one duckling????

[DUCKGIRL89]

Ok, so I ordered 6 khaki campbell duck eggs off ebay, they were all ROTTEN!!!! Except one! Now I have ONE! Egg that should go into lockdown this saturday and should hatch on tuesday. I really am excited about this baby, but will it be super lonley? Please!!! Help me out here?

 

[featherfinder]

Yes it will be. I suggest finding it a friend. If not all it will want is to be around you all the time and it will peep and peep and peep when you are not around.

 

[m.kitchengirl]

You have A LOT of other ducks and ducklings, don't you?
I would worry about adding more than necessary to your work load this late in the season. Don't you have one -or two - who are young enough you could keep them in with the little one until it gets big enough to start to put it with the rest?
You could section off a part of the brooding box with hardware cloth (it wouldn't take much) and keep two of your slightly older ducks with it, but separate, until you know they will not hurt the newest one. Provided you give the older ducks a place to get away from the heat lamp, I think they will be fine.
That is just what I would do, but I don't suffer from DAS (Duck Acquisition Syndrome) like many on this forum.

 

[DUCKGIRL89]

Yes I have 11 ducks total (that includes ducks, and ducklings) the ducklings I have now will be four weeks old when this baby hatches, dont you think they will be a bit old? Maybe I can find some ducklings on craigslist and buy one when this baby hatches.

 

[duckielub]

Goodness girl, I wish you lived a little closer to me. I have tons of fertile eggs you can have. Well, not tons, but definitely more than I can keep up with. My husband has been very patient with my duck "experiment", but I have ducks sitting on 22 in a nest outside and I am putting 8 in the incubator this evening.... I have a feeling his patience will run out soon (like when I'm asking for a bigger duck pen).

But I would also suggest you get it a friend, and quick. We had a pekin when I was a kid and we all loved her, but she would stand at the sliding glass door all day and night and quack for us to come out and play with her. Even my four Khakis now, they will go talk to my husband when he is under the car, follow me around the yard etc. I can't imaging just having one. Yikes!

 

[DUCKGIRL89]

I would love fertile eggs! But I have enough coming in from my ducks too.

 

[m.kitchengirl]

the ducklings I have now will be four weeks old when this baby hatches, dont you think they will be a bit old?

I don't think so, not if you section off part of your brooder for the little guy. I think it would help the wee one join the group later.
When I added my two Anconas to the pen they were a lot smaller than my other ones. I gave them a hutch inside the larger duck house so they were separate from the big ducks but everyone could meet and get to know one another. Now the little ducks are the leaders (even though they are a lot smaller still). They get everyone else out exploring and trying new things. It is pretty funny when the "top duck" is the littlest one, but she has a lot of pluck.​

 

[chipmunkridge]

He/she will probably be fine. Put a mirror in with it, and something to snuggle against.

I decided that next year, if i need ducklings I will incubated mallard eggs then I can have ducks all spring and summer and they can fly away or not depending on their mood in the fall.
Constant incubation/babies without having too many ducks!!!!

 

[Muscovy Rescue]

This is what I did for a lone duckling, He did fine.

 

[DUCKGIRL89]

Well, never mind guys, I found of that my one duck egg just went bad and was rotting. So I wont have the duckling. I feel like I did something wrong?