X2!!!
I love a good mama.
First congrats on almost having ducklings such an awesome expeirence watching mama and ducklings together. Now you'll need to provide feed just like you did when yours where babies, mama will show them how to look for bugs and other yummy things but she can't provide all that they need. So either duck starter or chick starter or if worried about feeding the gang chick starter then go with an all flock feed [crumbles] for any of them. i use all flock that way hatchling all the way til old can eat it. As far as keeping everyone away from mamma and ducklings that can be tricky, Couple years ago I had 2 ducklings killed one my gander accidentally stepped on and the other we think either one of the drakes killed it and my dachshund found it or he actually killed it either way it was heartbreaking for us and the mama duck. So last year when i had broody and later ducklings I made a temp fenced in area around a small coop and thats where they stayed till they were 3 weeks old, that way they were bigger and stronger and everyone had time to meet through the fencing. I have heard drakes will kill ducklings and some are great with them. and ducks can be awful cruel too, so if this is a big hatch some of the ducklings may have a harder time staying with mom and keeping up those will be the vulnerable ones so close monitoring will be essential. Please post when ducklings hatch will love to see pics. All the best. andHello everybody!
I have a broody duck right now with eggs that should be hatching soon! This is my first time experiencing this and I am kind of nervous! My partner and I got these ducks almost 1 year ago when they were 1 day old and raised them ourselves, and this is our first broody duck. I have some questions that I have tried to find answers to on my own, with not a lot of luck. I've already read through about 13 pages of this thread and will continue reading but not sure if I have time to go through all 48!
First of all, once the ducklings are hatched, do we need to provide duckling-food for them (like when you raise them yourself) or does momma feed them? Do we need to keep them in the duck house for a bit or is it okay for them to venture outside right away?
I have already gathered that it can go either way as far as drakes are concerned. I will just make sure to keep an eye on them and if there's trouble I will separate the momma and babies (although where to I'm not sure yet!) There are 2 drakes and 8 girls at the moment (some Saxonys, some Anconas and one Runner) and I'm nervous about the possibility of the other ducks trying to attack the babies. We have it set up so they all sleep in their house together at night and free-range in the yard, garden and semi-wooded area during the day.
Any advice or answers to my question about food would be very much appreciated! I am just hoping she will be a good momma and there won't be any issues with the other ducks (and fingers crossed that they're all girls...)
Thanks!
So a dedicated broody mom space is best. Now after they hatch, I try to keep mom & ducklings contained for 24hrs or so, and I bring food and water to them. After that tho, my moms have wanted to take their ducklings out. So the best way is to let mom do what she wants, but keep the rest of the flock separate. That's what I do anyway. I use temporary fence and free range time to do that.
First congrats on almost having ducklings such an awesome expeirence watching mama and ducklings together. Now you'll need to provide feed just like you did when yours where babies, mama will show them how to look for bugs and other yummy things but she can't provide all that they need. So either duck starter or chick starter or if worried about feeding the gang chick starter then go with an all flock feed [crumbles] for any of them. i use all flock that way hatchling all the way til old can eat it. As far as keeping everyone away from mamma and ducklings that can be tricky, Couple years ago I had 2 ducklings killed one my gander accidentally stepped on and the other we think either one of the drakes killed it and my dachshund found it or he actually killed it either way it was heartbreaking for us and the mama duck. So last year when i had broody and later ducklings I made a temp fenced in area around a small coop and thats where they stayed till they were 3 weeks old, that way they were bigger and stronger and everyone had time to meet through the fencing. I have heard drakes will kill ducklings and some are great with them. and ducks can be awful cruel too, so if this is a big hatch some of the ducklings may have a harder time staying with mom and keeping up those will be the vulnerable ones so close monitoring will be essential. Please post when ducklings hatch will love to see pics. All the best. and
