my baby hooded merganser, black bellied whistler and wood ducklings!

[ChickenTiff]

so far one merganser, 3 wood ducklings and 3 whistlers, and more hatching!!!

im soooo in love with them!!!

 

[Bleenie]

I'm in love with them and they're not even mine!

!

 

[lovesduckies]

oh my goodness. how adorable. ducklings make my heart melt

 

[bikergirl]

So cute!

 

[jsvand5]

That merganser is awesome looking. Do you have any picks of some of the adult birds? I am still hoping my mergansers lay but it's not looking good for this season.

 

[BoiseBubba]

Where can you get hooded mergansers? I have them wild around here.....

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

Quote:
There are licensed breeders all over the country, subscribe to the Gambird Breeders Gazette, or A.P.W.S., they are loaded with classified ads for them,
Great pics, be sure to give that merganser some mealworms to start!

 

[my1stchicks]

just precious!!

 

[ChickenTiff]

my dad is picking up some smaller mealworms on the way home from work tonight! i will need advice on the raising of mergansers so pleaseeeee email me at [email protected] to start me with some hints and tips!!!

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

on any saw bill or specialized diver duck, they need to have a few meal worms in their feed to get started.
At birth in the wild, they only eat live small critters, fish, insects, crustaceans, etc, so they have no idea what crumbles are.
Put your crumbles in a bowl and stick 3-4 meal worms in the bottom so they will be wiggling around in the food, that will trigger his intinct to peck at it, and will eventually start to eat the dry feed, put the woodies and all in there with him, they'll help teach him too, just make sure they dont eat all his meal worms be fore he can, they are much more aggressive eaters to start with and can get all the GOOD STUFF before he has a chance. You will need to do this for 2-3 week, watch him and you'll see whan he starts to eat on his own, once that happens, you are good to go. You need to do this for merganser and smew, as wellas goldeneyes, buffleheads, eiders, ruddy ducks, and a few other specialized divers, but the mergansers especially.
Also, I dont know what you are usuing for a brooder, if it's a cardboard box, you will need to take a pair of nail clippers and snip the very tips of their toe nails off, just the little hook parts. They are cavity nesters and hatch with specialized toe nails for climbing out of trees, if you dont do this and dont have a covered box brooder, you'll come home and they'll be everywhere, yes they can climb a slick cardboard box!! LOL Like it's nothing, and jump pretty darn high too!
Aside from all that, you should be in good shape, oh, remember you have to mark these, NOW, take those nail clippers and snip off the hind toe on the right leg, or pinion thier wing, thats all part of the USFW law requirements for captive migratory waterfowl, shows they were captive reared and not wild collected. at this point, it doent hurt them cause there's no real bone structure in there, you'll need to do either way for the wood ducks and merganser, mandarins dont have to be done.
Remember, if you pinion them, they will never be able to fly, for it, just snip of the last joint in the right wing, the boney tip, at this point it's just skin, if you want them to fly, hind toe clip them.

Congrats, nice healthy looking babies there!