Thanks. I'm kinda new to posting and try to not step on toes. Anyway you can see the duckling with the Cayuga mom. My guess is she is actually from the Black Swedish mom. Third one is a Buff. They needed a new home and I had too many drakes. As you like pictures, here is Buffy.
Instant zero stress moments Yeah, the chickens might so freak with the swimming thing but if you are there it should go much easier. Their instincts are so different than ducks where water is concerned, as I understand. I 'get' ducks, never had chickens but yours seem like pretty little warriors, and as I said, I wouldn't mess with them, little or not! Very cool to hear they are good parents as well as being pretty, gotta love that
The chicks that were in the brooder with the little ducklings were freaking out every time the ducklings went to swim. The were literally screaming the whole time until the ducks were on dray land again. Took almost a week to get them used to it but they never liked watching it. They liked it even less bein seperated though.
No worries, you are nice, they'll stomp me before you lol - just kidding, I haven't seen a stomp in this forum.
Another awesome picture, your flock has to be so diverse and so fun with all the new littles
It is so relaxing and makes me smile every time I watch a mother trailed by her ducklings
There are of course the instant stress moments like this morning when I found a almost 3 week old duckling in the water tub for the adults. Shouldn't be able to get in, did it anyway. It just couldn't get out and was completely soggy, exhausted and close to sinking. I got it out, it was to weak to stand. So I packed it in a towel, used the hair dryer and carried it under my sweater. It took a long time until it stopped to shiver. Then it fell asleep. After over an hour I prepped some warm brooder type thing in the coop but it didn't want anything to do with that. Once it heard its mother, it wanted out and so I let it go. It followed her around the wet grass and was back to normal. They are tough little creatures. One moment they almost kill themselves, the next they are back to normal.
I have a few questions on community brooding. I've been reading everything I can find relating to broody ducks, especially getting pointed back here to BYC and I can't find feedback that helps me make decisions for my crew.
I have 4 Anconas, 1 drake and 3 ducks, one year old May 2nd. They have been raised together since hatch from an awesome local breeder. 2 ducks were molting when I received a request from one of my duck egg families for duckings - they are looking for layers and meat birds so it did not matter if they were siblings. Gracie, my best duck that wasn't molting and represents all of the best points in the breed within my flock, I let her keep her eggs to see if she would sit. She did with dedication as of May 7 so I let her be with whatever eggs she had. She's in a dog house, the other girls were molting not laying and I just gave her a shot to see.
I set up a separate area for the other two ducks to lay once they finished molt thinking Gracie would chase them out of the duck house - now her nest box. The opposite happened and duck #2 joined her in sitting and #3 duck and drake slept in the duck house after grazing all day. When it is warm drake camps on the ramp from the dog house, when it gets cold, he's in the dog house with the girls.
All this time I just bent down to the basic dog house opening and uttered my standard greetings while feeding, watering and leaving the pen door open to the run. I didn't open the side panel to the dog house until day 21. It's their first attempt and I didn't want to interrupt their instincts. What I didn't expect was to find another nest. It appears now that Gracie and Duck #2 were co-sitting 16 eggs in the back of the dog house and Duck #3 started laying in the front until she had 7 eggs and Gracie and Duck #2 couldn't take it anymore and that clutch got nested and they rotate sitting. Duck #3 helps but only Gracie and Duck #2 are broody. Drake is now curled outside the entrance standing guard.
Now my questions have context
Based on their behavior making this a communal hatch, and the dedication of my drake to day 23 (today) - he's never known another drake, just his girls and me.
- Would it be more stressful to the brooding ducks to separate drake and duck #3 in anticipation of a potential hatch in the oldest nest or would you let it play through and see, responding quickly if necessary?
- If it goes well with the oldest nest hatching in a communal way, do you think there is any chance they will keep that communal nesting pattern to hatch the second nest?
If there is something I can do to help this situation play out as favorably as possible, I'd love to hear it.
Thanks for any advice!
Chickens do a pretty good job at hatching ducklings keep it to a small batch like you say and she should hatch them without any problems .
Keep us updated.If she's still broody in a few days, i'll try to get some to put under her.
