Growing up

[seashoreduck]

I have 4 ducklings...all for about a week....got them at 3 weeks 5 days ish (hatched 9- 10th of Apr) they are just over a month old now

Right now I transport them from their outdoor pen, to the dog cage indoors by carrying them. Last week they were more or less the same size....one was a bit bigger and had a bit more feathers, but not that much.

This week their sizes vary extremely. The littlest is probably half the weight of the biggest and 3/4 the size.

Is this normal? They are all supposed to have come from the same batch and hatched the same day.

 

[bluejeans]

if non of them appear to be listless and sick and all have good apetites then i would concider their different sizes to be normal for each of them ..

 

[bluejeans]

im not sure what you mean by the same batch? most ducks ive noticed give only one egg a day not four..

 

[bluejeans]

also ive noticed a tremendous size difference in my dutch hook bill ducklings and they were all hatched on the same day ..
and seem all to be very healthy as well.. So personaly as long as they are healthy and eating well i would not be to overly concerned about it ...

 

[shicks0211]

even though the ducks will lay one egg per day..they don't incubate them...or sit on them until they have several..so the ducklings start forming at exactly the same time and they hatch more or less at the same time..so they would all hatch in the "same batch" and be the same age. mine usually grow at about the same rate and are the same size for the most part. but it's possible that some of them will be slightly larger or smaller than their brothers and sisters. What kind are they? if they're musgovy than the males are considerably larger than the females

 

[seashoreduck]

They are mallards. I haven't been able to sex them quite yet.

I don't think that any appear listless. the smallest one is pretty doscile, it will let me carry it without much fuss or noise. Sometimes not even a quack...or rather cheep...i'm barley getting quacks now.

On the other hand the biggest will scratch and scream bloody murder (I swear my landlord laughs from an acre away).

the two medium ones (though one is now getting larger) fall inbetween in weight and attitude.

 

[bluejeans]

even though the ducks will lay one egg per day..they don't incubate them...or sit on them until they have several..so the ducklings start forming at exactly the same time and they hatch more or less at the same time..so they would all hatch in the "same batch" and be the same age. mine usually grow at about the same rate and are the same size for the most part. but it's possible that some of them will be slightly larger or smaller than their brothers and sisters. What kind are they? if they're musgovy than the males are considerably larger than the females

so your saying as I always thought ducks can hatch more or less of them selves and all at the same time. i just knew ducks were unreasonable . sneaky little creatures..