Please Help! Worried! Peking Duck brooding behavior advice

[Miss Lydia]

Once the ducklings hatch you really should put mama an duckling inside a secure run with housing to protect them and the drake can also be a threat.

 

[Nanettr]

Once the ducklings hatch you really should put mama an duckling inside a secure run with housing to protect them and the drake can also be a threat.

I live in a subdivision with very specific regulations. So my only option is a screened in porch. I was planning to put them there away from the 2 males. I have a fenced yard. I have a kiddie pool to put pine shavings in and a giant dog house that I am also going to put in that area. I bought the feeder, water dispenser and treatment as well as a heat lamp. It is very hot here so I am thinking I prob wont need the heat lamp. Planning to put a tarp on the outside of the area where the "housing" area will be to keep the rain and wind off of them. Does the mama usually follow if you pick up the babies? How long do they need to be separated from the drakes? I have someone that wants to take the ducklings. We have snapping turtles in the pond behind our house and on occasion an alligator that likes to visit. I've seen raccoons, hawks and an eagle in the woods behind our house. How old should they be when I give them away?

 

[PirateGirl]

If the person adopting the ducklings is familiar with raising ducklings and will set up a brooder with a heat source you can give them away within a few days of hatching. If the person just wants to be able to have them outdoors and skip the brooder mama can raise them and keep them warm until they get adult feathers

 

[Nanettr]

If the person adopting the ducklings is familiar with raising ducklings and will set up a brooder with a heat source you can give them away within a few days of hatching. If the person just wants to be able to have them outdoors and skip the brooder mama can raise them and keep them warm until they get adult feathers

She has a lot of chickens but only one male Peking. I am a volunteer at a Livestock and Esquire Rescue and met her there. After reading about the males harming the babies is that safe? When is it safe? She has runs and pens for them.

 

[Nanettr]

If the person adopting the ducklings is familiar with raising ducklings and will set up a brooder with a heat source you can give them away within a few days of hatching. If the person just wants to be able to have them outdoors and skip the brooder mama can raise them and keep them warm until they get adult feathers

I will find out what her set up is as far as a brooder. I think she will have better luck at keeping them alive in her environment then I will here in the city/subdivision.

 

[Miss Lydia]

If she takes the ducklings she'll need to keep them separate from the drake till they are of breeding age. which is usually around 4-5 month old. Drakes can injure ducklings male and females trying to mate. and young ducklings can be killed by a drake that attacks them. So she'll have to keep the ducklings in a secure pen for a while.

 

[PirateGirl]

I agree with @Miss Lydia even if she will raise the ducklings in a brooder they will need to stay separate from the drake until even older.

 

[Nanettr]

Wow that is a lot. Please candle and post back, she maybe sitting on time bombs about to explode if they are rotten. So be careful handling.

Hey Miss Lydia, I brought 3 eggs in to a dark area of my house last evening and used my cell phone flashlight to try to see what might be going on. They looked completely solid. Maybe a little bit of light through at the very top. She ate another “egg” during the night - only about 1/3 of the shell was left when I went to feed her this morning. Today is day 31 that I have seen her sitting on the nest. Started w 19 eggs now down to 11. Thoughts? (Oh I see you are from western NC. I am originally from Asheville)

 

[Nanettr]

Hey Miss Lydia, I brought 3 eggs in to a dark area of my house last evening and used my cell phone flashlight to try to see what might be going on. They looked completely solid. Maybe a little bit of light through at the very top. She ate another “egg” during the night - only about 1/3 of the shell was left when I went to feed her this morning. Today is day 31 that I have seen her sitting on the nest. Started w 19 eggs now down to 11. Thoughts? (Oh I see you are from western NC. I am originally from Asheville)

PS All the eggs seem solid and the shell appears thick

 

[Miss Lydia]

Are you seeing any air cell?

Day 26-27 the light yellow is where the air cell is.