Pet Ducks Dumped in Neighborhood Pond, Help?

[shawluvsbirds]

@SansDuck
Something else to consider and be thinking about.
If you are certain you want to let them hatch babies. . most of the time you can not have your drake around the little ones. Sometimes you even have to get them away from a sitting hen because they bother them too much trying to mount them while they are on the nest. Especially if there aren't any other girls to keep his attention.
Ducks are very sexual and a drake can be jealous of babies and want his woman back and go so far as to kill or drown them.
Also little ones are not totally water proof until they have feathers. They will get some of their moms oil rubbed onto them from being under her, and can swim with her right away. . But you have to make sure they can easily get out of the water and get dry. If they tire out while swimming and can't get out they can easily become water logged and drown.
Not trying to freak you out. . just a couple things to consider when designing a run for them. Prepare to be able to separate them if your going to have littles.

 

[Gold Griffin Chicken Mom]

I’m sorry. There won’t be any pictures posted of that incident. Not only did I promise Hubby not to post it, that was on my old phone and things have been deleted since then.

Because the deer have eaten our Yoshino cherry trees (yes, same variety all around DC given to US by Japan), I have pounded in fence poles for a new area. It will house a baby fig tree. Said fig tree was bought yesterday at TS and has been named by my kiddies as “Mama Fig”. Mama Fig will be enclosed in a tomato cage-like fence. This will be inside a new chicken pen that is 13’ by 13’. Hubby needs to help me sink the fence posts for the gate/door. The “deer fence” was bought several years back on clearance. Six foot tall, it only came in 25’ rolls. After I get that hung, the deer netting is going around the top. My last surviving chickens will soon be housed up here. If it proves safe enough for the old birds, the chicks I’m getting this Spring will grow in there awhile.

Sorry for the long post, but I’m excited to put some birds up front where everyone passing by can see them. Because I live among “real” farmers, I doubt I’ll get complaints.

 

[thumper650]

My ducks don't like bananas but I've read it was ok for them. I'm not sure what predators you have, but here it seems Pekins are large enough that hawks wont bother them. Mine also have trees to hide under, which they do sometimes.

 

[Miss Lydia]

@SansDuck did your babies come outside yet?

 

[ShrekDawg]

Thank you for saving the ducks!! You have done a great thing. I would feed the Flock Raiser over the layer feed. Layer feed is really designed for chickens whereas the flock raiser or all flock the ducks can eat. Also too much calcium is bad for birds that aren’t laying such as the males and non laying females so even if you had just chickens, I feed Flock Raiser in the winter when my chickens are not laying and switch to layer feed once they start up again. But some people just feed Flock Raiser year round with oyster shell on the side. For ducks, I would not feed the layer feed and would just stick to Flock Raiser. It is designed with other birds in mind besides just chickens and it is safe for drakes and roosters as well as your duck that hasn’t started laying yet. And you can buy the oyster shell at Tractor Supply. It is normally in the chicken food section and I think is only like $9 or $10 for a 25 pound bag. I would also get a bag of grit while you are there. It should be right next to the oyster shell. Birds don’t have teeth so they need the grit to break down the food in their crop and make it easier to digest. It is important for all birds but especially if they are getting a lot of treats besides their regular food. Speaking of which, I would try to limit their treats to no more than 10% of their diet. Too many treats can mess up the nutritional value of their food and potentially cause problems. I would just stick with a bowl of Flock Raiser along with a bowl each of oyster shell and grit, and fresh water. Put the oyster shell and grit in separate bowls (not together) and I wouldn’t mix it into their feed or anything as that could provide too much calcium. Just have it free choice next to their food and let them decide how much of each and when they need it. I bought a small plastic double dog/cat bowl and put grit on one side and oyster shell on the other and I also cut some holes on the bottom for drainage. You can also hang a tuna can or something shallow at about duck head height inside the coop for them. Good luck with your ducks!! They are adorable and thank you for rescuing them!!

