Duck Addicts Anonymous (DAA)

[Quatie]

Yes. It is so funny. Someone will say something funny in the house and next thing you hear one of our ducks are ‘laughing’ out in the chook pen. Same thing with the turkeys and peacocks.

It must be a bird thing, because no of my other pets have had that ability.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

Here he is. My Avatar Drake. View attachment 2869375View attachment 2869376View attachment 2869378View attachment 2869377

He is so handsome! He's different from your other drake, plus he's special so maybe he should stay He is colored so similar to my Porcelain Aztec hen, minus the dark claret breast. Of course the drakes we're also very similar in their eclipse plumage, but they had hints of varying shades of silver/gray throughout the light buff coloring. I can't wait to learn what color he's going to be. One more reason to keep him around! Nuptial plumage

 

[HeatherKellyB]

That is what is so confusing to me. The blue fawn and the gray drakes are already getting their colors on their heads.

I think that claret is going to continue to fill in that dark color. There were a lot of little white feathers fluffing off of him when I picked him up today.

I know he's not an Aztec or colored like them, but some of my Aztec drakes are just now getting their gorgeous blue heads. Out of the 4 of them, only 1 has his blue head and he's also the only one that's got his neck ring. The others are coming along at varying rates although slowly

 

[HeatherKellyB]

Are you like this with chickens too or just the ducks?

Personally, chickens are cute and I'll always have em, but the ducks are my true obsession. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the silkies, super precious and fun to watch but they're not as friendly or graceful (Graceful in looks, we all know the ducks are sleek and pretty but totally clumsy and uncoordinated) or goofy as ducks.

I've had the chickens and ducks for years and the chickens are by far the messiest, noisiest and meanest (sometimes life-threatening) of the two. Ducks are so angelic IMAO, chickens just don't compare.

Yes, the same with bantam chickens. I love them all, but I've got 2 Dutch Bantam hens, 3 OEGB hens and a Pyncheon hen and oh my gosh, they're the sweetest birds ever! My Pyncheon is a wierdo but that's one of the things that makes her special. The 2 Dutch Bantams are so snuggly still at a little over a year old. The OEGB's are so chatty and are pretty dependent on me in a sweet way. My Silkies are sweet and precious little girls
The ducks are absolutely the most fun and overall enjoyable in all aspects in my personal opinion. I think ducks are more addictive because of that. They seem easier to care for, house, and really everything is easier.
I can't imagine life without both.

Edited to add: I adore all of my chickens but I only mentioned a few that are snuggly and lovable still

 

[HeatherKellyB]

View attachment 2869022View attachment 2869025
This is Candy. Part of the reason I'm disappointed is because I sold my black runner drake but I had incubated a bunch of runner eggs and was excited when this one hatched because she was so dark. All my other runners are brown or fawn.

Candy is adorable!!! How is her personality? She has a very half runner posture. Almost a bowling pin. I love it! Maybe you can borrow your drake for breeding purposes?

 

[Angel07]

Day 10 of incubating duck eggs (18 of). 2 were definitely no no’s. 3 questionables. Also unsure on the turkey and goose. Will get dad to check those unsure’s for me. I think that’s still pretty good considering.

 

[WVduckchick]

It must be a bird thing, because no of my other pets have had that ability.

My dog pays attention to the tv. We can’t watch hunting shows anymore because he tries to attack the tv. And back-up alarms on trucks drive him nuts. In person or on tv.

 

[Isadora]

Candy is adorable!!! How is her personality? She has a very half runner posture. Almost a bowling pin. I love it! Maybe you can borrow your drake for breeding purposes?

She's pretty calm. Not overly friendly because I haven't handled her much, but she's not skittish. Also a loud quacker.
Her markings are quite pretty. She has that speckled bill and striped feet.
I think the lady that bought my drake is an hour away, so unfortunately that won't happen. Thanks for the suggestion, though.
I sold a different lady four runner ducklings when Candy was a few weeks old. I contacted her after realizing Candy was a cross to make sure she got what she paid for. I was very relieved when she sent me the photos that she clearly got runner ducks.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

She's pretty calm. Not overly friendly because I haven't handled her much, but she's not skittish. Also a loud quacker.
Her markings are quite pretty. She has that speckled bill and striped feet.
I think the lady that bought my drake is an hour away, so unfortunately that won't happen. Thanks for the suggestion, though.
I sold a different lady four runner ducklings when Candy was a few weeks old. I contacted her after realizing Candy was a cross to make sure she got what she paid for. I was very relieved when she sent me the photos that she clearly got runner ducks.

As you know, I LOVE runners, but the way their personalities are described worries me a little bit. Of course, a lot of ducks are skittish anytime you come at them from overhead, but are Runners really extra skittish? Their appearance and silliness certainly make up for them acting like you're coming to pluck them feather by feather. Whenever I went to purchase some day olds to go along with my week olds (they were a gift to my daughter) years back, we ended up with a Cayuga and a Mallard (TSC's "duck lady" chose the ducklings for us after explaining that we really wanted some girls and said she was 99.9% sure that both were girls - she was 100% wrong on both). I was so hopeful that we'd have a runner. We named the Mallard "India" because we were so hopeful. I had no experience with any ducks other than Pekins, so that was a lot of my fault. We still have Stormy but unfortunately lost India to a suspected predator one night right before lock up. He disappeared, leaving only one wing feather behind. He was such a good drake. Both of our favorite drakes from that flock were killed by predators. The other one was a gorgeous Jumbo Pekin with the chubbiest cheeks I've ever seen on a big duck. A neighbors dog got him I could go on and on. I think duck and chicken chat is my favorite topic

Edited: Oh my, that sounded extremely dark. I meant that I could go on and on talking about ducks, not the death of ducks. Let me just go find a rock to crawl under I just creeped myself out

 

[HeatherKellyB]

@WVduckchick how is Quasi doing? Any better this morning?