My Love Affair With Ducks...

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Looks like all three are gray and white. Welcome to hybrid ducks, or Frankenducks. That size didn't pass to the second generation. My 7 week olds are smaller and slower growing. They still are not full feathered.

Franken Dux!?! - You mean that kind of Dux that @duluthralphie is always warning about?
I hope those are four girls! They will be able to show my Franken Drakes their limits.

 

[Flyinbolts]

Mine do too! The best is when all three Cayuga get in sync haha

The only ducks in my flock that don't bob are the ones that are too young yet. The rest of them all do it - they also spend time side-bobbing to yell at eachother. Great dysfunctional family.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

The only ducks in my flock that don't bob are the ones that are too young yet. The rest of them all do it - they also spend time side-bobbing to yell at eachother. Great dysfunctional family.

One of the first things i learned from my ducks is that ducks don't just say »quack! quack!«. They have such an amazing wide range of verbal and non verbal communication and they really do communicate with each other. The tail wag alone is amazing! It seems to mean something like "I mean you no harm, calm down and relax" and when i wag my hands when i walk through the flock, sitting in the grass, they usually just look at me and don't get up.

 

[duluthralphie]

Franken Dux!?! - You mean that kind of Dux that @duluthralphie is always warning about?
I hope those are four girls! They will be able to show my Franken Drakes their limits.

 

[Mimi13]

Yes it does! And you should see the first egg(s) within the next month.
Ducks live a fast life, they grow up like weeds, mature way too early, lay eggs as if there's no tomorrow, some ducks go broody in their first year and unfortunately many die young. - The term "sitting duck" is well founded.

Eggs at 4 months? Oh me, I wasn’t aware of that.

 

[Mimi13]

The four summer ducklings are three weeks old today and I have posted some videos of them in my other thread (here).
They are the largest three weeks old ducklings i've seen ever! - Not that i have seen many three week old ducklings, but they are taller than the White Layers were at that age last year, they have super long and strong legs and outrun some of the mature ducks.
Eagerly waiting to hear some quaxing…

Look how precious. It seems that mine were that size soooo long ago.

BTW, do those boards not get slippery?

 

[Mimi13]

My ducks this year seemed to grow like weeds too.
4 weeks and I couldn't keep them indoors anymore. Out to the coop with a heat lamp and some chicken wire to separate the bigs from the littles. They were eating pellets at 3 weeks and could reach the top of a 50 gallon tub at around 3 weeks. Kept jumping on top of a milk jug to try to get out.

Ever since getting ducks I’ve been telling everyone it is a good thing God didn’t give them thumbs. You wouldn’t be able to stop them from taking over. They get into enough with just that bill!

 

[Mimi13]

One of the first things i learned from my ducks is that ducks don't just say »quack! quack!«. They have such an amazing wide range of verbal and non verbal communication and they really do communicate with each other. The tail wag alone is amazing! It seems to mean something like "I mean you no harm, calm down and relax" and when i wag my hands when i walk through the flock, sitting in the grass, they usually just look at me and don't get up.

Their communication is amazing. I have even seen now that they are picking up verbal alert cues from my rooster.

Speaking of all the sounds they make, I especially like Petey’s grunting noise. It’s too funny.

 

[Mimi13]

Tonight was the first night they did not go up. They were still in their pool. I had to force them to go in their house. Is there something I don’t know?

Even though I’m fairly certain nothing would happen to them (our GP/GS mix patrols literally all night long), their pool is not in a predator proof area. They were ticked that I stopped their floating party.

 

[duluthralphie]

Tonight was the first night they did not go up. They were still in their pool. I had to force them to go in their house. Is there something I don’t know?

Even though I’m fairly certain nothing would happen to them (our GP/GS mix patrols literally all night long), their pool is not in a predator proof area. They were ticked that I stopped their floating party.

Did you try bribing Ralphie Dux to lead the rest in?