The Duck Diaries.

[bydhatch]

I am not sure what topic to put my "duck diary" under but "Ducks" does seem to make sense. Haha!
I thought it would be neat to begin a thread to keep track of my growing welsh harlequin ducklings. I will post updates and pictures and you all are more than welcome to join in! Enjoy!

 

[bydhatch]

Welcome Home
We picked up our two ducklings at the post office last Wesnesday (August 10th) at 6:30AM. We were so worried about them and were overjoyed to find two healthy, bouncy ducks in our box. Bringing them home and getting them into the brooder was nerve-racking. They chirped so loud and almost strained to chirp in the car and almost jumped out of the box when we opened it. Getting ahold of them was another challenge. Taking off their leg bands proved stressful, yet easy when it came down to it. (They were asleep when we crept in! )
Fast forward two days- today is only the second full day we have had the ducklings and absoultely adore them! (This is our first time raising ducks and plan to keep them as outdoor pets once they are old enough.) They both have such distinct personalities already. Sadie, our female, is an inquisitive, attention seeking leader. While, Skipper, our male, is a bit skittish and shy. He prefers to follow Sadie. But, once you break through his shell (tehe) he will crawl into your hand and snuggle. They allow us to pet them and will crawl into our hands when they feel it is time to snuggle while in the brooder and will approach us when we take them onto our convered deck for a bit. Such a long way since we picked them up. Picking them up to move them has been so tricky! However, today we discovered a trick!! The big reason for the squirming and frantic chirp is their being seperated! When picked up at the same time and when they can see each other it is all fine! Easy even!
Fun bits:
They both LOVE water. Sure, they are ducks but, I had heard some ducks weren't big fans. These babies are! They tried to swim in half an inch of water. This resulted in only an army crawl! Hahahaha!
Sadie loves bananas, Skipper...ehhh not so much. When it comes to lettuce in water, two fans here!
I hope you enjoyed and could learn something from my first update! I hope to update the thread every couple days or as something fun happens!

 

[AnjKar n Ducks]

We picked up our two ducklings at the post office last Wesnesday (August 10th) at 6:30AM. We were so worried about them and were overjoyed to find two healthy, bouncy ducks in our box. Bringing them home and getting them into the brooder was nerve-racking. They chirped so loud and almost strained to chirp in the car and almost jumped out of the box when we opened it. Getting ahold of them was another challenge. Taking off their leg bands proved stressful, yet easy when it came down to it. (They were asleep when we crept in! )
Fast forward two days- today is only the second full day we have had the ducklings and absoultely adore them! (This is our first time raising ducks and plan to keep them as outdoor pets once they are old enough.) They both have such distinct personalities already. Sadie, our female, is an inquisitive, attention seeking leader. While, Skipper, our male, is a bit skittish and shy. He prefers to follow Sadie. But, once you break through his shell (tehe) he will crawl into your hand and snuggle. They allow us to pet them and will crawl into our hands when they feel it is time to snuggle while in the brooder and will approach us when we take them onto our convered deck for a bit. Such a long way since we picked them up. Picking them up to move them has been so tricky! However, today we discovered a trick!! The big reason for the squirming and frantic chirp is their being seperated! When picked up at the same time and when they can see each other it is all fine! Easy even!
Fun bits:
They both LOVE water. Sure, they are ducks but, I had heard some ducks weren't big fans. These babies are! They tried to swim in half an inch of water. This resulted in only an army crawl! Hahahaha!
Sadie loves bananas, Skipper...ehhh not so much. When it comes to lettuce in water, two fans here!
I hope you enjoyed and could learn something from my first update! I hope to update the thread every couple days or as something fun happens!

How sweet!

 

[bydhatch]

About a week later...
Sadie and Skipper are doing well. This past week has been full of new adventures: Trips to the grass, new toys, and deeper pools. They have become lap sitters quite easily and I love it! After bath time, when they are sleepy, and sometimes just because they will pull up into our laps. Sadie allows petting and touching almost anywhere where Skipper might let you pet his chest.
They are great foragers. They love the grass and digging in deep! Also, as ducks would, they love water. They already preen great and can't miss bath/swim time.
The ducky diaper has proven a challenge. We started with an idea from a thread on here and have been modifying our diaper as we go. Ducky diaper 3.0 seems to be perfect for Sadie, while Skipper disagrees. Getting it on is full of squirms...then comes the sideways walking. This morning, with 3.0, was MUCH better. Sadie got it in rather easily and kept it on for almost 20 minutes before we took it off. Skipper had it on for about 10, once we finally got it on, and laid around.
Tomorrow, they are two weeks old and will move from the brooder into a pack n play. The brooder is a bit small for them and extra heat is no longer necessary. I can't wait to see what they think!
This week in a couple pictures:

