SWEDISH Duck Thread!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[RacerWife7]

They are looking pretty spiffy Racerwife! Your Raspberry looks like my Falco and your mallard looks very sweet.

Thanks! I simply cannot believe how much in love I am with my ducks! I just got home. Was worried about them ALL week long... both me and my 8 year old. Both my Swedes got all their wing feathers and dropped most of their remaining down while I was gone. Amazing to me how fast they grow!

Raspberry is my largest. Peepers is the smallest. Spot is in between the two. She's almost ALL gray other than a small couple of spots on her chest. I have to get a good pic of her.

 

[RoosterThigh]

Thanks! I simply cannot believe how much in love I am with my ducks! I just got home. Was worried about them ALL week long... both me and my 8 year old. Both my Swedes got all their wing feathers and dropped most of their remaining down while I was gone. Amazing to me how fast they grow!

Raspberry is my largest. Peepers is the smallest. Spot is in between the two. She's almost ALL gray other than a small couple of spots on her chest. I have to get a good pic of her.

Is Spot your Swede duck? I would like to see her pic. It is amazing to me also how fast they grow, they seem grown to me, but I would think they have a bit to go. I've never had ducks before so I'm not sure. Falco, my drake will go after my chickens if they are near. Fiona doesn't bother with the chickens. I wish he wouldn't either. Hopefully he won't ever hurt one.

 

[RacerWife7]

Is Spot your Swede duck? I would like to see her pic. It is amazing to me also how fast they grow, they seem grown to me, but I would think they have a bit to go. I've never had ducks before so I'm not sure. Falco, my drake will go after my chickens if they are near. Fiona doesn't bother with the chickens. I wish he wouldn't either. Hopefully he won't ever hurt one.

This is Spot. She's almost all gray except for a couple of little white spots on her chest. When she was younger, she had black spots on her back and that's really how she got her name. **My boys named the Swedes. She's the most verbal of the 3 of them. And in the past week, her 'peep' has gotten a lot more like a 'quack'. If they're hungry, she really makes a racket the second she sees me. LOL!


Here's another of Raspberry. He has a mottled chest and is a bit bigger than Spot. Both Raspberry and Spot are quite a bit bigger than Peepers. I've been watching to see if there's any bullying going on. But, thankfully, so far everyone's been okay. Since I THINK I have 2 ducks and 1 drake, I guess that's probably a good combo.

Yeah... I guess they do have a while to go before they're fully grown. But, the transformation they've undergone in just 6 weeks is really amazing. [Note: these are my first ducks, as well.]

My DH and I are getting ready to 'build' a bigger space in our yard for them. Right now, they're housed in a pretty small coop. I want an actual pond/pool for them and more space to move around. I think my biggest concern is Peepers. She'll fly, for sure, and she's been doing a lot of wing flapping lately inside the coop. I have not decided if I should clip her wings or just let her fly in and out, at will. Part of me wants to let her fly. But, the Mama part of me is afraid she won't come back. ...Especially since she was my first duckling and she chose ME. She walked into my shop at work and my DH brought her home. She imprinted on me right off the bat and I fell in love with her. I adopted my Swedes to keep her company!

 

[super coop]

I have 6 Swedish ducks at what age can they be sexed?? Mine are now 5 weeks I have one that is developing the quaking sound.. does that mean the remaining 5 are boys?? Or is it still to early to tell.. They grow so fast!!! Thanks

 

[RacerWife7]

I have 6 Swedish ducks at what age can they be sexed?? Mine are now 5 weeks I have one that is developing the quaking sound.. does that mean the remaining 5 are boys?? Or is it still to early to tell.. They grow so fast!!! Thanks

There are some sexing videos floating around. If you search the forums, you'll find it. I'm totally guessing at what my Swedes are. Spot has been the most talkative all along. Raspberry is on the quiet side with barely a raspy "peep" to his voice. I've read here that, in many cases, you can tell by their voices. I have also read that in Swedish Blues, the drakes tend to have a darker or black head and a white bib whereas the ducks or hens have lighter heads than the males. Raspberry's head is really black. Spot's is dark gray like the rest of her. Plus, Raspberry has that mottled bib that Spot doesn't seem to have much of (she just has 2 little spots in her chest). So, based on all of that, I'm guessing that my Raspberry is a drake and Spot is a duck. Note: I couldn't tell the true color of their heads until just this past week when their downy feathers finally fell out of their heads.

