Do I get Pickles a friend?

[cheezenkwackers]

Yep, silly, jealous Pickles.
I set the eggs on Wednesday at school. I will go check/candle them tomorrow or Tuesday. Another Hookbill breeder has offered to sell me a female and/or give me more eggs. I probably will need take the female.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Thats very cool soon you'll have a flock of Hook Bills. Sure wish you were closer I'd love to add a few to my flock when yours are breeding.

 

[Luv Ducks]

I’m so sorry. I am terrible at remembering names. I was the one who suggested two girls and one boy.
Anyway, I couldn’t figure out why their bill colors seemed off. But, if they are part Rouen, that explains it. That also could explain why one looks different. I hate to say this but they might all be boys and the different colors are just genetics. In crosses it is the second generation where you see more variation. I had a drake who was 1/2 Khaki and 1/2 Appleyard but the size of a Khaki. I kept one of his duckling from a Khaki hen. He looked like a Khaki but was huge. I assume that Appleyard size returned. You might be seeing something similar.

You were right, they are all boys. I listened to them really good today and they all have that drake voice unfortunately. I am sending them down the road this week as the longer I keep them the harder this will be. They are so pretty but I know what it would be like next Spring if I kept them.

 

[cheezenkwackers]

You were right, they are all boys. I listened to them really good today and they all have that drake voice unfortunately. I am sending them down the road this week as the longer I keep them the harder this will be. They are so pretty but I know what it would be like next Spring if I kept them.

I’m so sorry!

 

[Luv Ducks]

I’m so sorry!

Thanks my friend. I kept hoping that they were not drakes but the Hens past history is mostly drakes that she throws off. Out of all of her hatches I think there have only been two or three at the most females. I was hoping they were from her sister and not her and they still might have been and the Swedish one for sure was not hers as it was a white egg and not a green egg and looks like a Black Swedish. It's just my luck and I should have known better than to let her hatch any out. I just love those babies. My own fault. I'm old enough to know better but my love for those ducklings gets the best of me.

 

[cheezenkwackers]

Thanks my friend. I kept hoping that they were not drakes but the Hens past history is mostly drakes that she throws off. Out of all of her hatches I think there have only been two or three at the most females. I was hoping they were from her sister and not her and they still might have been and the Swedish one for sure was not hers as it was a white egg and not a green egg and looks like a Black Swedish. It's just my luck and I should have known better than to let her hatch any out. I just love those babies. My own fault. I'm old enough to know better but my love for those ducklings gets the best of me.

I swear the boys are the sweetest ducklings so we fall for them. If only they stayed that way with each other. I will not keep one of my two male Hookbills but I am also already very attached to both of them.

 

[cheezenkwackers]

It took a week and a half but the two boys are finally sleeping touching each other and best friends. Noodles follows Pickles (the older one) everywhere. We visit my big girls everyday in the garden. Pickles does well with them while Noodles snuggles in my lap. I feel like Pickles is fully feathered and ready to be outside but Noodles is just starting to feather out. I guess they will be indoor ducks for a little longer.

I candled the 5 new eggs in the incubator at school. Two look great. Two look like early quitters, but, I left them in case I am wrong. One was infertile. I really don’t want to end up with only one hatching again!

 

[Miss Lydia]

I knew it would happen it just takes a big of time! I sure hope you get some females from the next hatch. And don’t forget pictures of these two.

 

[cheezenkwackers]

Pickles

Noodles


So, good news and bad news with my Dutch Hookbills. Good news, Noodles, the little one has started making quacking sounds. I thought I had lost my mind as it is not possible for a chocolate drake and a dusky hen to produce a dusky hen. Then, I reread the original email from the breeder, Noodle's mother is chocolate, her father is dusky, so, all duckling would be dusky and either gender. Since a girl is possible I am pretty sure she is female (Pickles is definitely male). The bad news, she is have issues with walking. I know, Niacin. Except, she was started on Mazuri waterfowl for the first two weeks. I transitioned her to Purina duck with 1 T of nutritious yeast per cup. When I noticed her laying more than walking I started her on Durvet vitamin B complex, at least 1mL soaked up in Soldier fly larva. I started her on it last Sunday. She did not have it on Tuesday, because I was out of town. But, she has had it every other day. I am not seeing a lot of improvement, if fact she seems worse. She can walk 10-12 steps and then has to lie down. Hookbills are known to have a funny walk and her legs seem farther apart than normal. She is also slightly pigeon-toed. I am trying to give her lots of swimming time to hopefully strengthen her legs. Any other ideas? This video is both of them spending supervised time with the big girls:

 

[Miss Lydia]

It says the video is private