Mandarin Duck thread ( for posting pictures and discussing)

[BYC-user-174785]

I now have my five ducklings in the brooder. I think two are partially imprinted on me! Three wood ducks and two mandarins, all regular. Had two regular quitters and one white quitter which was really upsetting. It only took minutes after moving them from incubator to brooder to have them drinking water, and few hours later one was definitely eating. I have not had them drink or eat so fast. Now all of them are eating after a day in the brooder. They are really cute. I didn't use mealworms, only chick starter.

 

[PastorTerri2014]

 

[TheYeldman]

Sorry, but what do you mean by quitter?

 

[3BirdGirlz]

Sorry, but what do you mean by quitter?

It died before hatching.

 

[poultryaddicted]

How long does it usually take for mandarins to hatch

 

[chickenlisa]

My 2nd Mandarin female is setting now! Yay! She's been on eggs most of this week, not sure what day she started...I may end up candling them in a few weeks to see what stage they're at and taking them to finish hatching indoor in my hovabator...I will have more brooder space freed up then and would love to brood them myself....and have more than 3/8 of them survive if we get monsoon rains right after they hatch, like the first clutch did.

 

[3BirdGirlz]

How long does it usually take for mandarins to hatch

About 28 days.

And my hen started sitting! I 'm so happy....I think she has 12 eggs in there !!! Plus I have 5 eggs under my broody cochin. I'm betting my mandarin hen has better luck though

 

[JulieNKC]

All 8 of the eggs my marans pullet sat for me hatched. So now I have a brooder full of babies, im so happy! She is still sitting too, with 5 more eggs on day 10 now. I'm going to give the poor girl some call ducklings or serama chicks to raise when i pull those, she deserves some babies after all her hard work, she will have been sitting for about 7-8 weeks by then. I am keeping quite a few of these babies, but selling a few since i dont have room for all of them. When are they old enough to sex? Trying to get an idea of when I'll have them available for the people wanting them.

 

[AliciaM]

I had one mandarin baby hatch yesterday morning... and one more is working on hatching.. They sure took there time.... I put the first one in a brooder already as he was running all over the incubator... I put some dry crumbles in a bowl as well as sprinkled some on the floor.. I also made a bowl of mushy feed.. Ive heard they are hard to get to eat.. but Ive also heard from others that said theyve never had any problem... Im just covering my bases...
If anyone has any tips, please let me know.. He is also realy REALY flighty.. Once he starts eating, I will start handling him alot to tame him down..

I CAN get a call duckling or 2 tomorrow if need be...OR I can get some chicks from the feed store that are close to the same age... Id rather get the chicks as I can use them when they get older... I dont NEED any more call ducks...

What is everyone's opinion on that?

 

[AliciaM]

I ended up purchasing 4 light brahma chicks at the feedstore yesterday to put with the mandarin duckling.. He was sooo much happier.. He follows them around and eats when they eat and drinks when they drink... The 2nd mandarin duckling is still in the incubator getting stronger.. I will put him in with the others in the morning...If all goes well, I will brood them all together until they drive me nuts with the mess then seperate them..

I also just pulled 8 mandarin eggs and am thinking of putting them and a couple of call duck eggs under a couple of call duck hens who are currently sitting on eggs.. I will remove those eggs and finish them off in the incubator... I wondered if I should put the call duck eggs under the girls a few days AFTER I put the mandarin eggs under them??

Thanks for the help..