My duck gave me a surprise!

[BlueSwede81]

It was a wonderful thing to see. A total of 8 hatched

and they seemed to be doing well. Mama fusses at anyone who gets too close. I now have a total of 12 ducks!

 

[Ducks4us]

It was a wonderful thing to see. A total of 8 hatched and they seemed to be doing well. Mama fusses at anyone who gets too close. I now have a total of 12 ducks!

Oh awesome!! Cant wait to see more photos. What colors did you end up with?

 

[ginah77]

Congrats on your babies! They are so cute!

I think we may have several surprises around Memorial Day. Just wondering, are your ducks normally free range? Ours are (2 females, 2 drakes) but I'm concerned about the 2 drakes if we get babies. Trying to decide if I can move both moms and their nests into a pen now or if I need to wait until they hatch? They can be aggressive with the females so I'm afraid they'll kill our ducklings.

Can't wait to see more pics as your babies grow!

 

[BlueSwede81]

Update: there are 9 ducklings! There are a couple grey colors like mama, several are black with a white patch on the front, and I think I have 1 silver splashed. It's hard to say for sure since they're still fuzzballs.

I keep my mama duck separate from the other 3 right now. For the most part, I let my ducks free range on the front 1/3 of our acre. We fenced off that part and I round them up into a pen at night. I divided the current pen with mama duck on one side, the other 3 occupy the other. When I first got my Blue Swedes (from Cackle Hatchery) I kept them separate from my drake and his sister and supervised their outings until they were big enough to handle Virgil (the drake). They both showed a little aggression (chasing them, pecking at them) towards the Swedes and everybody had to establish their pecking order. Right now Virgil doesn't seem to have noticed the ducklings but I also haven't let them be together yet.

BTW: My original two ducks are Virgil and Hattie (indian runners mixed with something I think) and my Swedes were Sigrid, Svenja, and Marta. Marta sadly disappeared a few weeks ago We think a fox got her.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Congrats on your babies! They are so cute!

I think we may have several surprises around Memorial Day. Just wondering, are your ducks normally free range? Ours are (2 females, 2 drakes) but I'm concerned about the 2 drakes if we get babies. Trying to decide if I can move both moms and their nests into a pen now or if I need to wait until they hatch? They can be aggressive with the females so I'm afraid they'll kill our ducklings.

Can't wait to see more pics as your babies grow!

You need to keep the drakes separated from mamas and ducklings at least 2-3 weeks after hatch. I usually move my broodies right before hatch to where they will be with their ducklings. But if you can move your drakes and leave your broodies where they are that would work too. Drake have been known to kill ducklings.

 

[Ducks4us]

Update: there are 9 ducklings! There are a couple grey colors like mama, several are black with a white patch on the front, and I think I have 1 silver splashed. It's hard to say for sure since they're still fuzzballs.

I keep my mama duck separate from the other 3 right now. For the most part, I let my ducks free range on the front 1/3 of our acre. We fenced off that part and I round them up into a pen at night. I divided the current pen with mama duck on one side, the other 3 occupy the other. When I first got my Blue Swedes (from Cackle Hatchery) I kept them separate from my drake and his sister and supervised their outings until they were big enough to handle Virgil (the drake). They both showed a little aggression (chasing them, pecking at them) towards the Swedes and everybody had to establish their pecking order. Right now Virgil doesn't seem to have noticed the ducklings but I also haven't let them be together yet.

BTW: My original two ducks are Virgil and Hattie (indian runners mixed with something I think) and my Swedes were Sigrid, Svenja, and Marta. Marta sadly disappeared a few weeks ago We think a fox got her.

Oh wow! 9, i bet they are all adorable! Sorry about marta

Thats sad. Looks like you will have plenty more now
Will you be keeping some of the babies?

 

[Quackers n milk]

Congrats I to have a Swedish blue sitting on eggs

 

[ginah77]

You need to keep the drakes separated from mamas and ducklings at least 2-3 weeks after hatch.  I usually move my broodies right before hatch to where they will be with their ducklings.  But if you can move your drakes and leave your broodies where they are that would work too. Drake have been known to kill ducklings.

Wow! 9 babies! That's so exciting! Maybe you'll get 10 or 12 over the next few days! It's so hard to know how long they've sat on some of their eggs. Good luck!

Thank you for the advice! Our 2 females are Effy (Runner) and Ella (Pekin). I wonder how'd they do if I pen them together with all the babies or if they'll be territorial?

 

[Miss Lydia]

Wow! 9 babies! That's so exciting! Maybe you'll get 10 or 12 over the next few days! It's so hard to know how long they've sat on some of their eggs. Good luck!

Thank you for the advice! Our 2 females are Effy (Runner) and Ella (Pekin). I wonder how'd they do if I pen them together with all the babies or if they'll be territorial?

My Muscovy's do not like to have any one around them or their babies. They are territorial .

 

[BlueSwede81]

Oh i hope she doesn't end up with more haha! I intend on keeping them. I don't want them to end up abandoned somewhere.