Just got my e-mail from Holderreads! 6 week update, bottom pg.8

[Sweetfolly]

SO - no response to my e-mail yet, but it has occurred to me what my mystery white ducklings are - you were right, iamcuriositycat!
I believe that they're Stanbridge Whites, which were developed from an all-white sport of the Magpie!

I found a picture of a day-old Stanbridge White duckling here: http://www.britannicrarebreeds.co.uk/rarebreedducks.php
...and the little bugger is identical to mine!

Now that I know they're something special, I can hardly let them go - looks like I'm going to be building another duck pen this summer!

Here are some new pictures from this morning. I wish I could go take them outside and get some cute shots of them by the daffodils, but it was snowing this morning!

Ignore the HUGE duckling in the top right corner - that's one of my mixed-breed week olds that I hatched last week.

One of my favorites - a little Dusky Hookbill. This one's so laid back, if it's a drake I'm going to call him "Buddha".

 

[1lpoock]

I just got the email that said my 6 fawn and white runners, 6 welsh harlequins, and a pair of sebastopol geese were shipped and should be here on Wednesday!!!

I'm soo excited

 

[BeccaOH]

Just got my email too. I should have Hook Bills, Saxony, and F&W runners on Wednesday!

 

[Wifezilla]

I love all the cute babies

The week-old doesn't seem to mind all the new little siblings

 

[Sweetfolly]

The babies are over a month old now, can you believe it?

I did get an e-mail back from Holderreads, and my white ducklings are Stanbridge Whites. Two have started quacking this week, so I know I have at least two girls in the bunch!

Out of the Hookbills, it looks like I have two boys, three girls, and one that I'm not quite sure about yet - I'll have to wait a few weeks for the voice to change on that one. Little Buddha is a boy, and two of the girls are already named Sparrow and Izzie!

Here are the stinkers out free-ranging in the backyard last week - they had just jumped out of their kiddie pool, so they look like little drowned rats (and, again, two of my own Runner/Hookbill mixes are with the Holderread babies).

 

[miniwhipkey]

They are so cute and growing so fast.

 

[OmaBird]

I love the bibbed hookbills.


If my order just went in two weeks ago, is there any chance of getting birds this year? I know its so late in the year. My Holderread ducks where killed when I was on vacation over Easter. I had them for 6 years. I had no plans to order ducks this year until that happened.

 

[Sweetfolly]

Quote:
Maybe you'll appreciate this picture that I took ages ago:

Holderreads only has two more hatch weeks scheduled this year: next week (5/17), and then they take two weeks off before pushing out the last orders the first week of June (6/7). I wouldn't say it's hopeless, but your chances of getting ducklings yet this year aren't exactly stellar. I'm crossing my fingers for you though! What breeds did you order?

And I'm so sorry about your ducks!

I'm terrified to leave, when the rest of the family goes on a trip, I stay behind - the dogs wake me up when there are raccoons out by the pens, but lately we've had a bobcat prowling the area!

 

[OmaBird]

My husband sent three seperate orders in with Money Orders. I am worried because I think we would have been better off if we did not ask for show quality. The first was 8 SQ Australian spotted, silkies and penciled runners. The second order was geese. 16 Fancy Assortments. Then we panicked and placed a third order just in case the first duck order was asking for to much. We ordered 20 of the Rare Duckling Assortments. We did give lots of second and third choices. I think the orders are just to big and to late.

My ducks that where killed where 3 SQ runners. We have lots of poultry. Only the ducks where touched. What is worse is they where killed by my own Neo Mastiff puppy. Some how the door blew open or was left open while my daughter went to a wedding. My puppy is a house dog that normaly would not hurt the poulty. But he is never left outside without supervision. He was out all day. We where just sick to find out what happened.

 

[Sweetfolly]

OmaBird - That's terrible!

I'm so sorry!

Please be sure to post here if you do get some ducklings! I'd love to see pictures of them - the Rare Duck Assortment could definately still come this year!

Anyways, I have some new pictures of my ducks to share - they were all taken this afternoon! I'd love to see pictures of other people's Holderread babies from this spring too (or older ducklings from years past - I'm not picky, I just love looking at pictures of ducks, especially ones that might be related to mine)!

Also, I have a gender update! Of my 6 Hookbills, I got 2 drakes and 4 ducks! All four girls have their "big girl" quacks now, and the two boys are apparent by their color (darker heads, darker feathers above the tail, and lots of green sheen - I noticed with my Hookbills last year that you can sex them by their juvenile plumage; there's just enough of a difference).

Of the 5 Stanbridge Whites, I know at least 3 of them are girls - right now, I'm 98% sure that they're 2 drakes and 3 ducks, but there may be another girl in there yet. I know one of them is a boy though - his voice has already gone raspy (no one else notices the difference, they think I'm nuts, but I can hear the raspy-ness in there)! Three are quacking, one is raspy, and one is still peeping. They're all 6 weeks old on Tuesday.