 

[RoosterThigh]

There are some sexing videos floating around. If you search the forums, you'll find it. I'm totally guessing at what my Swedes are. Spot has been the most talkative all along. Raspberry is on the quiet side with barely a raspy "peep" to his voice. I've read here that, in many cases, you can tell by their voices. I have also read that in Swedish Blues, the drakes tend to have a darker or black head and a white bib whereas the ducks or hens have lighter heads than the males. Raspberry's head is really black. Spot's is dark gray like the rest of her. Plus, Raspberry has that mottled bib that Spot doesn't seem to have much of (she just has 2 little spots in her chest). So, based on all of that, I'm guessing that my Raspberry is a drake and Spot is a duck. Note: I couldn't tell the true color of their heads until just this past week when their downy feathers finally fell out of their heads.

That is interesting. I bought my two swedes from McMurray and I bought them already sexed (1 drake, 1 duck) and they were tagged different colors on their legs so I knew exactly which one was which. Mine are probably 7 weeks old today and their heads are the same color and my ducks chest has quite a bit of a yellow on her bib and so does my drake. Falco has creamish wing feathers on the ends of his wings and Fiona doesn't and she has some black tips on hers. Her legs are more black with yellow while his are more yellow with some black. Falco whistles and Fiona quacks and she does it a lot when she is eating something she really likes. They love when I throw dried meal worms in their tote that I have filled with water, lol. They go nuts over those.

They like to get in my seasonal creek which has been doing well this year because we have had so much rain. Fiona will be eating along the edges and she will occasionally stand and do some kind of digging movement in the water, I assume to stir something up she is liking. But I have yet to see Falco do this. I have had them around the pond but they seem scared of it. We actually got in there and swam trying to get them to go and they did come out (eventually) and had a good time diving. I could feel them going clear down to my feet, so they were diving well as I couldn't touch bottom. But they still won't do these things on their own. They will stay in the same place for hours unless I go to be with them. I have seen them go into their area and eat, but that's it. For the most part they like to lay on the concrete where the chicken coop is.

Racerwife, I don't think your Peepers would leave you since she has imprinted on you and probably now your two Swedes. She may fly but I would think she would stick around to where her family is. The one thing I wished I would have done now on hindsight is to have gotten 2 ducks hens instead of 1. I imagine she is going to be worn out, so come next spring I will probably get another one.

 

[RacerWife7]

I hope she sticks around. But, I guess I don't want to assume that she will and get disappointed. I'd rather be delighted that she keeps coming back.

Sexing ducks is such a crazy thing. I guess if you sex them right after they're born, it's a lot easier. But, as is the case with my adoption of Spot & Raspberry, I wasn't around when they were born. They were a week old when I adopted them. I probably could've sexed Peepers when I got her because she was only about a day old when she waddled into my shop following my techs around. But, I didn't know about sexing them at that stage. I found out later. Besides, I think I'd be afraid to do it myself.

 

[RacerWife7]

My babies. Peepers, my mallard, at the top. Raspberry with the speckled bib in the middle. And little Miss Spot at the bottom. . They're all about 8 weeks old now.

 

[RoosterThigh]

My babies. Peepers, my mallard, at the top. Raspberry with the speckled bib in the middle. And little Miss Spot at the bottom. . They're all about 8 weeks old now.

Awww! That's a very cute set-up you have going there. Is that what they sleep in? I take it you let them out since you are afraid Peepers might fly away?

 

[RacerWife7]

Yes. This is what they stay in, for now. We need some wood to build the more open space we've been planning. I AM afraid Peepers will fly away. But, since I really don't want to clip her wings, we are going to take that chance. Maybe she'll stay. Maybe she won't. I hope she's does.