 

[ShrekDawg]

Oh and also I buy Manna Pro grit and oyster shell but any brand is fine. Whatever your store carries. But I would try to get some ASAP. And also, different breeds should be fine together. Most of my chickens are all different breeds, there are a few that are the same breed, but chickens and ducks don’t seem to care about being different breeds. Sometimes they like to hang out with the same color and/or breed and sometimes there are certain breeds that are more bossy that may not work well with super gentle, non confrontational breeds, but generally they all get along very well and mingle and there really aren’t issues. And I think in ducks there are less issues with certain breeds being bossy like with chickens. But I don’t have ducks so I am not sure. But as long as they are not Muscovy (which are a separate species of duck) and are not bantam or miniature ducks, any breed should be fine. But that said, you never want to introduce a single bird into the flock as they can be picked on a lot and also are just generally less confident. You always want to introduce at least 2 to 3 birds at a time. And Ancona ducks are a good breed. Very pretty and I think pretty friendly and should get along fine with your current ducks. Welsh Harlequins are another good breed as are Swedish and Buff ducks but really any fairly large duck should be fine. You could also add more Pekins. Cackle Hatchery is a good place to order from and they of course have the Anconas but here are some other good places. I ordered my chickens from Meyer and I love them but I do not know if they carry the Ancona. Metzer Farms is another very good place and they only deal with waterfowl. They specialize in it and they are also very knowledgeable and have tons of very helpful information and articles on duck raising so even if you do not end up ordering from them, you may want to browse through their website. I think you will find it very helpful. They also have a breed comparison chart.

https://www.meyerhatchery.com/

https://www.metzerfarms.com/

https://www.metzerfarms.com/DuckBreedComparisonNew.cfm?affiliate=undef&CustID=23584148

 

[SansDuck]

@SansDuck did your babies come outside yet?

Hello @Miss Lydia , so far the duckies have won the battle but not the war.

The ducks are being stubborn. They will wait until we cave, (usually around sundown) and we end up putting the water and food back in the ark overnight.

How long can ducks truly go without food and water, I think I read it's only eight hours for water?

I know we shouldn't put their food and water back in the ark at night, but I dont want them to starve.

Also, did a little shopping today and I'm having buyers regret.

I had a few option between different poultry supplements, and I think I chose the wrong ones.

I ended up purchasing these two products;

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/rooster-booster-poultry-booster-125-lb?cm_vc=-10005

And

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/rooster-booster-poultry-cell-16-oz?cm_vc=-10005

But now that I'm thinking about it, should I have went with this product?

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/p...liquid-b-12-plus-vitamin-k-16-oz?cm_vc=-10005


I get so confused when it comes to choosing supplements, I have no idea how much nician is in one product vs another product.
The Rooster Booster Poultry Cell mentions to use it, "daily during periods of stress or competition".

After all the tragedy and new changes these ducks have been through, I can imagine they have tons of stress.

If the stuff I purchased today is no good, I can always go back and exchange for the Rooster Booster, Liquid B-12 plus.

What is your opinion Miss Lydia, should i keep what I have or exchange?

 

[Miss Lydia]

I think you should go back and exchange for liquid b complex. You want all the b’s. And if you want a good poultry vitamin go with Poultry Nutri drench. The Liquid b complex will be in the cattle section and it will say injectable but we give it to the birds orally you can put it in the feed or water. Same with PND it can go in the water also. As for putting their water an feed in their house that’s up to you. Any way you can put the food and water right close to their door so they have to just come out a smidge to begin with? Then as they get use to that just keep moving it away from their door till you put it where you want it. Another reason why they may not feel comfortable coming out is it’s wide open there no real protection or cover. Maybe?

 

[Cayuga momma]

Hello @Miss Lydia , so far the duckies have won the battle but not the war.

The ducks are being stubborn. They will wait until we cave, (usually around sundown) and we end up putting the water and food back in the ark overnight.

How long can ducks truly go without food and water, I think I read it's only eight hours for water?

I know we shouldn't put their food and water back in the ark at night, but I dont want them to starve.

Also, did a little shopping today and I'm having buyers regret.

I had a few option between different poultry supplements, and I think I chose the wrong ones.

I ended up purchasing these two products;

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/rooster-booster-poultry-booster-125-lb?cm_vc=-10005

And

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/rooster-booster-poultry-cell-16-oz?cm_vc=-10005

But now that I'm thinking about it, should I have went with this product?

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/p...liquid-b-12-plus-vitamin-k-16-oz?cm_vc=-10005


I get so confused when it comes to choosing supplements, I have no idea how much nician is in one product vs another product.
The Rooster Booster Poultry Cell mentions to use it, "daily during periods of stress or competition".

After all the tragedy and new changes these ducks have been through, I can imagine they have tons of stress.

