Some duck questions

[ElizabethinNY]

Hi there,

I have been "gifted" with two little ducklings that are dramatically different in size and also, I think, in age. I think they are domestic ducks but I don't really know...suffice it to say that the person giving them to me wasn't very forthcoming with information. So now I have a bunch of questions.

How do I tell a wood duckling apart from a mallard duckling? Just in case they're not domestic...

How old do you think these guys are?

What kind of duckling IS this, anyway?

They love each other now and so are no longer separated, but I left them separated for a few days so the big guy didn't squish the little one.

I'm duck ignorant, but trying to learn. My sister says that you know you're a "Crazy Chicken Lady" when someone brings you some ducks, assuming you can take care of them, since you have a brooder full of chicks inside your house.

She also has a few more witticisms, like you know you're a crazy chicken lady when you keep trying to give your roosters to anyone who will listen.

Quite a card, isn't she!

 

[Ducklove334]

they both look like mallard, one looks to be a few days, maybe less, the other looks to be about 2 1/2 weeks, has the bigger one started to get feathers yet, it looks like some on the tail.

you should feed them NON-medicated chick starter.

uhhh, water, lots of water

and uh, injoy ther cuteness!

 

[Mojo Chick'n]

I believe that your older duck is a mallard, and the baby is a rouen - rouens look like mallards when mature, but will be a little bigger.

I just got four baby rouens at auction

they are so adorable.

meri

 

[ScoobyRoo]

They could possibly be rouen ducklings. If I remember correctly it depended on the stripes on the ahead (that goes across the eye) I noticed the older one has one stripe and the younger has two stripes. Again, I just read that in a post several months ago. Just don't know how much truth is into that. They are darling. One of my ducklings looked like them and it now looks like a swede mix. All black with a white chest and white spots on rear and below. I have four different ones myself. Pekin, Cayuga, khaki campbell and a swedish mix (I think). They house with my chickens and do just fine. They free range alot. Have fun!

 

[ElizabethinNY]

The big guy is just starting to get tail feathers and a few brown and black shoulder feathers, too.

They have some nice, non-medicated feed that's all for them. My fat little chickies didn't want to share, anyway. Ducks sure do make a MESS with their water and food! But they have such a good time and they're cute, so we forgive them.

They will live with the girls when they're older, but I'll have to make them some sort of pond. They swim in the bathtub for a few minutes a day now. Thanks for the opinions so far. I appreciate them.

 

[taraann81]

I agree with the prior posts, the young one looks like a rouen. It is hard to tell with the bigger one because of the cage wires. Do you have an age?

They are cute!

 

[ElizabethinNY]

Here's a newer and hopefully better photo.

Taraann, the person who gave me the big guy said he was a week and a half old, but I suspect him to be older. She also said that he was smaller than the palm of her hand...and unless she was hiding a giant hand somewhere when I picked him up, that wasn't true. She really wanted me to take him and was willing to tell me just about anything to get me to take him. She was college student in an apartment, and wouldn't really tell me how she ended up with him. The little guy was dumped off at my house a day earlier than the big guy and I got the big guy as a pal for little.

 

[ChickenToes]

Your big guy looks like he's a Mallard, the little one looks like a Rouen. The Mallard is more likely 3 weeks old or so.

 

[taraann81]

That is a cute pic. The little one is a Rouen and the big guy is probably a Mallard. Yes the big guy seems older than 1.5 weeks(it is hard to judge size in a picture). If he is as big as he looks, I would put him at 6 weeks or more, my mallards were born may 13th and don't look that big. SO who knows! I'll get a pic of my mallards and post them so you can decide about size

 

[taraann81]

My camera died. I took a pic but I can't post it until I get some new batteries. My mallard who was born May 13th looks much smaller than yours but has less feathering, also his beak appears much longer than your mallards. Your big guys beak seems much shorter and wider than mine. So back to square one. I thinks its a mallard but I don't really know!