Pekin Duck Club!

[M4R Ranch]

My three babies... Huey, Duey, & Louise

 

[tagamigi]

500 mg are they no flush if they are dont use them but I mix 500 mg in 5 gallons of water you waste some but that is ok

 

[M4R Ranch]

I got my 2 pekin ducklings yesterday. They are 5 days old today. 1 is wanting to swim in the water bowl and they are sleeping in the food bowl. Any ideas on how to stop this or is this normal?

Yes this is normal if their foid & water bowls ate open containers. The only way to stop it is to get the typical poultry waterer & feeder. Hope this helps

 

[Dunaways61811]

500 mg are they no flush if they are dont use them but I mix 500 mg in 5 gallons of water you waste some but that is ok

It says flush-free. Is that ok use?

 

[Dunaways61811]

I'm going to try a small bowlers. TSC didn't have any small feeders yesterday. So I'm going to have to check another place.

 

[countrygirl74]

I am re-posting this since there seems to be a lot of newbies asking the same questions...

We used a big rubbermaid container in the house, with a heat lamp. Ducks get hotter faster than baby chicks so raising them in the summer, you might not need the heat lamp for long. Just make sure they can get away from the heat. I found the best bedding for ducklings is this... it's like a pine crumble. Pine shavings aren't really good as I found they tend to eat them too much.





Feed them unmedicated chick starter. Then, when older switch to a grower/flock raiser.

Make sure they have fresh water - yes, it will seem impossible - LOL. They are very messy with their water. Make sure that you provide water deep enough for them to dunk their nostrils in and wash their eyes - very important for their health. As they get older, you can cut a hole in a gallon milk jug that they can fit and dunk their heads into but not climb into - this will help keep their water clean and less mess for you.

They can have supervised swim times - must be supervised until they get feathers as they can tire easily or get waterlogged and drown. Also make sure they can get warm when they are done swimming.

Provide niacin in their water for the first 10-12 weeks unless you are feeding a feed that is specifically made for ducks. 100-125mg per gallon. Get regular niacin (no "time-release", "no-flush" or "flush-free").

Treats - limit them while they are very young so they are eating the food they need. Frozen, thawed peas are a favorite - might need to smash them a little when they are very young. Any chopped greens (limit spinach) - kale is good, as well as arugula, romaine, etc. Stay away from breads, etc. Mealworms are good - when they get bigger, you can put minnows in the pool too. Provide grit if you are giving them treats unless they are outside and can get their own grit.

Hope this helps! Have fun with your new babies!

 

[countrygirl74]

Hey, yes they can mate but any results of muscovy crosses are "mules" meaning they will not be able to reproduce.

That's interesting! I did not know that. Thanks for sharing!

When do they start to lay ??? My girls are very very ummmm what's the word??? Friendly? W each other ... In the pool it's neck biting . A triangle of hoping on one another and trying to what I can only guess is duck breeding ? Haha and before only one bobbed her head .. Now all three do it and my oh my is it a ruckus when they start all that. Lol they are 15 weeks..

Mine were about 24-25 weeks before they laid their first eggs. May be sooner or later than that, depending some on the temperature...

How long can the duck eggs remain in the nest before they are no longer good to eat?
3-5 Days????

Around here it's been in the 90's, so I don't eat them if I forgot to collect them - they would practically cook in the shell. In cooler weather, you could probably get away with a couple to a few days outside.

Sorry 1 last question. I bought Niacin capsules 500mg and took the powder out of them and put it in a ziploc bowl. How much do I need to put in their water or should I put it in their food? I only have 2 pekin ducklings. Help please

Did you just empty 1 capsule or the whole bottle? If you emptied them all, that will be tough to tell as you no longer have an exact mg measurement. If you emptied 1 capsule, you could possibly estimate by getting about 1/5 of the powder out. If you just have a big pile of niacin powder, I have no idea what to tell you. It's 100-125mg to 1 gallon of water so that would be hard to measure out unless you re-fill a capsule and then you could get close.

 

[countrygirl74]

It says flush-free. Is that ok use?

No - they can't really absorb it.

 

[lauranickerson]

Will Muscovies and Pekins even hang around each other? I know they aren't related (Pekins descended from Mallards, Musky's don't). I wouldn't mind having the mixes because I could use/sell them for meat (when I get the courage to kill such a cute animal). I just don't want there to be chaos if I have a breeding pair of Muscovies and a few Pekins running around.

 

[misschickenlittle]

My scovies follow my pekin hen all over the place! So you shouldn't have chaos.