Soo many things going on

[Caleigh]

Hi everyone, haven’t posted anything lately. We have been busy trying to get projects done around the farm.
Our Rouen and Hinny babies are huge and the hinnies are gorgeous. I will attach a pic from a few weeks ago.
We built our winter duck platform. Hoping it is big and warm enough. I wanted it attached to a dock for easy cleaning however i am worried about raccoons getting in there so we are putting it in the middle of the pond. We put foam on the ceiling between the floors. We still need to make the ramp to the second floor as well as the ramp for them to get out of the water
We had 4 baby muscovy’s hatch on Canada Day. Our friend took 2 of them. Unfortunately one went missing the other night so i picked up the other one any brought it back here. She has an injury on her back and she looks like she has a slight limp. I can’t feel any scabs or anything unusual on her leg so possibly a sprain? Is there anything i should put on her back? Pic attached.
We also have a young mallard that showed up and has decided to stay. I don’t mind if it stays but i am just wondering why it is staying. It looks young and is getting more and more comforabtable with me. Usually my ducks chase any wild ducks off the pond but they have let this one stay which i also find strange. I am wondering if he got separated from his family or if they died. How long do babies stay with their family?
I hope everyone is having a great summer.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Precious pictures great looking duck house too. As for the wound keep it clean and the flies off of it or you’ll be dealing with maggots. You can use some kind of antibiotic ointment on it or spray.

 

[Caleigh]

Precious pictures great looking duck house too. As for the wound keep it clean and the flies off of it or you’ll be dealing with maggots. You can use some kind of antibiotic ointment on it or spray.

I was going to put bagbalm on it which is a cream for cows utters but i wasn’t sure what it toxic to ducks. She/he keeps trying to gently groom that area. I have been watching for flies and haven’t seen any on it. I will put some bagbalm on it today.
When will i be able to tell if these guys are male or female? I have assumed that the smaller grey ones (little jane and tabitha) are females and the larger one (buttercup) is male but i really have no idea.
I am quite proud of our duck platform. I think it is our best project yet. I am a little disappointed about not having it attached to a dock but i think it is much safer for the ducks this way.
I think my baby muscovy’s will stay in their little shed for the winter. They already go in there at night and usually put themselves to bed around 7. Do you think 3 of them will be able to stay warm enough or should i put their heat lamp on at night? This will be my first winter with ducks and i have read different things about keeping them warm. The others i think are ok. The adults we got are used to living outside...they didn’t come from the best situation and survived so with the duck platform be built i think they will be warm and toasty but not sure about my babies. The shed is solid. It has a Cement pad and we put in a vent and a hole for the heat lamp to go through so their is airflow but it has solid walls and is not drafty at all.

I am enjoying the ducks so much. I do see a huge difference between the muscovy’s and the rouens. The rouens have little interest in me besides for food but the muscovy’s love being patted and even my semi wild ones like to hang out with me and are getting friendlier all the time but the rouens don’t care at all even the babies we hand rasised only want to come for food. They are a much flightier bird i find. We raised 4 rouen babies and 4 muscovy babies. They were raised the same way infact the rouens had more attention but have always been more flighty. Afraid of everything but the muscovy’s don’t care about anything.
I always have too much to say

 

[NoahSully]

You said the mallard was a he? If you can tell it's a drake, then I would say yes, it is old enough to leave mom.

 

[Caleigh]

You said the mallard was a he? If you can tell it's a drake, then I would say yes, it is old enough to leave mom.

The mallard still has female colouring...i think i read that all rouens look female until they have their first molt and then they get their male colours so i am guessing it is the same with mallards? The only reason i say it is a he is because it’s beak is not black but again i am going by what i have learned about the rouens. I will try and get a picture of it and post it. It is a cute little thing and seems to have just fit right it which is odd since our one female rouen hates all new comers but she leaves this one alone. She has seen my muscovy babies from the beginning and still hates them but doesn’t even look at this one.

 

[CayugaJana]

I bet the mallard has similar enough coloring that they have accepted it as part of the flock. That’s so neat it’s decided to make your pond it’s home!

The poor baby with the wound. I had one with a wound like that and I put neosporin on it to keep the skin protected and heal faster.

Your ducklings should be fine in the winter. They should be fully feathered by then yes? I put a heat lamp on days we had a foot of snow and 0 degrees. But I know some don’t do that at all.

You should be proud of their home! That’s totally awesome! Can you pull it back to the dock if you want to clean it or get eggs?

 

[CayugaJana]

Also, what does the mallard sound like? You should be able to tell by sound if it’s a boy or girl.

 

[Miss Lydia]

That’s the best way to tell sex by voice once they are around 12 weeks old. Just wanted to say even though your awesome house is in the middle of the pond doesn’t mean predators won’t be able to get to your ducks most will swim for duck dinner. Have your adults already been sleeping on the platform and in the house?ducks will also sleep along the banks of the pond which makes them prime targets. Does your pond freeze over in dead of winter?

 

[MissChick@dee]

Beautiful children. Adorable ducks. Awesome platform floatie-duck house. I justa look and dream....sigh. Living the life

 

[Caleigh]

That’s the best way to tell sex by voice once they are around 12 weeks old. Just wanted to say even though your awesome house is in the middle of the pond doesn’t mean predators won’t be able to get to your ducks most will swim for duck dinner. Have your adults already been sleeping on the platform and in the house?ducks will also sleep along the banks of the pond which makes them prime targets. Does your pond freeze over in dead of winter?

We have had our ducks since easter weekend and so far have only lost 1 and it wasn’t because of a predator. We found her drowned in the pond with no marks so we think she drowned while mating. We have a floating platform out there now but it isn’t as heavy duty and warm for the winter. The ducks always use it. They only sleep on the banks in the day time. At night they are all on the platform. Our pond is not very deep and it’s got a clay bottom and is like quick sand so i don’t know if anything would attempt to swim to the platform. They haven’t yet.
Our pond never freezes. We have an artisan well so there is always running water. The only thing that freezes is around the very edge and that is only on extremely cold days.
I haven’t heard the mallard make one noise. Not one. I grabbed these couple pics. They aren’t very good but the best i could get