Easter Suprise!

[AVizcaya]

So, I get up early every morning (dawn) to open up my coops/runs to let my turkeys and chickens free range for the day. This particular morning I was still half asleep, eyes still fuzzy, enjoying the call of a morning dove when I look over at my turkeys and see something moving outside the run.... Well, someone decided our farm would make a good home for these lovely little buggers, and dropped them off sometime in the night.

My chickens were admittedly confused by the unexpected additions.

Well, I don't know anything about ducks, and so far they will come to me if I throw down some scratch but if I move, they run off. We have two tiny ponds, one 2ft x 3ft and one that's 4ft round. Is that sufficient? I am guessing they are 2 male rouens, right? Would they be happy together? Or should I get a couple females? Is there something special I can do to win them over? Special treat? Can you tell I am excited?

 

[greyhorsewoman]

Yes, they are Rouen males. Yes, your small ponds will be sufficient for them. Actually, they will be quite happy to be 'buds.' In my opinion, I'd think twice about adding some females. You'd need at least four, and preferring 6-8 to make sure they don't get overbred. Females are nosier than males. Also, at that point, your little ponds might get overused. Ducks generally never get as tame as chickens. You win them over by feeding them, and with just two, they might get a little chummier, but don't take their offishness personally.

Why not enjoy the colorful addition to your flock, unless you are now set on having duck eggs!

 

[PrinceSandwich]

They look like two male mallards to me. That size pond would be more than enough ( they would be happy with a bucket of water to clean in) . Good luck with your new duckies

 

[lovesduckies]

they are handsome!!!! if you can get them to eat from your hand then you are golden

 

[SaltyMomma]

LOL! Well I guess if you decide to keep them then that was a nice surprise

The last house we lived in was not urban/rural at all and every year we had a male/female pair return to our front yard (only our yard) and stay there for a couple of days. Is there any chance they are wild?

 

[AVizcaya]

Quote:
I have serious doubts they are wild, my cats attempted to chance them and they didn't fly. They allowed me to get reasonable close and any wild duck I have ever known flies the moment they see me heading in their direction (with a camera). I may be wrong, like I said, I know very little about ducks.

Quote:
That is kind of what I was thinking. My family loves turkey/duck/goose eggs and we had planned on getting some geese next year... but if I already have some male duck maybe we might have a change of plans. I think I see a large pond in our future and some females. LOL Oh boy.... it takes so much arm twisting to get us poultry addicts going on a new project.

 

[starlightsmom]

Congratulations on your ducks! They are very hansome. I see that you have a barred rock rooster - can I drop mine off at your house? Mine is very aggressive is yours?

 

[AVizcaya]

Quote:
Completely unexpected and not something I was interested in but now that I have them... wow, I'm happy. As for the rooster, he is a royal pain in the **S but we have been putting him through rooster reform school and is becoming quite manageable. And yes, drop off your rooster, a nice stew sounds good for dinner

This one would have gone into the pot but he is really good with his girls.

 

[duckyfromoz]

Wow..what a nice surprise....But it would have been so much nicer if it had benn a duck and a drake... So sad to think something maybe just dumped some extra drakes rather than trying to rehome them properly...Oh well- sounds like they may have found a good home anyway.
They are very nice looking boys too.. With no other ducks around you may find the boys might attempt some romance with the chickens... but should at least get on with each.

Good luck with those two.

 

[AVizcaya]

Now that I have enjoyed the day with these little guys I have another question. Is there any way to gauge the age of a duck? I know it's doubtful, but I thought I would ask.