On Lockdown! - My Ancona hatch *Pics on p. 3, 5, 6*

[Marwan]

Oh my god their beauty is just too much!! i am soo highly considering getting some eggs at some point. just dont know what breed to get. leaning towards silver appleyards but has to be something that will go well with my rouen boys

 

[starmunki]

i have to constantly remind myself that i can not have ducks...
your story & these pictures sure have me wishing that i could though <3
congrats on the 3 so far...they're stunning!

 

[toadbriar]

lots of chocolaty goodness! and a lavender or lilac or silver. Hyacinth might be a blue fawn.

 

[harriedhomemaker]

lots of chocolaty goodness! and a lavender or lilac or silver. Hyacinth might be a blue fawn.

Question for you: We are going to keep six of our babies and have friends who are going to take whichever three we give them. I'm not sure how I can pick which ones to keep since they are all so cute, but I'm going to try and look at it from a breeder standpoint. What should I be looking for in future Ancona moms and dads? I should probably favor the ones with the wildest patterning, right? I also want to keep some of each color. The cute little black boy (Valentino) is probably out because he's too solid in color.

Does that sound right?

The final three ducks hatched yesterday evening. I'll post pics later this morning when we take them out of the incubator.

 

[toadbriar]

argh suspense! what are the last 3? Yes let Val go and maybe Hyacinth. Let's see what else ya got!

 

[harriedhomemaker]

OK, I can't make you wait in agony too long. Haven't sexed these last ones yet.


Here's #7:







#8






And the last little one, #9:

 

[toadbriar]

does 9 straighten his neck out? I'd keep em all but the 2 overmarked, if the sexes work out!

 

[harriedhomemaker]

does 9 straighten his neck out? I'd keep em all but the 2 overmarked, if the sexes work out!

I think #9 does, but I'll definitely keep an eye on him. #8 was extremely weak and wouldn't have made it out of the shell if we didn't help, so I need to make sure that one is healthy, too.

Thanks for the re-homing advice!

 

[harriedhomemaker]

Well, we just sexed the last to hatch and decided to re-sex all the older ducklings because we had gotten a suspiciously large number of girls. After we re-sexed everybody, the final count is 3 girls, 6 boys.

So, now what?

1) How many boys can I keep? I had intended to keep six ducks. Should I just keep three girls and one boy?
2) If I give away all my extra boys, is it OK for me to give a couple of boys to the same family? Or am I dooming our friends to duck behavior problems?

 

[Marwan]

If its males alone then your freinds will be fine. i have 2 boys and no girls and they never fight and are really tame and sweet. the problems come when girls and boys are brought together. if your freinds have no ducks already then giving them a few boys wont cause any fighting or bad behaviour