Running Rouens

[Daphne_loves_mealworms]

I hit post too quickly. Is Daphne chatty? Lucy and Ethel are the chattiest ducks.

Oh my gosh, yes!!! She has her little quackquackquackquack that is relatively quiet (unless excited, at which point it gets louder and faster), but constant, her squeals of happiness when foraging (with an extra loud squeal when she finds something really nice), and her ear-drum shattering QUACKS when she feels she’s not being heard or if she’s lonely (or bored, or alarmed, or hungry). Right now, I’m out with her in the garden, so she’s just making her little happy foraging squeals

 

[Daphne_loves_mealworms]

Btw, this is Daphne! She apparently just started molting overnight and lost all of her blue/purple feathers on one side.

 

[AngieMaesChix]

Awww adorable!!! Can’t wait for mines feathers start coming in...and to find out sexes will be sad to number down if or when I have too

 

[mama2rouens]

View attachment 1768346 Btw, this is Daphne! She apparently just started molting overnight and lost all of her blue/purple feathers on one side.

She's beautiful! When do they start to molt? Lucy and Ethel are 5 months old. I cannot wait to tell my husband how chatty Daphne is! I will work on getting some video of them being chatty. I was trying to google different quacks to try and figure out what all their different quacks could mean.

 

[Daphne_loves_mealworms]

She's beautiful! When do they start to molt? Lucy and Ethel are 5 months old. I cannot wait to tell my husband how chatty Daphne is! I will work on getting some video of them being chatty. I was trying to google different quacks to try and figure out what all their different quacks could mean.

Molting actually confuses me greatly. The drakes’ molting season makes more sense (they get the fancy “nuptial ” feathers for mating season, and then switch to their “eclipse” feather suits after mating season ends). Female molting seems to vary a bit more. I know that climate plays a part as does diet and stress. I also know that Mallard derived ducks and Muscovies tend to molt a bit differently.

I adopted Daphne in late March, 2018. She molted (primarily just her colorful blue/purple feathers) in early May. At the time, I wondered if the stress of the move caused the molt as no one else’s ducks seemed to molt at that time. However, here we are again this year! Daphne never had the crazy molt that some people describe (walking to the barn and seeing what looks like the aftermath of a pillow fight gone wrong).

I would think that your two would hold off until next year for their first adult molt as they already went through their juvenile molt?

 

[mama2rouens]

Molting actually confuses me greatly. The drakes’ molting season makes more sense (they get the fancy “nuptial ” feathers for mating season, and then switch to their “eclipse” feather suits after mating season ends). Female molting seems to vary a bit more. I know that climate plays a part as does diet and stress. I also know that Mallard derived ducks and Muscovies tend to molt a bit differently.

I adopted Daphne in late March, 2018. She molted (primarily just her colorful blue/purple feathers) in early May. At the time, I wondered if the stress of the move caused the molt as no one else’s ducks seemed to molt at that time. However, here we are again this year! Daphne never had the crazy molt that some people describe (walking to the barn and seeing what looks like the aftermath of a pillow fight gone wrong).

I would think that your two would hold off until next year for their first adult molt as they already went through their juvenile molt?

I wonder what their adult molt will be like. haha! I have so much to learn.

 

[DuckyDonna]

Hope this makes everyone smile. Just wanted to share my sweet girls running to me

makes me smile big!