Intro for myself & our ducks...

[3Kids&2Ducks]

I am Marsha, 33 yrs old, mother to 2 children (Samantha is almost 3 & Charlotte is 10 mos) & one on the way. About a week before Easter, our neighbor gave us 2 ducklings. They are Swedish Blues. We named them Scooter & Skeeter. So, they being our first ducks, i have some newbie questions.

What can i supplement their diet with? I have given them chopped romaine lettuce in their water, they loved it. Any other veggies or fruits? What about dandelion greens or flowers?

What about toys? I have given them a plastic easter egg to play with & they play with my daughters rubber ducky in the bath tub. Anything else?

I dont know how old they are, they were pretty small and fuzzy when we got them, now they still have the down but look like awkward adolescents. Lol. They are kind of in the "ugly duckling" stage. They are starting to get real feathers in their tails. Also, not sure on gender. I read in another post that females quack and males make a different noise...is this for all species? My ducks peep, they sound like chickens sort of. Another good comparison is when utility trucks back up, like a garbage truck or a fork truck...only really loud. Lol. And they are louder when you seperate them. They hate being apart.

Thanks for any/all help!
Marsha.

 

[benjoycei]

My duck used to eat just about everything. If I tossed it to him he would catch it. If I held a little tidbit over his head he would hop to try to get it. Loved that duck. He 'blew in' on a hurricane and stayed for 8 years until his untimely death by an owl. His name was Porky (because he was a pig, lol).

 

[70%cocoa]

Sounds like you are having lots of fun with them!! Welcome to BYC!

What you are giving them as treats sounds great, plus they love peas (buy them frozen at the supermarket). Dandelion greens are good too, plus thistles and grass.

Mine also like squashed green grapes and grated sweet potato. They love worms from the garden.

At about 5 to 6 weeks of age the ones that are ducks will start to change to proper quacks rather than peeping, but some do it later than others. The males will keep peeping for longer than the ducks till eventually they start to make a husky, rasping sound. Like a low, raspy quack. At about 5-6 weeks they will still have quite a lot of fuzz but will also have proper feathers, especially on the underside, and they will also start to get their big wing feathers growing through.

 

[azhenhouse]

I have attached a wonderful list of treats that can be given to ducks. NETTIE, a member on BYC, did a great job with this list. I made a copy of it and posted it on my frig. Check it out.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=242460

 

[rainy day ducks]

Welcome to the world of ducks!

From your description, it sounds like your ducklings may be 3 or 4 weeks old. Blue Swedish ducks are so pretty! I have never owned one though. Ducklings grow up fast! They are pretty much their adult size at 8 weeks!

I like to feed my ducklings slugs and any weeds I want them to eat when they are in the adolescent stage. Just beware, if you feed them romaine and peas, they will eat these out of your garden too!

Have fun!

 

[La Mike]

 

[3Kids&2Ducks]

Thanks for the link, it was so helpful makes grocery shopping easier now. Lol. Also, thanks for the welcomes, i hope to learn a lot here.

 

[featherfinder]

My ducks love minows as a once a week thing. I will fill up my bathtub and the put like 10 minows in there and they go crazy. It's pretty amusing to wat to lol

As for toys they love cat and bird toys. Anything with a bell or a mirror. Especially the cat toys with the balls with the bells inside.