Show off your house ducks!

[MagpieDucks]

What breeds are you getting this spring Tony?

 

[Tevyes Dad]

What breeds are you getting this spring Tony?

Buff - Latte.
Khaki Campbell - Casie.
Pekin - Allie (Short for Alabaster)

The duck math went like this: Our neighbor (who baby sits the ducks sometimes) said she really missed Snow and that we should get another Pekin. We cried a bunch and decided that yes, we really missed having a Pekin around. We don't have a place where we can get sexed ducks locally so we decided to order one from Metzer. Metzer can't ship less than 2 ducks so we decided we would get a Buff too. I was looking at the website and realized that if we got those two, we would have every breed (I am not including the hybrids) they had except for the Khaki Campbell. Well it wouldn't do to be seen as an anti-KC flock, so we decided we could squeeze one more in. Plus when we brooded Noir and Mystique, it was impossible to get any 1 on 1 time with them because if you took one out of the brooder, the other one was alone and would scream bloody murder. So we always took them out as a pair. With 3 'lings, we might be able to have some 1 on 1 time with them while the other two keep each other company for 5 minutes. (Of course we will have all 3 out a lot, but 1 on 1 might be possible).

 

[AxolotlLove]

She can fit in the tub just fine. She has a rubber duck that has cupids wings and a little bow and arrow that's her absolute favorite. She started out with two mini rubber ducks that she carried around for quite some time, then she quit. But when she got Cupid Duck, she started carrying it around. She thinks it needs to go with her when she get out of the tub, but I say no.   She doesn't like the light up purple glitter duck her "Godmother" got her though...

She has a stuffed TY Beanie Baby named Jake, and he's a Mallard drake. I'll find him in her water dish in the mornings, facedown... Something tells me she doesn't like him much at all... 

Lol my ducks have that stuffed animal too... They don't like it either poor Jake is always being thrown around

 

[AxolotlLove]

Excited to come inside after a long day of swimming names are: DJ Quack, Jalepeño, Charm, Carly, Sam, Freddie, Gibby, Derpy and Dee Dee

 

[Julie Birb]

Excited to come inside after a long day of swimming

names are: DJ Quack, Jalepeño, Charm, Carly, Sam, Freddie, Gibby, Derpy and Dee Dee

May I please kiss your ducks? It appears some of them are talking. I see webs….

 

[MagpieDucks]

@Tevyes Dad Except for Mallard and Jumbo Pekin! Do you have 7 more sq. ft. somewhere? (2 for the Mallard and 5 for the J.P.).

 

[AxolotlLove]

Jumbo pekins are my favorite! I have 4 JB and 1 normal pekin (and other breeds of ducks) but one of my JB is double muscled so he is even bigger! He's as large as a Canadian goose! My giant duck DjQuack

 

[Tevyes Dad]

@Tevyes Dad Except for Mallard and Jumbo Pekin! Do you have 7 more sq. ft. somewhere? (2 for the Mallard and 5 for the J.P.).

Ok, busted on the Mallard. I think I had a mental block because they can fly for real so I would need an aviary and I have 3 Rouens that look the same except they are bigger and a bit brighter (plus I can go to the fairground and see 1,000,000 Mallards every day.) But the Mallard is certainly a breed that Metzer has that I won't have. I can live with that because as it stands, I don't clip any wings and most of my ducks can fly 10 feet if they want to but not fly away

The Jumbo Pekin isn't really a breed. The "normal" Pekin (at Metzer's anyway) is a large drake bred to a medium sized, good egg bearing duck which should give a good all around Pekin (suitable for meat, eggs or pets). The Jumbo Pekin is a large drake bred to a large duck with size as the only goal. This is great if you want a meat duck because you will probably have a very large duck by 7 weeks. But because they are pushing the envelope in size for Mallard-based ducks, there is a very high likelihood of heart and leg problems once they reach their full potential size - not really a problem if they are sent to freezer camp at 7 weeks old, but they would not make a good bet for a pet or even an egg duck.

Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if they stopped selling Jumbo Pekins. They are now selling Grimaud Hybrids which are still Pekins, but they sound like a healthier version of the Jumbo Pekin. They reach 8.2 lbs at 7 weeks but are still good egg bearing ducks so they would be better for a meat farm that wanted to be self sustainable.

And my house calculations:

4 runners @ 2sq ft = 8
1 Pekin @ 5sq ft = 5
1 KC @ 3sq ft = 3
9 others at 4 sq ft = 36 (Buff, Rouen, Cayuga, WH, Swedish, White Crested)

Total = 52 sq. ft.
House = 6x8' = 48 sq. ft.

So I am actually 4 sq. ft short by calculations (perfect if Kaine spends the whole summer in jail). Now I watch my flock in the house and they have lots of room to stretch out and they mostly sleep since they are only in the house at night. So I don't anticipate any problems (although it it just another reason to get working on their super quack shack.) But this summer, we will be full up!

 

[Tevyes Dad]

Jumbo pekins are my favorite! I have 4 JB and 1 normal pekin (and other breeds of ducks) but one of my JB is double muscled so he is even bigger! He's as large as a Canadian goose! My giant duck DjQuack

Of course you popped this up while I was writing mine. I hope your JP's are fine. In things like I was saying, it is just probabilities (like Dobermans and hip dysplasia), many will do fine, but when you push the limits of a species, more problems tend to happen. We definitely need a picture of DjQuack - he sounds impressive!

 

[AxolotlLove]

Of course you popped this up while I was writing mine.  I hope your JP's are fine.  In things like I was saying, it is just probabilities (like Dobermans and hip dysplasia), many will do fine, but when you push the limits of a species, more problems tend to happen.  We definitely need a picture of DjQuack - he sounds impressive!

yes DJ Quack is fine and so are all the rest of my JPs very healthy ducks and have been for 3 years

The last one is not DJ that is Charm but the first one is