Everyone’s Favourite

[Soon2BChixMom]

Beautiful Pekins. I have heard they are a friendly duck. I was worried about getting pekins as our ducks free range and have a duck platform they use at night. I got muscovy’s because i know they can fly a little and i was worried about predators. The rouens were an after thought as my boyfriend said he wanted some that look like mallards. I am not really a huge fan of them but the muscovy’s have completely won me over.
I take the ducklings regularily to the pond to meet the other ducks and the rouen female tries to attack them every time. She has 4 babies with her and 2 of these guys are hers that she left before they were hatched. She hates them. The female muscovy looks like she wants to be nice but she also tried to attack them awhile ago. I am now to afraid to let her to close. The males stay away from them and just sort of float around. I have another 4 weeks before they can go out there all the time so let’s hope they settle before then.
We now have 4 muscovy babies just hatched today. One egg hasn’t hatched. It looks good when yoj candle it. Could it just be a day behind?
Here is a pic of the new babiesand of the parents. Any idea what colour they will be

I would wait. A person recently hatching muscovies had hatches days apart.
I think once the ducklings get older, the pond fights won't matter.

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

Sent before i posted the pics

Beautiful muscovy’s btw.

Lovely! Wish I had a pond.

 

[Caleigh]

The egg is still in the incubator so i will leave it for another few days and see. We candled all of them a few days before hatching and you could see the beak in the airsack and hear pecking noises. I don’t hear anything in this one or see any beak in the airsack. Maybe he is just a day or 2 behind.

I am hoping the more i take them to the pond the more used to them the ducks will get and will eventually not bother with them. We are building another platform for them so they have a spot to go if the others are not nice. Our pond is large so i am hoping they can just stay away from the others until things settle.

 

[Vyctoria]

When I started out with ducks a couple of years ago, I didn't know much about the different breeds and I wanted a variety of colors and personalities. So I figured if I got one of each, I could compare and decide what my favorites were. A few have passed due to various things and I've gotten more of the same kinds, only to find that they were almost opposite of the previous one. In the end, I've learned that every duck is vastly different in personality, no matter the breed. That said, I'm partial to Cayugas and Welsh Harlequins. I adore all of my ducks though because they each have their own character that sets them apart. The way you raise them makes all the difference.

I've never had runners or muscovies though. I would love to have both someday, but I'd need my own place first. A close friend of mine breeds muscovies and they are a really cool bird, but they are so unique in comparison to the mallard derived breeds.

 

[Caleigh]

Well said!!
We got adult birds to start with as i was worried about predators especially with hand raised babies plus they take alot of time. Ours were not hand raised and were in a very large flock that lived outsdie so i figured start with a few adults that have some survival skills and see how we make out. I do like the rouens but they are just way different from the muscovy’s. The muscovy’s are way more interested in us. They come alot closer. I can feed the female from my hand now and they will come and stand beside me where the rouens won’t even come near me.
We thought we would let them each have a clutch just because it would be fun to have some baby ducks around. That has turned into a nightmare and now we have 8 babies and maybe soon to be 9. We have 2 rouen babies that are 3 weeks, 2 hinnies that are 3 weeks and 4 muscoy babies that just hatched today. Needless to say we are going to be very busy for awhile. Any tips on how to raise them? I try and get them out as much as possible. They follow me everywhere. I have been taking them for walks down the creek and basically just been hanging with them most of the day this weekend. I sent them to my mom’s for 1 1/2 weeks as she is home all day and i wanted them with people as much as possible. They are back now and i am always guilty when i am at work and they are in their pen all day but there is nothing i can do.

 

[Knighstar679]

When I was looking at breeds I was drawn to the welsh Harlequin because of its usually calm personality. I also really love the colors on them.

I also love the Cayugas because they are a very interesting set of what seems like iridescent color on black feathers. They can also be a very calm breed as well.

So those are the two I am working on hatching.

 

[Olivekat07]

Very pretty Pekins

Thank you!

 

[TSOWOATNKC]

My favorites to look at are are Magpie and Cayuga. My daughters love Runners. Watching Pekins waddle around is throughly amusing. I like different things about each breed.

 

[Caleigh]

I have seen Cayuga’s. They are a beautiful bird. We almost got those instead of the rouens.
I just had to google Welsh Harlequins. They are gorgeous as well.
You have some eggs incubated or are your females sitting?
So many beautiful breeds. I want all of them
I am excited to see what my hinny ducks will turn out like and the muscovy babies.