Interesting Duckling Observations

[robbyvg]

Only cayuga and welsh harlequin since day old babies. Then I adopted a crested pekin, khaki campbell, dark khaki, and another welsh as adults. I've had ducks for nearly 7 years now, and I still have my first duck. I've spent crazy amounts of time observing them as well. I basically lived in their brooder with them. Then I moved into the barn/garden with them. I sometimes go inside the house for coffee.

I never have seen Welsh Harlequins in person. Beautiful. Cayugas are exciting and fun - my favorite duck breed at this point.

A 7-year old? Wow. Those are healthy ducks!

You are dedicated. Their brooder is in my room next to my head when in bed but I haven't moved outside for it Too cold right now. Why the babies are also inside at this moment.

How did you come to adopt the Crescent? Don't see those for sale or as adoptions very often.

 

[KaleIAm]

I never have seen Welsh Harlequins in person. Beautiful. Cayugas are exciting and fun - my favorite duck breed at this point.

A 7-year old? Wow. Those are healthy ducks!

You are dedicated. Their brooder is in my room next to my head when in bed but I haven't moved outside for it Too cold right now. Why the babies are also inside at this moment.

How did you come to adopt the Crescent? Don't see those for sale or as adoptions very often.

My ducks have had a lot of vet care to get them here, lol. Pigweed is almost 7 and Nettle is almost 8. Nettle was probably 1 when I adopted her.

My crested duck was an absolute delight. She, and the other two I adopted her with, had been abandoned on a pond. They were being repeatedly mated by many wild mallards, and of course they couldn't fly away. I took them to keep them safe. They were very scared of me and huddled in the corner. But I tamed them within a few months with slow gentle movement and lots of snacks. My crested and I had the best relationship. She would come press into my knees and stare into my eyes. She probably just wanted mealworms, but I'm taking it as affection.

I loved my cayuga, too. They are gorgeous birds. And their eggs are remarkable! I've loved all my birds.

 

[robbyvg]

My ducks have had a lot of vet care to get them here, lol. Pigweed is almost 7 and Nettle is almost 8. Nettle was probably 1 when I adopted her.

My crested duck was an absolute delight. She, and the other two I adopted her with, had been abandoned on a pond. They were being repeatedly mated by many wild mallards, and of course they couldn't fly away. I took them to keep them safe. They were very scared of me and huddled in the corner. But I tamed them within a few months with slow gentle movement and lots of snacks. My crested and I had the best relationship. She would come press into my knees and stare into my eyes. She probably just wanted mealworms, but I'm taking it as affection.

I loved my cayuga, too. They are gorgeous birds. And their eggs are remarkable! I've loved all my birds.

I've also never seen a Crested in person. As far as leaning into you and staring in your eyes, the giving of food (why they do it?) is still emotion and a form of love.

You are taking care of them, their food needs etc. which is a version of love. I love my dogs to the maximum but I do know half the time they come up to me they want my dinner, etc. Can't say humans are altogether that much different - especially if we had to rely on another specie's kindness in order to eat and live. Just the fact that they know you give them life (food) and can approach you so happily and or calmly about it means there is a definite bond of some kind.

Just my 2 cents on it!

Duckling/Duck Observation:

When they find themselves with a common injury (a poked eye, sprained leg, etc.) they are ridiculously hardy and heal amazingly well. If I poked my eye with a nail or something or one of our human babies did, you can't expect it to heal in a way in which you will be able to see normally out of that eye in the future. Ducks seem very different. They heal hard and fast for common injuries and ducklings (even 1 week olds) I've had that poked their eye were able to see out of it by the end of the week! And we are talking an oozing eye that they initially (after injury) cannot see out of.

I realize a lot of the eye stuff is because ducks have so many protective eyelids. Still... another duckling I have (2 weeks old) messed her leg up 4 days ago. Couldn't even put weight on it the first day. Next day, she put weight on it to move around. Next day she was moving even more. And today? She is walking close to normally on the injured leg with no indication of major pain. Wish I could heal that brilliantly!

 

[robbyvg]

Duckling Observation:

Khaki Campbells are quite fragile in comparison to a Golden Layer or a Rouen... or any other duck I have raised. Khakis are such cute ducklings and so silly. But they are nervous, small and fragile. Their water-enthusiasm I would rate a 5/10.

I will not get mixed ducklings again to raise together. The Golden Layers are 4x the size of the Khakis and just push them around. The Goldens are like small dinosaurs and the Khakis are... not. The bigger ducklings accidentally/incidentally hurt the smaller more fragile breeds.

In the future, I will only raise similar sized ducklings (regardless of age) with each other.