getting blue swedish ducklings :D

[Mojo Chick'n]

I am in waiting for next week to get here!!!! My ducklings are supposed to ship from Ideal on the 4th of Feb. I ordered 20 straight run Blue Swedish and I can't wait!!!!!

They had a special going - the usual assorted special, but this time you could also order one breed, straight run for the same price. (1.60 per duckling). I had done the order over internet, but it didn't go through, so I called them and did it over the phone.

So, instead of buying 8 ducklings for 40 bucks at the feedstore in March, I am getting 20 of them for 43 bucks now

woohoo!!!! (that's 43 bucks with the shipping included)

It is going to be VERY hard to choose which ones to keep. I know I'll want them all.

Hubby and I are building a small pond this summer, but until then they'll have to make due with a kiddie pool.

I already have a pair of call Ducks I got recently from a friend - they are the cutest things!! The little girl duck Bossy is so funny.

eta -- sorry, phone rang and I hit post

The other day when we had all that rain our yard was flooded, and the girl call duck was swimming in her new "pond" a huge puddle in my yard that was about 8 foot across and about 8 inches deep - she was so hillarious, she thought I couldn't get to her in the "pond" (it was time to go in for the night) then when I walked out into it she had this look like "Oh NO!! How'd she get out here?" she paddled as fast as she could to "shore" and ran down to the coop to go in.

I can't wait to have a whole flock of ducks!!!

meri

 

[nettie]

lol the pond thing happen to my ducks too... While we were in chicago for three weeks, our ducks came with. The snowed a lot then it warmed up and everythng melted. My dad's backyard flooded and it was a huge treat for my duckies-

lol.

As for your swedish, YAY! You should get a good color mix, with blues, blacks, and spalshes. I ordered from them and ended up with two blue swedes and a black swede.

Here's a little trick...
If you won't be keeping all of them, and ou are unsure of the sex, you can try looking at their feet/bills... Females usually have all black feet (or very dark feet, very little orange/pink) while boys do have orange in their feet. So if you pick out the ones with the most black in their feet, your most likely will have girls. ourse this isn't 100%, but it's a good indicator, rather than guessing blindly...

 

[Mojo Chick'n]

Quote:
Thanks for the tip - I was wondering how I'd figure out who was what before they got so old that I was in love with all of them

Did you have a thread on your ducks and their day in the puddles? I think I recall seeing one on that - they were so cute.

I didn't think I would want ducks - as a kid on our farm we had ducks and geese, but I didnt really pay much attention to them (I was into my horse and my rabbit) -- But those two little Call Ducks stole my heart, they are so adorable.

One of the reasons I went with the Blue Swedish is for some variety. I wanted to have a flock of pure bred ducks that could all look different, too. I'm also getting a trio of toulouse geese in March.

I still haven't decided how many ducks to keep, I was thinking 6 or 8 of them, two drakes and the rest ducks. That should keep me in plenty of eggs to hatch

I'm gonna have a houseful for awhile, though, I've got chicken eggs hatching this weekend, have three chicks hatched out a couple weeks ago, 6 jumbo quail (and the tank of 4 button quail) and I also have 15 chicks coming from Cackle in March. I think I need a bigger sewing room/hatchery room to hold them all

meri

 

[shelleyd2008]

Hey Meri, now that nettie mentioned the foot thing, it seems I have read on here somewhere that the bills will be different colors as well for males and females. One of them (m or f) has spots and the other doesn't. Have you done a search on here about them?

 

[Mojo Chick'n]

Quote:
Not yet, I figured I would tonight.

I still have a few items I need to pick up - brewers yeast and maybe a couple other things. I'll get those this weekend.

Man!! I can't wait to get the duckies!!!!

 

[Mojo Chick'n]

I've looked everywhere and can't find a thing on sexing them. I guess I'll just have to either guess or wait til they make enough noise to tell the difference.

meri

 

[nettie]

the beaks are a little less clear than the feet. Beaks can darken in females and looks kinda pink at first. I had a female swedish and what looked like a male just a week and a half ago (I gave them to allaboutdemchicks

) The female was sexed, and she had a dark bill that had some spoltchy pink spots. The feet was the bets indicator... They were darker than the boys. Girls feet may have a little pink in them, but they are more blended. Males feet have more of a clear line between the dark and light color. If you get any black swedish, it's usually really defined...

Here's a cuple pics to give you an idea...

This black swede is a boy for sure... note the orange feet-

this is a swede that has a black head, it's a boy as well, most likely, judgeing by the ornage feet-

This one in the fron is most likely a girl, she's got black feet...

This is a the female i had sexed from Ideal, she's got darker feet, but a little pink... there is not definite like though... but her beak has splotches... Feet are the best way to tell

I would count on the feet since it can be unclear, but it might help you pick out some early on. It's a lot of work taking care of 20 ducklings! Plus if you have a rough idea, you can allow yourself to get attched to certain ones.

 

[nettie]

oh, and here's the site that tells about the color difference:

http://www.blueswedish.co.uk/standard.html

 

[Henrietta23]

Here are my two blue swedish. I purchased them locally from a woman who ordered them from Murray McMurray.

Not a great picture but maybe it will be helpful in addition to the other information. The duckling on the left is a female and the one on the right is a male. I didn't know that at the time though! Just got lucky.
I love my Blue Swedish!!

 

[Mojo Chick'n]

Coolness!! Thanks guys, this will definately help.

meri