Pictures of my babies!! Picture overload...

[suzy4027]

LOL! Neither of our ducklings are willing to give in yet. Tot is a major drama queen and Tater is really laid back. Tater will take the pecking for a little while then says ENOUGH! Pretty funny. Maybe Tater IS a boy as Tater seems to be letting Tot feel in charge until it gets really irritating! Ha ha. They're in a brooder in the garage and a poor fly found his way in... Funniest and cutest thing I've seen! Tot was on mission! As long as it flew Tater's way, she was all over it. Looked like me playing tennis. Hit it to me and I can make it clear the fence, but I am NOT chasing a stupid tennis ball.

Can't get over the cuteness!!

 

[Tevyes Dad]

When we got our Welsh Harlequins (Rhiannon and No Name) to replace the mis-pick that was done on our order, they were 1 week younger than the rest of the flock. We got them on Wednesday and I was going to take the "extra" one to Murdoch's to be homed Saturday. One was the replacement and the second was a packing peanut/insurance policy. I brooded them separate for two days then Friday I put them in with the rest of the flock (supervised). The smaller one (who had been pecking the bigger one in the head non-stop the entire probably since it was packed and in the brooder Wednesday and Thursday), immediately walked up to each and every duck in the brooder (she was 5 days old and everybody else was 12 days old) and pecked them in the head. (The audacity of the runt 5 day old Welsh Harlequin pecking a freakishly large 12 day old Pekin in the head!

) Then the entire brooder attacked her, pecking her in the head.... I took her out and she became "No Name" the other Welsh Harlequin became Rhiannon... I took her to Murdoch's a day early. So @Kaessa , like your Cayuga, she decided right away she was boss, but unlike your Cayuga, she was out-voted. For what it is worth, that must have been a humbling experience. When they put her in the brooder at Murdoch's with the other ducklings, she was all nice and "how do you do" with them

 

[JessiLynn]

When we got our Welsh Harlequins (Rhiannon and No Name) to replace the mis-pick that was done on our order, they were 1 week younger than the rest of the flock. We got them on Wednesday and I was going to take the "extra" one to Murdoch's to be homed Saturday. One was the replacement and the second was a packing peanut/insurance policy. I brooded them separate for two days then Friday I put them in with the rest of the flock (supervised). The smaller one (who had been pecking the bigger one in the head non-stop the entire probably since it was packed and in the brooder Wednesday and Thursday), immediately walked up to each and every duck in the brooder (she was 5 days old and everybody else was 12 days old) and pecked them in the head. (The audacity of the runt 5 day old Welsh Harlequin pecking a freakishly large 12 day old Pekin in the head!

) Then the entire brooder attacked her, pecking her in the head.... I took her out and she became "No Name" the other Welsh Harlequin became Rhiannon... I took her to Murdoch's a day early. So @Kaessa , like your Cayuga, she decided right away she was boss, but unlike your Cayuga, she was out-voted. For what it is worth, that must have been a humbling experience. When they put her in the brooder at Murdoch's with the other ducklings, she was all nice and "how do you do" with them

Oh my goodness! What a riot. I bet that would have been quite the sight to see! How does the pecking order apply when a Drake is involved? My drake seems pretty timid so far.

 

[JessiLynn]

LOL! Neither of our ducklings are willing to give in yet. Tot is a major drama queen and Tater is really laid back. Tater will take the pecking for a little while then says ENOUGH! Pretty funny. Maybe Tater IS a boy as Tater seems to be letting Tot feel in charge until it gets really irritating! Ha ha. They're in a brooder in the garage and a poor fly found his way in... Funniest and cutest thing I've seen! Tot was on mission! As long as it flew Tater's way, she was all over it. Looked like me playing tennis. Hit it to me and I can make it clear the fence, but I am NOT chasing a stupid tennis ball.

Can't get over the cuteness!!

When their reflexes kick in and they go into exterminator mode it IS really funny to watch isn't it!? A helpless gnat flew through the brooder and it was so funny to watch the ducklings perk up and they all had the same goal in mind. The poor gnat didn't stand a chance!

 

[Tevyes Dad]

Oh my goodness! What a riot. I bet that would have been quite the sight to see! How does the pecking order apply when a Drake is involved? My drake seems pretty timid so far.

Drakes aren't really drakes until their head turns green(in the case of ducks like the WH whose head turns), then crazy rules. My lead drake Kaine is a Rouen. He runs everything: hide from birds, lay by fence, go swim, intercept cat outside fence, go in the house... He barks the order it happens. Out of 13 ducks, he is bigger than 7 of them and 4 of them are runners. Based on struggling power (which happens occasionally) he is the second strongest. The strongest is my Pekin girl Snow. Snow isn't out for glory and is never challenged by anyone else. She seems happy to follow Kaine but he can't "make" her do anything. So I don't know what would happen if Snow was more aggressive. Our most aggressive hen Pocahontas submits to Kaine, but she doesn't really have a choice - he is much stronger.

