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

[Julie Birb]

EEEEEEEEE that is great. So cute.

 

[Tevyes Dad]

A week ago me and my girlfriend decided to adopt ourselves a Black Swedish duckling from a farm. He had just hatched right before we got there so he imprinted on the two of us very quickly. We named him Happie and this past week he has lived up to his namesake. We always planned on adopting another duckling so that Happie won't get lonely when we're not able to be around. So today we adopted a Blue Swedish duckling and decided to name him Tempest. We got Tempest from a pet store and he was with a batch of ducklings who we were told are 3-4 days old and were apparently not given as much water as they should while they were in transit to the pet store. We did our research and found that it should be fine to put them two together right away since Happie is barely a week old. The first problem is is that ever since we've introduced Happie to Tempest Happie has been pretty standoffish around him. It's sad because we think that since Tempest has been around other ducklings he is expecting Happie to watch over him because he follows Happie EVERYWHERE, but Happie is giving him the cold wing (ha!). The second problem is that Tempest isn't eating half as much as Happie was at his age, could that be because he is scared of Happie? Would it also be possible that Happie is afraid of Tempest since he is the first duck he has been around. Should we speperate then until a tempest gets a little bigger? Here is some pictures of the both of them and their size difference.

First, they are adorable.

As long as no one is getting beat up, I'd let them get used to each other. I brooded Runners and a Pekin together (2:1 weight ratio) and as long as there is no real bullying going on, it should be fine. (A peck here and there is normal.) If Happie was wisked away from all other ducks before his vision cleared, than he may have actually fully imprinted on you and your girlfriend as a human. That would be unfortunate because that would mean that he would KNOW he was the same as you and your girlfriend, human, and think Tempest was some other kind of weird bird animal different from himself. This may cause further problems as they pass puberty and Happie may try to vie with you to be with your girlfriend. Hopefully this is not the case. That having been said, there is no reason that in time Happie and Tempest can't be good friends, but it might not be the same as two ducks who both know they are ducks.

As far as Tempest's eating, the first question is, "Is he pooping normally?" If he was dehydrated on the way to the pet store, he may have gotten constipated. This can be serious in a duckling since if they can't poop, they can't take in more food. If he is pooping regularly, he may just not have kicked his metabolism into gear yet. Does he seem lethargic? If so, put a pinch of sugar in a shot glass of water and see if you can get him to drink it. Sometimes a duckling just needs a little kick of energy to get going. (This shouldn't be a regular thing, but once it shouldn't hurt and it may give him the energy he needs.)

I hope for the best and keep us up to date.

 

[RobzNCaps]

Thank you for your help, I dont know if it is considered bullying but sometimes Happie gets too excited when they either eat or drink and tries to eat the eat food or water off Tempest's beak. When this happens i just pull Happie out of the brooder or else Tempest wont eat or drink again until Happie leaves. He does seem to have warmed up to Tempest though, he lets him cuddle with him when they sleep now for example. I am pretty sure Happie has no idea that he is a duck though since the man how gave im to us said that he had just hatched about an hour before we got there and the only other contact he had with a duck before Tempest was when he was drying with one other duckling shortly before we bought him. I fear Tempest on the other hand does know he is da duck since eh was with about twenty other ducklings for at least two days before we got him. He seems to be better at doing what ive been calling "duck things" like jumping or swimming. Tempest seems to have no problem swimming and keeps his flippers kicking beneath his body in the water while Happie kinda kick his in a controlled flailing pattern also Happie will rarely try to jump but when he does it surprises me how high he can while Tempest jumps on things quite often and with little trouble. Im hoping that Tempest will help Happie with things like that and help him to relize that he is a duck.

Tempest has started pooping snd eating more. He seems to either not want to eat alot, prefers his food in water, or does nt like eatign around Happie for fear of being bullied. We bought some ducking electrolytes and put them in their water and that seemed to help, I know Happie enjoys it as well

 

[PearlTheDuck]

Hey, could anyone tell me if i have a blue swedish? I've been trying to figure out the breeds, I thought the grey and yellow is a fawn and white runner because they both stand tall but I don't know if it's tall enough to be a runner.

 

[QuackSpeak]

None of your ducklings look like a Blue Swedish, because they're not blue enough!

Most blue swedish ducklings are a silky gray/blue color, with no yellow in sight except for the bib. NOt sure what yours are, though...

 

[Ducks4us]

None of your ducklings look like a Blue Swedish, because they're not blue enough!   Most blue swedish ducklings are a silky gray/blue color, with no yellow in sight except for the bib. NOt sure what yours are, though... 

Blue Swedish ducklings can have alot of yellow. Some turn out a very light silvery color. Not show quality but still blue swedish none the less. Our last shipment of blue swedish at our feed store were very light colored

 

[MallardNight3]

So my blue Swedish has started picking on my two smaller mallards, any advice or tips to help get them to be nice or help them get along?

 

[Tevyes Dad]

So my blue Swedish has started picking on my two smaller mallards, any advice or tips to help get them to be nice or help them get along?

Be nice

Seriously, if they aren't harming each other, pecking order is very important to ducks so you should let them establish it. But if it is more than that where one might actually get hurt, you could put some kind of fence between them so they can see each other but the mallards won't get hurt. When we had Noir and Mystique brooding, the most common thing either of us would say (several times / day) from day 1 until they were about 4-5 weeks old was, "Quit pecking your sister in the head!"

 

[Batduck46]

Silly burds

 

[NHDuckMom]

We are having fun with our 3 ducklings that are 1 week old. We have a Black Swedish, a Cayuga and a Pekin. My daughter has been working on teaching them some tricks such as come, turn, and jump. Last night she even got them to learn to peck a drum pedal and pull the rope on a sailboat for a lettuce reward. I can't believe how quickly they learn. The Black Swedish seems pretty smart and catches on quickly.