Do home-hatched ducklings mature faster than mail order?

[FenDruadin]

I just posed the same question buried in another thread, and decided it actually warrants its own thread.

The two ducklings I have at the moment are my first home-hatched batch, and they definitely seem more mature than others I've had before. They stopped using the brood light early (although that may have to do with the time of year--our thermostat is kept at a higher setting in summer) by weeks (in fact, they only used it for a couple of days), and one seems to already be making a funky quacky sound (they are not quite two weeks old). They also seem bigger and more robust.

I ordered my previous ducks from McMurray (I have more ducks coming from Holderread in the Spring, so it will be interesting to see how the quality and robustness compares).

I wonder if the stress of shipping affects the growth and maturity. And then there's the fact that home-hatched ducklings can begin eating & drinking in less than 24 hours after hatching, whereas shipped ducklings usually have to wait 24-48.

Any thoughts? Have you noticed the same thing? Or am I way off base here?

 

[goosedragon]

Quote:
Not that I have noticed, It may be more a matter of the time of year or the breed. True the stress of shipping does set them back a bit, but they usually catch up fast, I couldn't see any difference after 1 week.

 

[hikerchick]

ducks grow wicked fast no matter where you get them.

Did you ever get ducks and chicks at the same time? Within a week the ducks are towering over the chicks.

 

[CityChicker]

I agree with goosedragon. It could very well be the time of year. I mentioned a few days ago that I think ducklings hatched later in the season seem to sometimes be more high strung (and I think they may mature faster to catch up). I also happened to read last night in one of the Ashton books that they think ducklings hatched early in the year mature faster. It may be that if they hatch when there are naturally fewer other ducklings, whether that is early or late in the season, they grow faster in order to be safer from predators.

Of course, the shipping could very well affect them as well.

 

[FenDruadin]

Thanks for all the feedback. The later in the year/smaller brood size thing makes sense to me too. There are only two of them, and my previous ducklings all came in batches of at least ten. And the fact that it is later may tell their bodies that they'd better hurry up and grow before winter hits. Plus the higher temps may be helpful. Thank you!

I'm excited that one of them is already beginning to make a sneeze/fart/wheeze sound that apparently (based on my reading) is an early sign of a quack. That means at least one is a hen--yahoo! She's the one I was going to have to sell/give away if she were a drake, too, because I really don't need additional extended black genes in the flock--but I'm happy to have extended black genes in my eating eggs!

The other one I *may* keep if it's a drake--he's an interesting color and has a really nice upright stance, with some interesting genetic components.

But since they're not even quite two weeks, I don't expect to know for sure for a few more weeks yet.

Thanks again for the thoughts. I am going to start keeping records of maturity rates, so I can compare from year to year.

Heather