I will give you an example of classic Snow: When we first introduced Noir and Mystique to the flock, we started by introducing them one by one in a closed gazebo. When it was Snow's turn (fairly early on because she is a gentle bird), Mystique who was the dominate bird from that brooder, walked right up to Snow and pecked her in the chest (couldn't reach her head) as hard as she could. Snow didn't fight back, she just took a step forward. Well when you weigh about 3-1/2 lbs and a 10 lb duck steps forward into the space you just occupied, you step back... there is no choice. Mystique pecked Snow again. Snow took another step. OK.... Mystique got the hint. Snow didn't even dignify Mystique's pecks with a retaliation. She just let Mystique know she was not even a challenge. After that, the three of them played the rest of the day.

 

[Kaessa]

When we got our Welsh Harlequins (Rhiannon and No Name) to replace the mis-pick that was done on our order, they were 1 week younger than the rest of the flock. We got them on Wednesday and I was going to take the "extra" one to Murdoch's to be homed Saturday. One was the replacement and the second was a packing peanut/insurance policy. I brooded them separate for two days then Friday I put them in with the rest of the flock (supervised). The smaller one (who had been pecking the bigger one in the head non-stop the entire probably since it was packed and in the brooder Wednesday and Thursday), immediately walked up to each and every duck in the brooder (she was 5 days old and everybody else was 12 days old) and pecked them in the head. (The audacity of the runt 5 day old Welsh Harlequin pecking a freakishly large 12 day old Pekin in the head!

) Then the entire brooder attacked her, pecking her in the head.... I took her out and she became "No Name" the other Welsh Harlequin became Rhiannon... I took her to Murdoch's a day early. So @Kaessa , like your Cayuga, she decided right away she was boss, but unlike your Cayuga, she was out-voted. For what it is worth, that must have been a humbling experience. When they put her in the brooder at Murdoch's with the other ducklings, she was all nice and "how do you do" with them

I am REALLY interested in seeing how it all works out when I introduce them to Peek and Poke when they're big enough. The big girls are interested when I take the littles outside, but not enough to come over and get a closer look. That would involve getting WAY too close to me, unfortunately. Maybe the littles will teach the big ones that people aren't so bad.

 

[Tevyes Dad]

I am REALLY interested in seeing how it all works out when I introduce them to Peek and Poke when they're big enough. The big girls are interested when I take the littles outside, but not enough to come over and get a closer look. That would involve getting WAY too close to me, unfortunately. Maybe the littles will teach the big ones that people aren't so bad.

The more they see each other, the better. First they won't be complete strangers when they are introduced, and you might have a better Idea how they will react to each other. Merging flocks is hard, but doable. I have had 2 major merges and I am glad they are done. Now I only have to deal with individual personality conflicts.... KIDS!

As for the big girls: meal worms can overcome almost any amount of apprehension.

 

[Kaessa]

The more they see each other, the better. First they won't be complete strangers when they are introduced, and you might have a better Idea how they will react to each other. Merging flocks is hard, but doable. I have had 2 major merges and I am glad they are done. Now I only have to deal with individual personality conflicts.... KIDS!

As for the big girls: meal worms can overcome almost any amount of apprehension.

I'll have to invest in a big bag of mealworms.

Yeah, that was my plan, to bring the littles out every day for a while so the big girls can see them through the fence. I've been letting the big girls out into the backyard, then taking the little ones into the pen so I can keep an eye on them, and keep the bigger ducks away from them. I think we might spend a bit longer out there today, it's supposed to be in the 80's this afternoon (What the heck, March???), so it should be plenty warm for them to run around and maybe swim for a bit.

 

[JessiLynn]

I'll have to invest in a big bag of mealworms.

Yeah, that was my plan, to bring the littles out every day for a while so the big girls can see them through the fence. I've been letting the big girls out into the backyard, then taking the little ones into the pen so I can keep an eye on them, and keep the bigger ducks away from them. I think we might spend a bit longer out there today, it's supposed to be in the 80's this afternoon (What the heck, March???), so it should be plenty warm for them to run around and maybe swim for a bit.

We had some really nice weather lately, and I have wanted to take the ducklings out for a few minutes to play in the grass... but I'm so worried they will run from me and I won't be able to catch them to bring them back in. When people take them outside do they keep them in a structure? I'm guessing that is probably the case?

 

[Kaessa]

We had some really nice weather lately, and I have wanted to take the ducklings out for a few minutes to play in the grass... but I'm so worried they will run from me and I won't be able to catch them to bring them back in. When people take them outside do they keep them in a structure? I'm guessing that is probably the case?

I have a 20x20 pen that I keep the big ducks in, plus I have a decent sized yard with 6' high privacy fencing. I can let the big ducks out in the yard, and keep the little ones in the pen so they're easy to catch. So far, they don't run from me while we're in there, so I haven't had any problems catching them. I would imagine one of the puppy playpen fences would work pretty well for the same purpose.