Falling Down Heights, my daily life

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At this point, only thing for certain I can say is that the father is NOT the Magpie! Of the other two possibilities, both were blues but not solid blue. This was them last Fall:

View attachment 3809604

The one on the left looked more blue mallard, the one on the right had a more solid blue body (apart fro the chest). And pretty sure the one on the right had a pure Kakhi Campbell as a mother. Their father was solid blue.
My understanding of the chocolate color is that the male needs to have at least 1 chocolate gene and the female cannot have any, then their female babies will be sex-linked (chocolate/brown). I was particularly watching my buff male with my cayuga females out of curiosity, but the 2 chocolate babies I got didn't come out of cayuga eggs, which makes me think that at least 1 of my Silver Appleyard females doesn't carry chocolate genes?!? I could be totally wrong, though! Pretty sure I read about duck genetics on BYC, but it was last year and I didn't save the article.
 
My understanding of the chocolate color is that the male needs to have at least 1 chocolate gene and the female cannot have any, then their female babies will be sex-linked (chocolate/brown). I was particularly watching my buff male with my cayuga females out of curiosity, but the 2 chocolate babies I got didn't come out of cayuga eggs, which makes me think that at least 1 of my Silver Appleyard females doesn't carry chocolate genes?!? I could be totally wrong, though! Pretty sure I read about duck genetics on BYC, but it was last year and I didn't save the article.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/breeding-for-sex-linked-ducklings.74511/

Found the article I read! Maybe it will be of some interest?!
 
That :rantfox is back!!! My daughter saw it on a ridge just outside the tree line and called me. Thankfully, everyone was safe in their enclosures, including the ducks. She was alerted to it by the chickens sounding the alarm.

Went out there with the dog, but it was nowhere to be seen. Guess I know what happened to my drake...

I think I figured out where the ducks were escaping from and blocked off that area. Even my most stubborn escape artist, Coco, was still safe in the yard.

Babies are doing well! Trooper wants nothing to do with me now that he has a buddy. Of course. Still picking them up for a quick snuggle several times a day.

Wish the temps would even out! I can't get anything done. I want these call ducks out of my trailer!
 
May have more ducklings sooner than later. 3 of the eggs have a very extended air cell and I can see the babies pushing against them. Technically, these should have gone into lockdown yesterday, but I delayed it due to the power outage.

Maybe because they were only on day 5 when the power went out, they didn't suffer as much developmentally?

In any case, I'll be keeping a close eye on them.

The other three eggs still have visible veins and a smaller air cell. I suspect they may be Muscovy?
 
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Crazy ducklings. They prefer the TOP of the brooder plate.
 

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