Starting two clutches with broody ducks!

[Kbduckmom]

Precious picture! ❤ What are you going to do with all those ducklings? That’s a mess of them lol

We plan to keep some of the females and sell the rest. Our plan has been to cull the drakes, but we’re going to try to rehome as many as possible with the excess females.

 

[Kbduckmom]

We’re doing good so far. Our little guy, we named him Sunny, did well for a day or two, but then we think he succumbed to infection from his birth wounds. It was so sad. A couple days ago, one bit a bee in a clover patch and didn’t make it. We tried all we could to save it, but it didn’t make it. The beak was completely swollen and red, it was so sad.

So, we’re down to 12 babies and they’re all doing really well. We keep close watch on them on runs outside the pen. They’re becoming more independent and growing fast. One has a limp, but it’s become hard to tell which one because it is bigger and sometimes faster than all the rest. We don’t know if the leg was injured or if it was born with it that way. I will say, Twoyo favors her yellow ducklings. She pecks gently at everyone to keep them in line, but more so to the darker ducklings. Next time I do this, I’ll try to only sneak eggs under the mommas that will have similar coloring to the rest of her brood, although it hasn’t been a huge problem.
We keep a close eye when all the ducklings swim with her because she becomes aggressive in the water. Anyone else experience that? They’re learning to steer clear of her while swimming.

Daisy has a week left before hatch day. I’m wanting to candle the eggs properly to help reduce her load and prevent explosions if there are ones that aren’t viable under her. Any advice there would be welcome. She’s been diligent with her nest, even though Twoyo has chased her off or threatened her a number of times. We’ve penned her off a bit to keep Twoyo out. She’s much quieter when she takes her breaks and I look forward to seeing her mothering style. She’s always been one to take smaller ducks “under her wing.”

 

[Kbduckmom]

Our 12 ducklings are doing well and growing every day. They seemed to have learned that bees are a bad idea. I don’t see them chasing them anymore, though we do find a stinger on an occasional beak. I’m noticing a color difference in their beaks, between the purple/pinkish and the orange. Being buffs, I’m thinking the purple beaks are female and the orange are male, though the coloring isn’t totally clear yet. I also notice a slight raspiness in the beeping of some and clarity in others. Just crazy curious about which are which. I’ll be patient though

Twoyo is being a good mother. It took her a few days to adjust, but she’s attentive when needed and let’s them roam on their own a lot, teaching them to hunt for grubs and eat clover leaves.

Our bigger ducks have adjusted pretty well also. The beep-beeps know to steer clear of them and get away quick when needed. We’re now letting them free range most of the day unless we spot a curious hawk.

Today was my estimated hatch date for Daisy. I looked back on my calendar or egg tracking and realized I may be a day or two, maybe even three off. Unfortunately, I found a bloody egg shell about 10 feet from her and later found the dead duckling another distance from that. I doubt it hatched on its own and I think it was snatched. I’m not sure what happened and I sincerely hope it wasn’t Daisy or any of the other ducks. I’ve penned her off from everyone else, just to be safe. The duckling was about fully developed without the yolk absorbed, so I know we’re very close but I’m very sad to have lost such a beautiful baby. I also found a rotten one in the nest. It was darker than the rest, almost grey, and the insides seemed to slosh around when I candled it. I went to bury it and cracked it open. Sure enough, nasty greenish goo spilled out. With those two, she’s down to 18 eggs. I’m hoping all goes well with the hatch. She’s much more apprehensive of humans, so I’m not sure we’ll be able to intervene as much as we did with Twoyo. Wish us luck!

 

[Kbduckmom]

Hatch day was yesterday. Here they are near the end of day one:

Today all but 5 of the 18 eggs left have hatched with one pushing through as I type. Here they are today:

Daisy seems to be a much gentler mom with her ducklings. To help guide them, she gently scoops them with her beak as opposed to Twoyo, a young Buff, who would peck at their chest or back. She also doesn’t seem anxious to leave the nest. I’m going to check periodically on the hatching one today to make sure all goes well. So far Daisy seems to be a great momma

 

[Kbduckmom]

Daisy’s count today is 13. Originally, 14 hatched. One rotten, two disappeared (no clue where, could also have been rotten), two didn’t hatch, one was stollen and broken before it hatched, and we lost one baby that got stuck .

I’ve been really impressed with Daisy’s mothering. She is extremely attentive to her babies. She walks at a slow pace with them around the yard, checks on ones that are laying down or making more noise, snatches them out of the water if they struggle to get out, shows them where to find food and water, and is ever vigilant in watching for predators (including us). She quacks softly as they’re walking and will squawk loudly when a predator is spotted. Her babies are also quiet unless they are in trouble of some kind. I don’t worry as much about her babies because I know she’s keeping a close eye.

Twoyo was not this way and seemed constantly torn between playing with her buddies and taking care of her babies. She would rush from one place to another, quacking loudly for her babies to keep up. As a result, her babies made a lot of noise trying to find her. Now, Twoyo mostly hangs out with the big ducks and her babies keep to themselves. I wonder if it’s because she’s only a year old or if it’s her breed. Daisy is 3, and I feel like she’s mothered a brood before.

One hard part is that Daisy’s never been too trusting of humans, so interfering when one is stuck or stung by a bee is asking for a full on attack. I hold her down when I need to so she doesn’t hurt herself while defending her babies. In future hatching plans, I’ll be sure to make an extra effort to win over our prospective mothers before starting.

I plan to write just one more post to put together the things I thought were helpful and things I felt posed a problem in my experience. Thanks for reading and all your comments!

 

[Kbduckmom]

Wrapping up. This has been a great experience and I’ve learned a lot. I hope to pass on what I’ve learned to others wanting to try this.

As a side note, Twoyo, our Buff, has started laying again. We’ve discovered 6 eggs of hers in the last 2 days. I had no clue they could start laying again so early.

Things that were helpful:

• Having a 1 to 1 ratio with drakes
• Separating drakes (at least at first)
• Having areas that are well covered and dry for free range ducks (row of juniper trees near the fence)
• Leaving nests alone for at least 4 days at a time
• Keeping non-broodies from laying near or in nests
• Researching ducks for mothering skills
• Setting up a pen around broody girl a few days before anticipated hatch day
• Staying hands off for less trusting ducks

Things that hindered good results:

• Moving nest
• Having nest near a lot of human traffic
• Offering too many eggs at once after she moves her nest
• Too much commotion on hatch day
• Untrusting mother duck
• Younger mother duck
• Having a “kiddie pool” in the nest area (inch deep is plenty for tiny babies)
• Letting babies free roam during midday (bees are most active then and we have lots of clover)

Things I may try in the future:

• Penning both females together to encourage broody buddies
• Develop greater trust with the potential mothers (one was trusting, the other not)
• Start with older females

Overall, both our young Buff and our older Cayuga have done well to brood and raise their babies. Our Cayuga seems to be much better at caring for her young and I’ve been able to be much more hands off. Our Buff trusts me more, but we raised her from a duckling and she was always our friendliest duck.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Aww what precious ducklings. Thank you for posting and updating your experience. It's sure a blessing to see a good mama nurturing her ducklings.