If the stuff I purchased today is no good, I can always go back and exchange for the Rooster Booster, Liquid B-12 plus.

What is your opinion Miss Lydia, should i keep what I have or exchange?

Niacin is B3 not B12. You want to get the liquid B complex like Miss Lydia said.

 

[FluffTheDuck]

1) By picture alone, can you see anything wrong with the ducks heathly wise, like feathers, bill, feet? We think they are pretty healthy but I'm not an expert.

Answer: They look pretty healthy. Just make sure to feed them plenty of nutricous things. View this site to see all the goodies they can eat: https://www.fresheggsdaily.com/2013/07/healthy-treats-for-backyard-ducks.html

2) can you tell the age? We're thinking they might be young, when they first arrived they all looked and sound the same. Now that they been here for a few months, one is loud and the other one has curly drake feathers.

Answer: They look like they are 3-5 months. The male has started mating, (that's the "celebration". If you didn't know.) he has his sex feather, he has his raspy quack while the female has the loud quack I heard you say. View this to help with finding out. Scroll down until you find how to find out how old they are: http://www.thegoosesmother.com/id27.html. However, I do think that the female is younger.

3) what are the genders? We are 99% positive that we have one male, one female. Besides the one having a loud quack with no curly feathers, the other one has curly feathers and a soft raspy quack.
The fact that every time we bring them water, the duck with the soft quack will hop onto the others back, grabs their neck, tells me they are not celebrating over having clean water.
And durning one these celebrations, its was very obvious the one on top had a penis.

Well if he as a male mating "piece", that's a male. I know you know that. So a male and also if you look at both of them, can you see how one of them is super colorful? That's the male. The male has bright colors to attract females. The other duck does not have attractive colors, therefore it's a female.

4) if they are dating, when should we expect eggs? They have done this celebration a number of times (almost everytime we bring fresh water) but we cant tell if they were successful? They both get really happy after the one on top falls off and after they will usually shake their tails or take a swim in their water dish lol.

I have tried incubating (at about 5 months on my Pekin ducks) and they were unsuccessful until about the male was at one year was the lucky month. So the male gets his complete fertile-ness I would say around one year. My male started mating at around...3-4 months and then around 3 weeks, she started laying.

5) Also we recently put a fake egg in the ark, they moved it to the back and buried it some in the straw. Does that mean anything? We didnt think putting a egg in there would do anything but it almost seems like they adopted it?

Probably, we made a fake nest and put a fake egg in the nest. When it's about one week until your female starts laying she will start making nests and when she buries the fake egg in her nest, that's when the time starts to come.

6a) this is a three part question. Now that they have a nice house(with straw and cedar bedding), plenty of food, treats including bugs and a good size pen and a moat. Should we eventually allow them to go to the pond durning the day or is it encouraging them to stay in the pond the whole night? Would they learn to come home at night on their own? Or is this just asking for trouble?

They eventually will learn to come during the night. Wait- why'd I say "eventually"? It took my ducks 5 days to learn to "come home". Why? Because I gave them iceberg lettuce at night when it's time to come to bed. But, to be safe, around 6:00 (or whenever it's getting a little dark)
get some iceberg lettuce and crumble it up in their pen. Do that for about 10 days and then around 4:00 if they're out, crumble lettuce in their pen and see if they'll come. If they don't, continue doing this until they learn to come when you crumble lettuce in their pen. Please be patient because all ducks have their own brains and they may be a little dumb.

(Also again I want to clarify, this pond does not get clean and people have fish in it including us in the past.)
Also the ducks would have to cross the street to get to the pond each day, it's not that big of a concern considering we are the last house on a dead end street but accident can still happen.

It is a big concern, have you tried picking them up? How about whenever you want to pick them up and walk across the pond and just throw them in! They love it!

6b) Would I need to worry about snaped fishing lines or hooks that have fallen off into the water hurting them?

Yep! Even snapped fishing lines with no fish hooks can seriously injure them.

6c) opinions on keeping ducks in a backyard with pool/pen vs free range at day and coop at night.

How about planting a lot of trees all around your house/where ever they go that way no evil hawks can get 'em?

And reading about ducks and bacteria from a pond doesnt make me feel safe letting them take a dip either.

