to buying them yet.

 

[BigRedRoo]

So two days ago as I was shutting everyone down I noticed an egg still in the nest, yesterday afternoon I noticed a drenched little duckling strugling in the middel of the pen, mama just ignoring her!. I picked her up and put her in the incubator (which is running 24/7 with over 200 new born avian around) their she sat for 2 hours just breathing, then she started to move, two hours later she started to clean her self, an hour latter shes moving and bumbing the egg turner stumbliing around, so I pulled her out and put her in a milk crate with a 40watt UV buld and adjusted the light to give 95degrees in one corner and 75 in anthother. she foud her happy spot and slept thier for a few more hours. When I went to check on my turkeys I could heir her calling mom so I took her back to the flock and mama took her back in no problems.
As I was shutting down the coop the coop I noticed a couple of the babys having a hard time getting back up to mom, I reached in to give them a hand up and WOW moma instict kicked in and she attacked me! scared me half to death cuz shes never come at me only ever run from me. But I guess baby will change things.
This morning everything looks good they all seem happy moving around and just being ducks. Sweet deal saved the little Girl I thought she was a gonner, she was so cold and her breathing was so laboured I thought she was dead when I picked her up. My DW said she was dead but I said nope I seen a breath and thats enough for me to fight for her! And their began our journey. Feals GOOD

 

[3BirdGirlz]

How wonderful ! Good job !