 

[bydhatch]

Fast Growers
Wow! Everyone said ducklings grow fast...and they mean it.
Looking back at pictures from less than two weeks ago and the change is crazy. Their bills are so different and they are starting to get real feathers! Too cute.
On another note, they are turning into quite the little cuddle bugs. Sadie will yell and "giraffe neck" it to be picked up and both seem to enjoy being held, touched, and sitting in laps (at certain ones more than others for Skipper).
Other cute notes:
Today, they both seem to almost honk and our at times. Both new sounds.
The swimming water deepens, and treat opportunities have widened. Both making for lots of fun.

 

[bydhatch]

Big Kid Feathers
Who ever said you can only imprint the first three days....no.
Sadie and Skipper are now 3 weeks old and are closer than ever. I just got done holding them as they got lonely and were yelling. That says a lot.
We have started to teach basic commands like "come" and their names. I feel they have started to understand both.
Sadie and Skip's favorite time of day is, no doubt, swim time. They love anything that has to do with the water. I transitioned them to their kiddie pool and slowly filled it more. Today, it was completely full. They swam-tip toed through the water outside for a good hour.
They have both started to get their "big kid" feathers. And are losing down. Watching them transition and grow has been a lot of fun! I look forward to seeing them become the big welshies!
We have worked through a few problems of late...think an upset ducky tummy. We switched foods and it seemed to affect them. We switched to another food and they seem much better. Sadly, it was a more expensive food. Spoiled ducks!

 

[lovemy mallards]

They are so cute! I have 8 ducks and love them all.. enjoy them cuties

 

[bydhatch]

2 weeks later
It's been 2 weeks since I last updated and so much, yet so little has happened.
To start, Sadie and Skipper are much bigger and are enjoying much more outdoor time. A covered deck and backyard run have been the primary location on residence of late. At night however, they are indoors.
We have been taking them out of the pen as well. They follow us so well and listen when we tell them to "come." Watching them run back and forth is hilarious and adorable.
We are hoping their enclosure construction will begin shortly so they may transition outside.
They still are lap ducks and tolerate being picked up, held, etc. Skipper is still unsure about the holding but is doing okay.
Duck diapers have been made...again, as they grew out of the old ones. After many errors, we have made a one from fabric and a dog harness. The D-ring on the harness should allow us to leash them as well.
Now having ducks for a month I can safely say I LOVE them. They are much better than I ever expected they could be!
A little over one month:

One month:

 

[lovemy mallards]

2 weeks later
It's been 2 weeks since I last updated and so much, yet so little has happened.
To start, Sadie and Skipper are much bigger and are enjoying much more outdoor time. A covered deck and backyard run have been the primary location on residence of late. At night however, they are indoors.
We have been taking them out of the pen as well. They follow us so well and listen when we tell them to "come." Watching them run back and forth is hilarious and adorable.
We are hoping their enclosure construction will begin shortly so they may transition outside.
They still are lap ducks and tolerate being picked up, held, etc. Skipper is still unsure about the holding but is doing okay.
Duck diapers have been made...again, as they grew out of the old ones. After many errors, we have made a one from fabric and a dog harness. The D-ring on the harness should allow us to leash them as well.
Now having ducks for a month I can safely say I LOVE them. They are much better than I ever expected they could be!
A little over one month:

One month:

t
They are so cute

 

[bydhatch]

Almost a month later...
It's been so long since I updated BYDC on my ducks! So much has happened! I will try to cover as much as possible without making this too long.
First, the ducks have been outside for a couple weeks now. They are doing great and our enclosure has been wonderful! I will include a picture of that. Feel free to ask anything regarding the enclosure. They spend the night in the enclosure and during the day spend time in the yard and kiddie pool.
They, themselves, are still doing great! Such sweet ducks! I had never expected ducks to be so sweet and loving. They yell every time they hear us open the door and come running and let us pet them and pick them up. We had not put diapers on them for quite some time however, we just received our Flight Quarters diapers. They are doing okay with them but we are still adjusting. I can't forget about molt! After going through the fall molt and big kid molt at the same time, Sadie and Skip look so much different and so pretty! Skipper'a green head is gorgeous!
Other than the new living arrangement and diapering and behavior, I suppose their isn't any other major news regarding sadie and skipper.
As always, if anyone has any questions regarding my ducks feel free to ask!