new ducks.....stinky food?! eggs??

[elisenicole]

Hi everyone, i am new to the forum but have browsed around before. I got two ducks yesterday from a girl who was keeping them as pets in the house and didnt have any idea what to do with them.i got them from her to keep in my backyard to eat the bug and eat the weeds and to be little backyard buddies for us. they are so tame! they still look to be very young but are bigger than most ducklings you would see sold at a farm and home store........anyway. im THINKING they are muscovies.....(keeping my fingers crosses as this is what i have been looking for!) i'll post pics this afternoon when i get off of work. anyway, my questions are what kind of ducks could these be? (obviously cant be answered until i post pics of them) and what on earth does the food she gave me to give them smell so god awful for?! i mean it is rank! it looks like ground feed. just not sure what kind it is as she just gave it to me in a large ziplock bag but she said someone told her to give that to them. i am not so sure duck food is suppose to smell that horrible, but ive never had ducks before but have been researching and preparing for them for months! is duck food suppose to even have a smell or did she maybe give me ferret food or something crazy?? the ducks seem fine though and i placed them in my backyard and they seemed to light right up. she was keeping them in a large tupperware container most of the time. poor things! im pretty sure one is male and female as one is signifigantly heavier than the other and siblings at that.
also, another question i have is, will the female still lay edible eggs even though she has no male to mate with (all assuming one is a female) or do i need to get another duck to get eggs out of one of them? these will be kept as pets for sure and lucky me they just happen to eat the bugs and weeds. Thanks everyone in advance! sorry so long!

 

[elisenicole]

oh yeah! and they both have blue eyes! so cute! not sure if that could help on identifying them? They are mostly yellow and have barred yellow and brown on their wings and tail and on parts of their chests.

 

[elisenicole]

ALSO! (lol! i know too many questions!) can i use unmedicated chick feed from my local tractor supply for my ducklings? i know since they are young it has to be the ground kind, not the crumbles

 

[elisenicole]

http://www.amazon.com/Manna-Pro-Chi...=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=unmedicated+duckling+feed


also is this a good feed to get?

 

[Sweet T]

Muscovy ducks do not 'quack', so that will be the best hint in if they are muscovy ducks or not. They're called the noiseless duck.
I have one adopted muscovy drake with all my chickens. Well, a man came out to test my birds for NPIP. He didn't even test my duck because he said that muscovys are in the goose family, and they're the LAST bird that will catch a disease.
The female will still lay, even without a male. The male just fertilizes the eggs, so you could try to hatch the eggs if you had a male.
Yes, it is your choice to feed medicated or non medicated. You can ask wherever you go to buy food, and they'll make a recommendation on what to feed. I might get some slack about this, but I just have chicken feed and scratch out for mine all the time (I only have one duck). BUT my birds free range, and he mostly eats bugs and occasionally kitchen scraps (he loves watermelon!).
One more thing, if you do not have a pond (I don't, either), you'll want to provide a swimming pool or somewhere for them to get in the water and play. They need it, and it's the funnest part of the day

 

[elisenicole]

these ducks are peeping like baby chicks right now........
i have 2 different baby pools set up in the backyard for them with about 5 or 6 inches of water in each that gets changed out once a day.
i was just wondering also if the mazuri waterfowl starter food would be a good food to get? Im really not crazy about them eating the pungent smelling food they have...they backyard is all theirs and its fenced in, they have a large duck hut also with some hay for night time but so far all they want to do is sleep in the yard.

 

[Sweet T]

Yes, I think that would be a good starter food for them. Sounds like you have a good set up for them.

Also, this might surprise you, it surprised me too when I saw it. My muscovy duck roosts with the chickens. He actually flies up to the roost and prefers to sleep elevated off the ground! Now, I don't think most ducks are like this, just muscovys. So if it turns out that you do have muscovys, you might want to consider putting up a little roosting bar or branch for them to sleep on at night.

 

[elisenicole]

oh cool, ill have to set something up for them sometime soon to give them that option. i cant wait to post pics on here and see what everyone thinks!

 

[elisenicole]

i just asked the girl i got them from, how old they were and she said 5 weeks! they are pretty big for 5 weeks! Im hoping for muscovies! they both have spurs at the back of their foot also.......

 

[elisenicole]

anyone know what these guys are????