Mixed ducklings… did we just get unlucky?

[Anime2lover]

Many of them look like rouens. I'm finding with my own that Rouens have very dominant genetics.

 

[DuckyMama4]

Oh I just realized (I think!) that the Swedish eggs would show a more prominent bib? So the wingtips and eyebrows wouldn’t really matter in confirming that they were part Swedish.

I’m honestly trying to wrap my head around the fact that we can possibly have only sex linked babies from our ducks!

We got our ducks sort of on a whim! One of my children, who has always been in love with ducks, was told that after we moved she could get a duckling. Last May I did some research and sent my husband off to our local feed. We got three ducklings as a surprise for our kids. He came home with two brown ducks and a yellow duck. Having no idea about duck breeds I took to Google and learned they were khaki Campbell and Pekin. Both of the khakis ended up being drakes. We rehomed one of the drakes and I went on Mezter’s website and picked out 3 females that I liked. I’m just so surprised, and a bit in disbelief, that knowing absolutely nothing about duck breeds and the options with the pekin color gene that we ended up with all the right ducks to only have sex linked ducklings.

 

[DuckyMama4]

Many of them look like rouens. I'm finding with my own that Rouens have very dominant genetics.

I had done a bit of googling, while waiting for them to hatch, and expected the Rouen ducklings to look like rouens. I was a little shocked when I seem the khaki and welsh ducklings also looked liked Rouens though!

 

[Anime2lover]

I had done a bit of googling, while waiting for them to hatch, and expected the Rouen ducklings to look like rouens. I was a little shocked when I seem the khaki and welsh ducklings also looked liked Rouens though!

ever seen my khakis look like Rouen's XD, though yours could be a different kind of khaki then min

 

[cheezenkwackers]

Oh I just realized (I think!) that the Swedish eggs would show a more prominent bib? So the wingtips and eyebrows wouldn’t really matter in confirming that they were part Swedish.

I’m honestly trying to wrap my head around the fact that we can possibly have only sex linked babies from our ducks!

We got our ducks sort of on a whim! One of my children, who has always been in love with ducks, was told that after we moved she could get a duckling. Last May I did some research and sent my husband off to our local feed. We got three ducklings as a surprise for our kids. He came home with two brown ducks and a yellow duck. Having no idea about duck breeds I took to Google and learned they were khaki Campbell and Pekin. Both of the khakis ended up being drakes. We rehomed one of the drakes and I went on Mezter’s website and picked out 3 females that I liked. I’m just so surprised, and a bit in disbelief, that knowing absolutely nothing about duck breeds and the options with the pekin color gene that we ended up with all the right ducks to only have sex linked ducklings.

You did well! And yes, you are correct about the bib.

 

[cheezenkwackers]

I had done a bit of googling, while waiting for them to hatch, and expected the Rouen ducklings to look like rouens. I was a little shocked when I seem the khaki and welsh ducklings also looked liked Rouens though!

I thought the same thing before mine hatched. “ Storey’s Guide to Ducks” says that Welsh Harlequins carry dusky but that must not always be true. This is my favorite genetics article: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/mallard-derived-duck-color-genetics-basics.74277/

 

[DuckyMama4]

I thought the same thing before mine hatched. “ Storey’s Guide to Ducks” says that Welsh Harlequins carry dusky but that must not always be true. This is my favorite genetics article: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/mallard-derived-duck-color-genetics-basics.74277/

That article was great! Broken down in a much easier to understand way. Thank you for that!

New development- mama duck switched from broody mode to caring mode. She hasn’t really been on the nest yesterday or today. I thought maybe our other broody would take it over because she sat on that nest often also. She has stuck to the other nest though. I went out to peek on them and seen a bill! All the eggs were very cold! I scooped them up and rushed them in the house. Mama did not seem to care at all! Our first experience hatching eggs is turning out to be rather eventful! I hope I did the right thing… and that my plans for our broody and mama will also be the right thing! So many things I need to search now!

 

[cheezenkwackers]

That article was great! Broken down in a much easier to understand way. Thank you for that!

New development- mama duck switched from broody mode to caring mode. She hasn’t really been on the nest yesterday or today. I thought maybe our other broody would take it over because she sat on that nest often also. She has stuck to the other nest though. I went out to peek on them and seen a bill! All the eggs were very cold! I scooped them up and rushed them in the house. Mama did not seem to care at all! Our first experience hatching eggs is turning out to be rather eventful! I hope I did the right thing… and that my plans for our broody and mama will also be the right thing! So many things I need to search now!

Hang in there, you are doing the right thing. Domestic ducks have been bred to not go broody so they give us eggs. Unfortunately, that means they aren’t always the best mommas.

 

[DuckyMama4]

She did have a hatchling on Friday and one on Saturday. So, I know it was probably time for her to “leave the nest” to care for them. I just felt really confident that my other broody would sit on it. They shared that same nest until just a few days ago.

The peeking duckling hatched an hour or two after getting them in the house. I had to assist. Her bill was out of the shell and she started looking like she was trying to zip… but no progress because her bill was out. I took a peek and seen very dried membrane all around her! I picked just a bit of shell off of the air cell end and she pushed so hard her little head popped out right in my hand!

I am so nervous about what I am going to encounter with the other eggs. Three of them are further behind, not much but the air cells have not drawn down yet- one of them is cracked. I see movement in two. The third I can’t tell, the egg is so full! There are 3 more that are internally pipped- one is cracked. Then I have 2 others that externally pipped shortly after warming up. One of them pipped the pointy end of the egg and one of them is cracked.

To top it all off the peeker duckling, who hatched a couple of hours ago, seems a bit weak. She was feisty right after hatching but now she seems to be struggling to keep her head up… I’m hoping she is just resting, a lot. I gave her a few drops of save a chick and she perked up a bit! Heard some good chirps but then she put her head back down and is resting again. I keep checking on her every few minutes.

We are new to hatching and so are our ducks. The coop situation did not go as planned (does it ever?!) and eggs were seriously staggered. We have learned a lot durning this and will absolutely do things differently if we decide to do this again.

 

[DuckyMama4]

I was really hoping I could hatch these eggs in the incubator and then try and sneak them out to the two girls. I figured sense one was in mama mode and one was still broody that we might be successful in them caring for them.

I seen both girls and both ducklings out earlier so I took my chance to rush out and candle the eggs in broody girls nest. She had 10 eggs that weren’t developed or had passed- I pulled all of them. Somehow she has one egg internally pipped and 4 that are super early in development. I hate to make a guess because I’m so new to embryo development but a couple I would guess were only 3-4 days and one or two maybe 6-7 days. They were small.

I have no idea where these eggs are even coming from! The last time I candled both nests I left 11 or 12 that were very close to hatching in one nest and only 4 in early development in the other nest. Mama that hatched- hatched two and I pulled 11 eggs from her nest earlier today- that’s 13, more then I left in her nest! Broody mama had 4 less then a week ago and today she had 15?! I just don’t understand!