Probably not; we built a big pond for them with a recycling waterfall. If you want to do this, go to this website: https://www.thepondguy.com/

7) after a major event or even maturing, do ducks personalities change?
When they first arrived, they were all friendly. Right before the death of the third duck all of them kinda become spooked and weary of humans.
And after the death, they would run away from people if approached to closely.

Yep! My male went from super sweet to ultra-protective when my female started laying.

8)Could a human or something that resembles it killed the third duck and now they're scared of humans? I know we have young kids and teens that hang around the pond occasionally.

If whatever killed the duck was big, the answer is most likely yes.

9) like mentioned we are pretty sure they are pekins, but we could be wrong too. They dont fly but the one that appears female knows how to jump quite high off the ground. Can anyone tell from the provided pictures that they are 100% pekin?

They're definitely a Pekin, but there is different types of Pekins.
American Pekin
The American Pekin duck is a large hearty bird that doesn't feel as fragile as other common domestic ducks. They were introduced to America from China in 1873 by James E. Palmer who started the American flock with 6 hens and 3 drakes. Palmer loaded 15 birds on the ship and only 9 made the trip across the pond. Over half of America's commercial ducks are Pekins today!

These ducks are seen throughout America today at local ponds, commercial farms, backyard farms as pets and even parks. The American Pekin duck lays about 200 eggs per year and is rarely broody, you often need to incubate the eggs. Sexing the duck is often hard until maturity, the drake possesses a drake feather. A drake feather is a single curled feather on its tail. The female has a much louder quack than the drake.

Aylesbury
Aylesbury ducks, although extremely similar in appearance, aren’t actually Pekin ducks. These ducks get their name from the town they originated in Aylesbury, England. Since at least the 1690’s Aylesbury and the surrounding areas have bread ducks. Given the similarities, this breed seems to have been inspired by the Chinese Pekin.

The preferred duck was a hearty white meat bird with clean feathers, this led to selective breeding and by the early 1800’s, Aylesbury ducks were a sought-after meat bird being shipped throughout England including London regularly. Aylesbury ducks were considered more flavorful and less fatty than Pekin ducks. Over inbreeding and war led to the Aylesbury's decline, there is only 1 major flock left in England today.

German Pekin
Breeding the Chinese version with an upright Japanese duck from Dutch ships gave the German Pekin an upright stance, much like an Indian Runner Duck but boasts a much stockier appearance.

Pekin ducks arrived in Germany from France and from the UK shortly after they were imported by Walter Steward in 1872, and the German version of Pekin was born. The Pekin duck didn't make it back to the United Kingdom until 1970, Aylesbury is the preferred duck meat choice in the UK to this day.

Germany has not farmed the German Pekin commercially since the second world war and is listed on the critically endangered species list. Today these birds are kept as pets and displayed in shows.

The German Pekin started shortly after they were imported into the UK in 1872 by Walter Steward, that's how they made their way to Germany and the German Pekin duck was born. The Pekin duck didn't make it back to the United Kingdom until 1970.

Jumbo Pekin
Jumbo Pekins are bred by crossing a meaty strain Pekin drake with a medium sized Pekin hen. The largest Pekin you can get, these birds are often a preferred choice for meat birds because of their size and fertility rates. Because these ducks grow so fast their legs aren't built to hold their own weight which reduces their life cycle and productivity. This is the reason people do not usually keep them as pets.

White Crested Duck
A domestic White Crested Duck looks nearly identical to a Pekin duck, but it's not exactly a Pekin. Domestic Crested Ducks most likely originated in the East Indies being depicted in paintings over 2000 years ago.

So how do these guys get their cute little hair do’s? It's a deformity of the skull caused by a genetic mutation called Hemizygous. This gene causes a sharp decrease in hatchability rates, ⅓ of the ducklings that survive incubation will not have a crested head.

Please note that there is a difference between wild and domestic crested ducks. Wild crested ducks don't have that cute little fluff ball on their heads.

Grimaud Hybrid Pekins
With an American Pekin like appearance, these ducks are created in France by Grimaud Freres. Grimaud ducks are genetically modified to be fertile, high output egg layers with an improved feed conversion ratio for meat birds. Due to the proprietary nature, little is known about this breed other than what's posted on Mr. Freres website.



10) what are the most important things i should know as a new duck owner? Suggestions, tips, tricks, and other helpful information you cant easily find online would be greatly appreciated.

Go to both of my articles to find almost all the information you need on ducks.

Bye!