Hi everyone! Glad to have found this forum by Google searching about ducks. There is so much very helpful & important info here that every time I searched something about ducks, this forum came up so I thought it wise to join the flock.
I kind of did this backwards because I replied to thread to ask some questions before introducing myself. If anyone is able to provide answer to my questions I'd appreciate it. That post is here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/niacin-deficiency-in-waterfowl.1367557/post-24814301
I'm new to being caregiver to ducks. It's a long story how I got into this role but I'll try to make it short. My neighbor across busy street has ducks, chickens & geese. She had trio that was raised together, 1 male Muscovy, 1 male White Crested, 1 female Muscovy. For some reason they decided they liked my yard & modified bird fountain with kiddie pool under it. They would cross the street daily, spend all day here & then go home for the night. They also liked foraging under my bird feeders where there was lots of worms, bugs & seeds & cover from hawks. I got to where I loved watching them & called them the 3 amigos. I got so attached to them, I became the duck crossing guard & would make sure they got back across the busy road safely by standing in road & stopping traffic if needed. They crossed right over the crest of a small hill so cars couldn't see them quick enough to stop. Very dangerous spot to cross. They almost had a schedule I could count on. lol
The female started sitting on eggs so she stopped coming over with the other 2 who stopped staying very here very long. They got off schedule & she decided to cross the road at rush hour around 530pm. Sorry to have to report I didn't see her crossing & she got run over & killed. After that the other 2 stopped coming over which is actually a good thing. But I missed watching those ducks so much I decided to get some of my own. And that's how I got into being a duck caregiver.
I now have 6 drake Muscovy's. Another long story I'll skip this time, but plan on trying to have all male flock. I kinda feel bad they won't get to mate not only because it's amazing, fun & scary to watch but feel like they're missing out on part of life. Their ages are unknown but they're all at least 8-10, maybe 12 weeks old, maybe. They came from different broods so are different ages.
Now instead of being a duck crossing guard I'm a hawk watcher. It's a smaller hawk, possibly Coopers Hawk. She/he likes sitting on the high transmission tall power pole across the side street. When it's not there is when I worry. I put them into protected house at night but want them to be able to free range during day. I have a day "run" under my 30' x 8' deck where I can pen them in when needed, if the hawk is on the prowl or for place to chill and they'll be protected. They're almost big enough & stay grouped up that I'm feeling better about letting them out when I'm not outside to hawk watch or so I hope. I just fear that when they get done swimming they preen right where it's easy for the hawk to get them. I keep telling them they're in the hawk danger zone & try to get them to preen elsewhere. They don't seem to want to listen to me though. So I sit there hawk watching until they're done preening.
So that's my story & I apologize for the length of my post but you'll find I'm pretty wordy.
If you have any questions, advice or comments, I welcome them and I'll do my best to keep my answers as short as I'm able. lol
I kind of did this backwards because I replied to thread to ask some questions before introducing myself. If anyone is able to provide answer to my questions I'd appreciate it. That post is here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/niacin-deficiency-in-waterfowl.1367557/post-24814301
I'm new to being caregiver to ducks. It's a long story how I got into this role but I'll try to make it short. My neighbor across busy street has ducks, chickens & geese. She had trio that was raised together, 1 male Muscovy, 1 male White Crested, 1 female Muscovy. For some reason they decided they liked my yard & modified bird fountain with kiddie pool under it. They would cross the street daily, spend all day here & then go home for the night. They also liked foraging under my bird feeders where there was lots of worms, bugs & seeds & cover from hawks. I got to where I loved watching them & called them the 3 amigos. I got so attached to them, I became the duck crossing guard & would make sure they got back across the busy road safely by standing in road & stopping traffic if needed. They crossed right over the crest of a small hill so cars couldn't see them quick enough to stop. Very dangerous spot to cross. They almost had a schedule I could count on. lol
The female started sitting on eggs so she stopped coming over with the other 2 who stopped staying very here very long. They got off schedule & she decided to cross the road at rush hour around 530pm. Sorry to have to report I didn't see her crossing & she got run over & killed. After that the other 2 stopped coming over which is actually a good thing. But I missed watching those ducks so much I decided to get some of my own. And that's how I got into being a duck caregiver.
I now have 6 drake Muscovy's. Another long story I'll skip this time, but plan on trying to have all male flock. I kinda feel bad they won't get to mate not only because it's amazing, fun & scary to watch but feel like they're missing out on part of life. Their ages are unknown but they're all at least 8-10, maybe 12 weeks old, maybe. They came from different broods so are different ages.
Now instead of being a duck crossing guard I'm a hawk watcher. It's a smaller hawk, possibly Coopers Hawk. She/he likes sitting on the high transmission tall power pole across the side street. When it's not there is when I worry. I put them into protected house at night but want them to be able to free range during day. I have a day "run" under my 30' x 8' deck where I can pen them in when needed, if the hawk is on the prowl or for place to chill and they'll be protected. They're almost big enough & stay grouped up that I'm feeling better about letting them out when I'm not outside to hawk watch or so I hope. I just fear that when they get done swimming they preen right where it's easy for the hawk to get them. I keep telling them they're in the hawk danger zone & try to get them to preen elsewhere. They don't seem to want to listen to me though. So I sit there hawk watching until they're done preening.
So that's my story & I apologize for the length of my post but you'll find I'm pretty wordy.
If you have any questions, advice or comments, I welcome them and I'll do my best to keep my answers as short as I'm able. lol