My Love Affair With Ducks...

[Mimi13]

@WannaBeHillBilly and @Magnolia Ducks, I guess my biggest concern, since I have no experience with ducks, is not being able to catch the “warning” signs of the beginnings of aggressiveness. I know I didn’t with my first cockerels. And I did all the wrong things, which only made it worse.

I certainly hope Ralphie is only wanting treats or loving. I actually held him a good while this afternoon (with a duck blanket on my lap) and believe it or not, he laid down and just let me love on him. I will never get tired of that.

 

[Texag87]

@WannaBeHillBilly and @Magnolia Ducks, I guess my biggest concern, since I have no experience with ducks, is not being able to catch the “warning” signs of the beginnings of aggressiveness. I know I didn’t with my first cockerels. And I did all the wrong things, which only made it worse.

I certainly hope Ralphie is only wanting treats or loving. I actually held him a good while this afternoon (with a duck blanket on my lap) and believe it or not, he laid down and just let me love on him. I will never get tired of that.

Our version of Ralphie won’t do that but he does give up if you catch him. He seems to like head and neck pets

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Do you really think he’s doing that for me to pick him up? I originally thought it was some kind of male maturity thing, but he is not aggressive at all. I’m really not sure how a drake could be aggressive like a rooster could.

Drakes are nothing, compared with a real broody duck! - I have made my experiences with Katharina Duck last year and Smaug and Pommes were even worse this year. A broody duck will jump at you, clamp down on your ears or nose and scratch you bloody with her toenails when she thinks she must defend her nest or her ducklings. - Just like any momma would do!
Drakes make more of a show, plushing up to look larger and more »dangerous«, if that doesn't work they turn around and run for their lives - sadly triggering the hunting reflex of predators. Mother nature knew what she was doing…
Not sure about Ralphie wanting to be picked up, but definitely sure about Ralphie wanting to get some treats!

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Ha, no rooster here but Quatro the drake is a terror. tries to amputate my toes blood blisters on my hands and legs.

I would try to convert him into a Ralphie dux, following the recipe from @duluthralphie and apply pressure and heat…

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Our version of Ralphie won’t do that but he does give up if you catch him. He seems to like head and neck pets

While Pinball Duck was sitting on her nest this year, she enjoyed being petted along her bill, from head to tip.

 

[Texag87]

we get to pet Piper, a WH that @Magnolia Ducks gave us. She hurt her foot a couple days ago and is in my dog crate about 6 feet from me right now. Daily water therapy, poultry spray, and peas are making her better. She even ate peas out of my hand tonight. I don’t she will be as friendly once she gets back to the flock. This duck is so pretty and big. I do not understand how this breed came from K/C but from what I have read that’s how they came about. This is the 5th time we have dog crated ducks in the house since we got into it almost 2 years ago.

 

[Mimi13]

I would try to convert him into a Ralphie dux, following the recipe from @duluthralphie and apply pressure and heat…

At first glance I thought you were talking about my Ralphie and I thought Nooooooooo!!!! Not yet, anyway!

 

[Mimi13]

we get to pet Piper, a WH that @Magnolia Ducks gave us. She hurt her foot a couple days ago and is in my dog crate about 6 feet from me right now. Daily water therapy, poultry spray, and peas are making her better. She even ate peas out of my hand tonight. I don’t she will be as friendly once she gets back to the flock. This duck is so pretty and big. I do not understand how this breed came from K/C but from what I have read that’s how they came about. This is the 5th time we have dog crated ducks in the house since we got into it almost 2 years ago.

This morning when I went to let the ducks out, poor old Petey could not walk. Just like with Peaches, she had no visible boo boos, so it’s obviously in the joint.

She waddled into their house just fine last night, so I guess it happened during the night. I dunno! Just a guess on my part, but I’m wondering if her leg could have been hurt if Ralphie was “loving” on her this morning — on dry land versus in the water.

 

[Texag87]

Ralphie is young so anything is possible. I think Piper bruised a toe somehow. The drake she was with is only 11 weeks old.No sleeping in this morning. She heard her flock a little after daylight and demanded hydro therapy. You can sleep through ducks waking up 100 feet away and outside but it’s difficult when one is waking up six feet away from your bed.

 

[Mimi13]

And for my huge announcement this morning! Can anyone guess???????


And I never would have known if Petey had not been hurt. I usually just open their door and they come running out, literally! However, Petey stayed in their little house and I immediately went in to see what was wrong. (She is also silent — she’s never been silent! Never!!!)

Once I went in to check her, I had to curb my excitement cause I had to check on my hurt duck. Yesssssss! I got my first duck egg this morning. There it laid in the straw...along with the nightly poops!

Oh, it’s just like my first baby! Not really, but y’all get it!

The shell was very “waxy” feeling. No chalkiness like a lot of my chicken eggs. It was a mottled greenish color. I have no idea which of my babies laid it. I wish I knew.

1.99 ounces — Almost 2 oz. In the kitchen, the color really looks different, almost brown. Isn’t that amazing?

Here is the duck egg alongside one of my chicken eggs. It is almost the same size as the chicken egg, but it is about half the weight. I know it’ll continue to get larger. Right now, it is the equivalent of a pullet egg.

The shell was a bit harder to crack than my chicken eggs. The thick albumen was a lot thicker and the thin albumen was a lot thinner. And the yolk was a bit more orange and darker, it seems anyway. Oh, and it was not fertile.

Chicken egg on top, duck egg on bottom.

Now for the taste...I tasted the chicken egg first, then the duck egg. The duck egg was much, much creamier. That was instantly detectable. However, it also had a blander taste, to both DH and me. Will the taste get stronger as the ducks mature?

Either way, I’m excited for my first egg.