Duckling ID and colouring questions

[designbyaleks]

Hi there! I’m new to the forum (and to duck ownership!) and I’m hoping I can get some confirmation or insight. We purchased 4 khaki campbells from a local farmer - but did not see parents. The ducklings were all mixed colours - more so than we expected for our chosen breed, and of those we chose a bit of variety. I am wondering if they are not ‘pure’ khakis as they’re not all tan, or perhaps it’s normal that they’re not all exactly the same colour? Particularly curious is the very dark charcoal one as well as the larger one with spots on back and face stripes. Is this normal for ducklings? Are they maybe a bit of a more diluted line? We did our best to vent sex them and hope we successfully picked out one male and three females - time will tell!

 

[Knighstar679]

The one with two face stripes looks Rouen, the Dark Dark one looks like it could be a runner or Cayuga. Not sure about the other two.

 

[DuckyDonna]

Hi, welcome to BYC! I don't know what your ducks are but I think I spy a border collie in the background. How is he/she with the little ones. Is it a puppy or grown?

I'm asking because I've got a 5 month old BC puppy and I just hatched 11 baby runners. She's ok with the 7 big runners but I'm not going to let her get at the babies.

 

[Knighstar679]

Hi, welcome to BYC! I don't know what your ducks are but I think I spy a border collie in the background. How is he/she with the little ones. Is it a puppy or grown?

I'm asking because I've got a 5 month old BC puppy and I just hatched 11 baby runners. She's ok with the 7 big runners but I'm not going to let her get at the babies.

My BC is better with the ducklings than the full grown ducks. The border collie is 7 and babies the ducklings thinking he has to lick them clean. If they peep in distress he is over there checking on them. My Tervuren aren’t sure what to think on ducklings but LOVE ducks. They will all watch them for hours playing on the floor or in the water splashing around. For me I found if I tried to keep them completely away it made them more driven to figure out what the balls of fluff are.

 

[DuckyDonna]

My BC is better with the ducklings than the full grown ducks. The border collie is 7 and babies the ducklings thinking he has to lick them clean. If they peep in distress he is over there checking on them. My Tervuren aren’t sure what to think on ducklings but LOVE ducks. They will all watch them for hours playing on the floor or in the water splashing around. For me I found if I tried to keep them completely away it made them more driven to figure out what the balls of fluff are.

I've also got a 4 yr old male BC named Steve but he's so awesome and smart he wouldn't hurt a feather on any of my ducks little or big. The puppy makes me nervous. She lays by this little makeshift temporary outdoor playpen I've got set up for them watching and she just looks like she'd like to make some kind of a move on them but I'm not sure what. She won't hurt the big ones, she mostly just annoys and herds them but they don't go fast enough for her. I want her to get used to the ducklings and vice versa but it's so stressful!

 

[Knighstar679]

I've also got a 4 yr old male BC named Steve but he's so awesome and smart he wouldn't hurt a feather on any of my ducks little or big. The puppy makes me nervous. She lays by this little makeshift temporary outdoor playpen I've got set up for them watching and she just looks like she'd like to make some kind of a move on them but I'm not sure what. She won't hurt the big ones, she mostly just annoys and herds them but they don't go fast enough for her. I want her to get used to the ducklings and vice versa but it's so stressful!

I understand one of my tervuren is a puppy. One which has proven to be a small animal killer, so she is watched closely. Worse she has done is set a paw on one that was running away. But she isn’t going to learn if I don’t expose so we have supervised exposure experience. She has gotten better. She mainly talks to then now.

 

[DuckyDonna]

I understand one of my tervuren is a puppy. One which has proven to be a small animal killer, so she is watched closely. Worse she has done is set a paw on one that was running away. But she isn’t going to learn if I don’t expose so we have supervised exposure experience. She has gotten better. She mainly talks to then now.

I've never heard of that breed. I'm going to look it up!

 

[designbyaleks]

Hi, welcome to BYC! I don't know what your ducks are but I think I spy a border collie in the background. How is he/she with the little ones. Is it a puppy or grown?

I'm asking because I've got a 5 month old BC puppy and I just hatched 11 baby runners. She's ok with the 7 big runners but I'm not going to let her get at the babies.

Hi! I have two Australian Shepherds actually, one is 8, super relaxed, came for a sniff and went off to play on his own, while the other one, who is 2, was incredibly curious! He has a visibly strong herding drive (as tested on our poor cat) and upon arrival of the ducklings, he circled the crate around and around in a frenzy trying to nip and tuck at them. We got him calmed down, and gradually introduced him to one duckling at a time, in my hands, and he was handled by my husband. He licked them and recognized they were fragile and has since been curious but giving them much more space. That said, we also feed our dogs a raw diet so to be very truthful, I would not trust him with the ducks alone for a long time to come. I think even if his intentions are good, he may accidentally hurt or eat one in an exuberant excitement

 

[DuckyDonna]

Hi! I have two Australian Shepherds actually, one is 8, super relaxed, came for a sniff and went off to play on his own, while the other one, who is 2, was incredibly curious! He has a visibly strong herding drive (as tested on our poor cat) and upon arrival of the ducklings, he circled the crate around and around in a frenzy trying to nip and tuck at them. We got him calmed down, and gradually introduced him to one duckling at a time, in my hands, and he was handled by my husband. He licked them and recognized they were fragile and has since been curious but giving them much more space. That said, we also feed our dogs a raw diet so to be very truthful, I would not trust him with the ducks alone for a long time to come. I think even if his intentions are good, he may accidentally hurt or eat one in an exuberant excitement

thanks for the reply. I will certainly try letting her sniff and explore one duckling at a time to see if that will curb her curiosity. She's not on a raw diet but I'm not going to trust her with them for a long time.

 

[sylviethecochin]

Those bills look really weird to me—almost like a Dutch Hookbill's.
EDT: "Normal" Bill (domestic/Mallard)

Dutch Hookbill: