My Love Affair With Ducks...

[Mimi13]

Please do not put any duck into a wire-bottomed cage! It will be very painful for her soft feet! - Except the grid is ½" x ½". You just evict the duck from the nest and take the eggs on a daily base. Most ducks will give up after a week. I doubt that cooling the underside of a duck will change anything with her hormones - remember they sit in the water for hours. Most ducks won't go really broody, they have a phase but are easily broken by just removing the eggs. But if you have a duck that goes broody 100% you will have a challenge at hand: Those girls won't shy away from anything, really a n y t h i n g !
That sweetest noise is nothing to what she did when i wanted to break her: She flattened out over her nest and cried so loud that my wife heart her in the basement and came up looking for »the child that had fallen and was crying«. Then she (Pinball the duck) twisted her head upside down as if she was saying "Kill me! I don't want to live without those eggs!" And when i touched her she went entirely limp, playing dead…
I. Just. could. not. do. it! - And now i have way too many drakes here and need to "upduck".
And Pinball was very, very dedicated: She was sitting on the nest for three days straight, i was feeding her meal-worms and gave her water because i too was afraid she would die on the nest. She just dropped the ball three days after the ducklings hatched and thought she was done.

Good point about the circulating air not breaking a broody duck. I didn’t think about the cold water, but I did wonder how air could even reach the skin through all that thick down and feathers.

And yes, my broody breaker cage bottom is lined with 1/2” hardware cloth.

 

[Mimi13]

Those new duckies will be my fourth group! - I'm relaxed! - Until i discover they are not all girls an i have six new drakes.

This is how I am with chickens!

 

[Mimi13]

OMG! - I just laughed myself hoarse, that web-search is a goldmine:

First vs. second child

Some of those hit really close to home!

 

[duluthralphie]

Good point about the circulating air not breaking a broody duck. I didn’t think about the cold water, but I did wonder how air could even reach the skin through all that thick down and feathers.

And yes, my broody breaker cage bottom is lined with 1/2” hardware cloth.

Pluck them before putting them in the cage!!



You should have come to me first, I always gotz an answer.

 

[duluthralphie]

Some of those hit really close to home!

Like trying to explain to the second kid why there are no baby pictures of him?

 

[jaykayhuff]

EVERYONE!!! I experienced my first three-way FEMALE “duck pyramid” last night!!!! Woo hoo!!!! I feel like they are so late to the hormonal game compared to yours @Mimi13 !!!!! hopefully this means eggs soon!!!!

 

[Mimi13]

Pluck them before putting them in the cage!!



You should have come to me first, I always gotz an answer.

As always, my friend, as always! Sometimes a bit screwbally, but always an answer.

 

[Mimi13]

Like trying to explain to the second kid why there are no baby pictures of him?

Exactly!

It was/is a tradition at the high school my boys graduated from (16 and 14 years ago) to make an “elaborate” scrapbook for football players. And I did just that...for my first son. But, I must confess, my second son never received a finished scrapbook. That is me slapping myself. I keep telling myself I need to (must) finish his. I can’t believe I’ve just pushed it to the very, very back burner.

In my defense, LIFE got in the way at that particular time, big time!

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Good point about the circulating air not breaking a broody duck. I didn’t think about the cold water, but I did wonder how air could even reach the skin through all that thick down and feathers.

And yes, my broody breaker cage bottom is lined with 1/2” hardware cloth.

On warm days my ducks are actively pumping air through their feathers: They lift their wings just a little bit away from their bodies and pull them back asymmetrically, one wing first, the second one with a little delay of ~½ second. First i thought they have fleas, but could not find anything on Bazilla, so i assume this is the equivalent of a fan for ducks.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

EVERYONE!!! I experienced my first three-way FEMALE “duck pyramid” last night!!!! Woo hoo!!!! I feel like they are so late to the hormonal game compared to yours @Mimi13 !!!!! hopefully this means eggs soon!!!!

Congratulations to the Triple Duckburger!
Now the fun has begun. - How old are your's?