New members of the flock!!!🤗 (and breed guessing game)

[AGeese]

If you have a feed supply store, make sure to check dates on whatever you're buying. I've brought home some expired probiotics and dewomer before.

 

[BlueO]

If you have a feed supply store, make sure to check dates on whatever you're buying. I've brought home some expired probiotics and dewomer before.

Oh my goodness thank you I didn’t even know these things could expire! I will definitely be checking! Luckily I haven’t added any yet. I was going to, but since they were so freaked out about me, I just gave them some water and let them alone but I just took them out to get some pictures so I’ll add that in a minute.

 

[BlueO]

OK, I just got back from taking pictures of the ducks! I also managed to lose two of them in my *very messy* garage. One of them looks mostly like a Rouen she’s four years old in the other one looks kind of like some sort of mix she has these grayish feathers which I’ve never seen before and she was hatched the spring. Here’s some pictures of them in their current coop. They’re gonna be moved outside every day like I do with my regular ducks, but they’re in one of the old runs.

This is the one year-old.

This is the four year-old.

 

[BlueO]

Let’s not talk about the bloopers… this is mostly the part where I lost them in my garage, but you can also see how scared they are in one of the pictures you can see this kind of blur…that’s the duck flying

 

[AGeese]

Great looking feathers there. They are definitely able!

 

[KathiQuacks]

The spotty girl with white wing tips is pretty much identical to what my Rouen x Pekin mixes looked like.

The lighter girl with the grey wings looks eerily similar to my Caramel, but unfortunately, I haven’t figured out her genes, either Just that her mother looked Buff and her father looked Blue.

Building trust with my ducks came from me,
1. Teaching them a word / sound to associate with food,
2. Slowly working them up to hand feeding, and,
3. Hanging out near them, but not interacting with them at all.

My favorite thing is to combine 2. and 3. I’ll sit down in their area, sprinkle some treats around myself, and then completely ignore them. Now, whenever I sit down, they feel safe to approach me & poke at me, because they know I’m a food source, and that I won’t retaliate.

 

[BlueO]

The spotty girl with white wing tips is pretty much identical to what my Rouen x Pekin mixes looked like.

The lighter girl with the grey wings looks eerily similar to my Caramel, but unfortunately, I haven’t figured out her genes, either Just that her mother looked Buff and her father looked Blue.

Building trust with my ducks came from me,
1. Teaching them a word / sound to associate with food,
2. Slowly working them up to hand feeding, and,
3. Hanging out near them, but not interacting with them at all.

My favorite thing is to combine 2. and 3. I’ll sit down in their area, sprinkle some treats around myself, and then completely ignore them. Now, whenever I sit down, they feel safe to approach me & poke at me, because they know I’m a food source, and that I won’t retaliate.

Thank you! Do you have any pictures of your ducks? When I move them to the old run I think I’m going to sit with them and watch a movie just so they get used to being around people. I have a feeling this is going to take a while…

 

[KathiQuacks]

Thank you! Do you have any pictures of your ducks? When I move them to the old run I think I’m going to sit with them and watch a movie just so they get used to being around people. I have a feeling this is going to take a while…

Sure! Here are the ones that I think look like your girls. It’s not super visible here, but this Rouen x Pekin did have white wing tips like yours.

And here are my ducks now, coming up from the pond to eat some treats.

I took in 2 new hens about a year ago. Both were very wary of humans and wanted nothing to do with me, but after about a month or two of work, they came around and now trust me like any other duck

 

[BlueO]

Sure! Here are the ones that I think look like your girls. It’s not super visible here, but this Rouen x Pekin did have white wing tips like yours.
View attachment 4017330View attachment 4017335
View attachment 4017336View attachment 4017337
And here are my ducks now, coming up from the pond to eat some treats.
View attachment 4017343View attachment 4017344

I took in 2 new hens about a year ago. Both were very wary of humans and wanted nothing to do with me, but after about a month or two of work, they came around and now trust me like any other duck

Thank you she does look like mine! I just took them outside for a little bit and the younger one seems a little bit more curious and she walked around a little bit(in the run) but the other one just stood in one place and looked around… I think the little one will be easier to gain trust with, but the older one might be a struggle.

 

[BlueO]

So I don’t think the ducks have eaten any of the duck food yet they’ve drank water and they ate some scrambled egg I made them. What can I do to help them eat?