Mandarin Duck thread ( for posting pictures and discussing)

[4-H chicken mom]

I thought I would ask on this thread to see if anyone knows what I should do. Seven wks ago I took the eggs my Mandarin was sitting on and hatched them. They are doing great. Since then she has laid eleven more eggs and has been sitting on them for the last eighteen days. I finally found her out of the box and candled them. Only one was developing and to be honest, I don't know if it is still alive. The rest were not fertile. I don't know what I should do? I did remove all but four eggs. Should I remove them all but the one? If it turns out not to be alive, should I remove it as well, will it cause her to lay eggs again? I don't want her spending the rest of her summer in the box all the time. Thanks for any advice you can give.

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

she shouldnt lay any more. Pull the good one and incubate it to the finish unless you can tell it's done.
Most likely, your male molted already right? If so that's pretty much why they arent fertile this time around.
Would be extremely rare for her to start again this late in the year

 

[chipmunkridge]

Oooo, very jealous, I want a pair of mandarin ducks.

 

[chickenlisa]

Quote:
Are you in Lancaster Pa? If so, I've got Mandarins for sale here in W. N.J. as soon as I can tell for sure male vs female. I'm 95% sure who is who- they all hatched in May/June. Pm me if you are interested at all....

Lisa

 

[chipmunkridge]

Quote:
Are you in Lancaster Pa? If so, I've got Mandarins for sale here in W. N.J. as soon as I can tell for sure male vs female. I'm 95% sure who is who- they all hatched in May/June. Pm me if you are interested at all....

Lisa

Lancaster, ohio. A good many hours from Lancaster, pa, and even more from nj.

someday, all will align and I will get some.
Susan

 

[dtran0268]

What are the differents between a young juvenile drake and a adult drake during molting? Thanks

 

[KansasKid]

Quote:
My year old drakes have molted into their eclipse plumage and theres not too much of a difference. it appears that their crown is more pronounced than when they were younger and they have the occasional feather that still resembles what they look like fully colored. I need to take the time to grab a picture of my two drakes, during the winter i screwed up my hens and male by adding artificial light as a heat source to help out my other male that was in poor condition and i ended up throwing my male into a molt, he dropped both of his sail feathers and started losing the color in his crown then snapped out of it and regrew the sail feathers but is now molted again into full eclipse. And this other drake that i got back in February appears to have an "eclipse sail feather" it looks like a sail feather but doesn't stand upright, lays flat, and is orangish greyish in color....

 

[cdover15]

i saw a madarin male on craigslist for a good price and i was wondering if you could keep them in an aviary with call ducks? if so it would be 1 mandarin drake and 3 call ducks. would he be okay?

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

watch the male calls in breeding season, they are prone to bulling other migratory style birds. You should be fine, but if given a hen there may be problems

 

[dtran0268]

Quote:
My year old drakes have molted into their eclipse plumage and theres not too much of a difference. it appears that their crown is more pronounced than when they were younger and they have the occasional feather that still resembles what they look like fully colored. I need to take the time to grab a picture of my two drakes, during the winter i screwed up my hens and male by adding artificial light as a heat source to help out my other male that was in poor condition and i ended up throwing my male into a molt, he dropped both of his sail feathers and started losing the color in his crown then snapped out of it and regrew the sail feathers but is now molted again into full eclipse. And this other drake that i got back in February appears to have an "eclipse sail feather" it looks like a sail feather but doesn't stand upright, lays flat, and is orangish greyish in color....

Thanks. I'm planning to buy a drake for my two hens and just want to make sure that it's a juvenile not a adult drake in molt.