How old is my duckling?

[Miss Lydia]

This is lemon, we got her on Monday, she is an aylesbury (obviously not purebreed) she is mostly feathered but still growing her wing feathers and still has fluffy down uncovered on her tail. We were told she was 4/5 months old but I'd like to be a bit more accurate. Any guesses?

Maybe 4-6 weeks very pretty.

 

[CambryB]

Does anybody know the age of this duckling?
I made a habitat for it but I don't know what to feed it or if it needs a heat lamp.

 

[Ashleymarie529]

Does anybody know the age of this duckling?
I made a habitat for it but I don't know what to feed it or if it needs a heat lamp.

Maybe 5 days to a week old? DEFINITELY needs a heat lamp. Go to Tractor supply and buy one of these two things for feed:
Non-medicated chick crumbles
Or Flock Raiser Crumbles.

Also purchase Sav-a-chick electrolytes and mix one packet into a gallon on water and let her drink that in a shallow bowl a little at a time.

 

[CambryB]

Thanks so much. One more question: How do I tell if it's a boy or a girl and what breed it is?

 

[Ashleymarie529]

That's a mallard duckling and you won't be able to tell the gender until the feathers come in. There is a way to tell called vent sexing, but if you don't know how to do it, you could hurt the baby. So just wait and PM me some updated pics when he/she has feathers and then we can see about gender.

 

[Ashleymarie529]

It will get most all of its feathers in about 7 weeks

 

[Amiga]

Please read this - https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/750869/raising-and-caring-for-ducklings#post_10611711

@CambryB - whether or not a heat lamp is needed depends on the temperature in the brooder. If you live where it is about 80F, then no heat lamp is needed. Ducklings need to be at about 80 to 85F their second week of life, dropping 5F each week after that.

 

[Ashleymarie529]

She's keeping the baby inside I believe, so I don't think her house is 80 degrees... what do you think @Amiga maybe she should have a heat lamp for 2 more weeks? The average house temp is 72 degrees?

 

[CambryB]

Yes my house is currently 73 degrees in my house.

 

[Amiga]

Yes my house is currently 73 degrees in my house.

So, something that will raise the temperature about 10 degrees this week - you won't need much. In a few weeks, you won't need any extra heat. Do monitor the temperature, that is important.