My Love Affair With Ducks...

[Knighstar679]

Oh, okay, I see the difference now. My WH seems much lighter than yours. And those Calls are precious.

They have nice personalities too. When I hatched the 21 eggs I only planned to keep a few in colors I liked. Then found homes for the rest. I ended up with six of them plus my Three welshie females

 

[Knighstar679]

Is this all ducks do all day?

View attachment 2116361

They also noodle in mud, chase bugs. And lounge in the sun.

 

[Mimi13]

I’m giving them their daily serving of B Complex and they are Clambering Out Of The Pool For Food.

I had to stop the video to make sure Latte got out of the pool and then I started it back to catch the ducks showing that Eating Is Better Than Swimming! That is something we both agree on!

 

[Knighstar679]

This is one of my other call babies Skye

 

[Mimi13]

This is one of my other call babies Skye

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Calls really are precious looking little ducks!

 

[Mimi13]

Here is what I did about the water in the coop at night situation. I split it down the middle and gave them access to water at night (for drinking, but not for dunking their heads.) I hope it’s sufficient. If anyone thinks that is not a good idea, let me know and I can run out there and change it.

 

[Knighstar679]

Here is what I did about the water in the coop at night situation. I split it down the middle and gave them access to water at night (for drinking, but not for dunking their heads.) I hope it’s sufficient. If anyone thinks that is not a good idea, let me know and I can run out there and change it.

I think that is fine. I take my water away at night at 5 weeks.

 

[Mimi13]

Several of the ducklings have their wing feathers coming in, but Petey’s are the most prominent! They look ‘ouchy’ to me!

 

[Knighstar679]

Several of the ducklings have their wing feathers coming in, but Petey’s are the most prominent! They look ‘ouchy’ to me!View attachment 2116683

Mine all have theirs coming in too. They seriously dislike their wings being messed with right now. My most obvious is a call duck that I have named Frost.

 

[shawluvsbirds]

Speaking of waterers, when I was reading on Metzer’s website, they use nipple waterers for all their breeding stock. They said they do not offer deep water for rinsing nares or dunking heads. They feed pellets and the ducks do fine using nipples. And only allow swimming access to once a week. Doesn’t that seem a bit cruel?

Speaking of feed, I finally picked up two bags of Kalmbach 20% Flock Maker. Of course, I couldn’t read the mill date on the tag, wouldn’t you know! I opened it expecting a muffin mix smell, but got a different smell instead. Now people’s smellers are all different so I’m not gonna panic, but what I smelled seemed more of a ‘seasoning’ type smell than a sweet goodie smell. It smelled good, but not like a muffin mix. I sprinkled out some on the deck for the nosy chickens that had gathered and they immediately ate it up. Should I worry about this?

Eh... The swimming once a week thing is not too terrible. Of course they are healthier and happier if they can swim daily or at least several times a week.
Nipple waterers for ducks.. that sounds pretty terrible in my opinion.

Here is what I did about the water in the coop at night situation. I split it down the middle and gave them access to water at night (for drinking, but not for dunking their heads.) I hope it’s sufficient. If anyone thinks that is not a good idea, let me know and I can run out there and change it.

That sounds just fine to me.
But they will still find a way to make a mess of it. It won't be long before you'll give that up I bet.
Live and learn Mimi live and learn.