Pekin Duck Club!

[Miss Lydia]

Hello,

I am new to this site and Pekin owning.

Please add me me as a member of this board. Great idea!

I got Waddles just a week ago and am afraid he is getting lonely. I have looked everywhere around here for a mate. Any ideas besides Craigslist or classifieds on where to find? He needs company, he looks so sad.

you might try here https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/34/other-poultry-birds-hatching-eggs or here https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/34/other-poultry-birds-hatching-eggs and

 

[BabyDaisy]

I've been trying to find somewhere to show my ducks but I can't seem to get anyone motivated enough to help me find some shows. I don't know if my pekin would be a good show duck though.

 

[Amiga]

For Waddles, in the meantime a nonbreakable mirror and stuffed toy may help.

 

[Miss Lydia]

you might try here https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/34/other-poultry-birds-hatching-eggs or here https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/34/other-poultry-birds-hatching-eggs and

someone on another thread suggested Pet finder also, go to their web site.

 

[Bducky]

It depends on where you live. I would buy the latest Backyard poultry magazine. (You can find these at Hy-vee) Or go to http://www.poultryshowcentral.com

 

[mandycarlo]

Wooh hoo I'm getting two a day now :-0 upped there calcium and and it's helped !! I have 2 that should hatch in a couple days from the first eggs layed i can not wait lol

 

[kodster]

My female just started laying eggs

Her first was a few days ago and was very small, the second was larger and the third was a little larger than the second. I have been bringing the ducks in at night because there is no fencing for them at this time and a raccoon has been coming around, so I have not given my little Billie-Beak the opportunity nor chance to make a nest outside or to gather and sit on the eggs. I have done some research and made a little home-made incubator which stays at 100 degrees but I need to purchase a hygrometer to see what the humidity level is. Humidity should be at 55 degrees I have read. I do not believe, however, that these eggs are fertile, as I have seen my "beakies" mate and have noticed that male, who has been sexually mature for only a week or so now, does not seem to know what he <ahem> is "doing." His aim is very off lol and he doesn't seem to be able to hold onto the female long enough to adjust himself properly. I will "candle" each egg after 3 days of incubation to see if veins are developing and if not then I will toss them. I ended up throwing away the small egg yesterday because even if it was fertile it was too small for the duckling to develop properly. Hopefully my home-made incubator is sufficient enough to even develop the eggs successfully if they are fertile. I am supposed to gather eggs for a little over a week and THEN start to incubate them, and I suppose I will do so at a later time but these last few days I was very excited and wanted to start the process right away. Hopefully Mr. Raptor duck will get better at situating himself on top of his Billie-Beak and produce us a good batch of fertile eggs to incubate. Although he has been mounting her for over a month, now, he has only been sexually mature for a week, as I said, and needs more experience if he is to father a big, healthy batch of little beakies!

First of all, congrats on the egg laying! I'm waiting for mine to start any time now. My Rouens are 21 weeks old now, and the three hens follow the one drake around with their heads down low, bobbing and quacking like crazy, being submissive to him, and he just runs around the 10x10 pen like he doesn't know what to do, even though I had seen him try to get amorous with the smallest hen a few days ago, and she pushed him away (she's being stand-offish, because the other 2 would like to get it on, but he's chosen her to be his fav)! LOL! I had 6 Jumbo Pekins and 6 Rouens, but realized a couple of weeks ago that I had 5 Jumbo Pekin drakes to 1 hen... and 4 of the boys were approaching sexual maturity... I could just imagine the poor girl who wasn't old enough yet (10 weeks) being raped by the 4! So, they had to be re-homed (and I'm sorry if I offend, but they got re-homed to the freezer camp, but that was the purpose of getting the birds... being self-sufficient by producing my own eggs and meat). So, I kept the 1 hen who is 10 weeks old, and the 1 drake who is the same age as her (got them as a pair). I'll get a couple more hens in the spring, for him, unless they start producing eggs by then (doubt it, but who knows???). My Rouens... 3 drakes to 3 hens... again, too much testosterone in the pen! Reduced the drake population to 1... the best looking 1 of the 3. So, now I'm down to 6 ducks as we approach winter (supposed to be unseasonably cold by the 23rd of the month, here in North Dakota... winter will be coming on early). Keeping my fingers crossed that I will get some eggs before we get locked down for winter. They will be moved into a pen in the chicken house partitioned off specifically for them for the winter, so that's the other reason for downsizing the flock.

Second of all... duck eggs take ~28 days to incubate. If you candle to see veins at 3 days, you're not going to see anything, and you could be throwing out very fertile eggs without knowing it. Recommend you wait until at least 10-14 days, if you're serious about doing this right. Patience is a virtue!

 

[kodster]

Haha, 99.5 °C would give me boiled eggs I think! But I was worried about the humidity, thank you loads for the guides Hopefully I'll have some lovely little ducklings in a while

That's 99.5°F! Try 37°C for your location.

 

[kodster]

Pekin duck twice this summer 13 + eggs and nest, she sit on daily rarely ever left her nest
There was two that hatched nest was in neighbors yard. Pekin Mom just left them done .......two little ones hanging in bushes.
all other eggs were gone :cold we waited a few days just in case.

We took care of the two babies as Mommy always visits
Pekin Mommy didn't want anything to do with them? so weird..

They would try to follow her and she didn't want them around. we took care of them a month or so and they got out of
cage we found them with other Pekin ducks at lake we let them stay they seemed just fine peace .....yet about a week
Someone took them... a pair..

2nd egg nest a month later, 14 + eggs, we seen Pekin Mom Pick Up and carry off

a few Eggs and just drop off 100ft or so from nest. Maybe knowing bad eggs.

a Couple of weeks later, she quit setting on her eggs, time was well over due.
She must have known they were not ok.

While Checking them out a few days later knowing she wasn't sitting on them

What few were left 8 or so, were not alive.

Pekin ducks seems Mommy is so dedicated for over a month then .... as if times up oh well?
Leaving two babies from her previous nest, shocked me a bit. Still Learning......


Thanks for therapy, lol
Respectfully,
Kim

Pekin Mommy does know better... it takes ~28 days to hatch ducks, and if she's been broody with them for that long, then they weren't fertile, or died in-vitro.

 

[ajphil09]

My mothers dog killed my babies today, Leia is on the left and Luke is on the right. I am so devastated right now I can barely function. I can't believe they are gone. I have their baby who hatched this morning with a lot of struggle, his yoke hasn't fully absorbed so if you would send some duck prayers his way, and for Luke and Leia. We all need it. <3