The Duck Thread

[JadeComputerGal]

Thanks all I'm glad you enjoy them!

Willow and Shane were peeking at each other through the hole under his arm. He and Willow have a pretty special bond and me and Wobbles do too. They know their names very well and when I call Wobbles I always say Wobble dobble duck in a weird baby voice lol and he comes running over making sweet sounds and wiggling his butt. So cute. I can't stand it.

Shane enjoys all of our animals as much as I do. He often says the ducks are just the best things ever. He goes out and says good morning as I am still dragging my carcase out of my warm bed LOL! He will feed them if he has to get to work but if not he waits until I come out because we let them out to roam for a bit and it is easier to herd them when they see a full bowl of food haha.


One more Willow and Wobbles with dad. These two ducks are just awesome.

That is so sweet, and you and I are both incredibly blessed with our hubby thing. I know a lot of others here are as well. BYC is a very pleasant break from all of the insanity of other peoples lives where nothing in their relationships ever goes right. Maybe they should all get ducks.

 

[Pyxis]

Hi all, sorry to not be posting much, work is crazy here as we are heading into the busy season and I'm training the seasonal help. Sorry if I missed anything important!

Ravens broke into Sugar's nest again I feel bad for her, two tries this year and nothing to show for it. And she's a pekin, too! She wasn't 'supposed' to try at all. So if she tries it again, I'm going to have to close her up all day except to let her out when I'm in yard for her daily break, or she'll keep losing her eggs, poor girl. I think I'm going to have to toss some of her eggs in my 'bator myself. It's awful late for it but I really need more females since the WH boys don't have any girlfriends until I can order from Holderread in the spring and raise them some. I could also jsut order some pekins from Ideal, but I don't know if I want ducklings shipping to me in VT at the end of October, which is the earliest date they have them available. Better to hatch my own, I think.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Thanks all I'm glad you enjoy them!

Willow and Shane were peeking at each other through the hole under his arm. He and Willow have a pretty special bond and me and Wobbles do too. They know their names very well and when I call Wobbles I always say Wobble dobble duck in a weird baby voice lol and he comes running over making sweet sounds and wiggling his butt. So cute. I can't stand it.

Shane enjoys all of our animals as much as I do. He often says the ducks are just the best things ever. He goes out and says good morning as I am still dragging my carcase out of my warm bed LOL! He will feed them if he has to get to work but if not he waits until I come out because we let them out to roam for a bit and it is easier to herd them when they see a full bowl of food haha.


One more Willow and Wobbles with dad. These two ducks are just awesome.

Such a sweet pic.. Muscovy's are the sweetest aren't they. i love those faces on your Willow and Wobbles.

 

[slordaz]

I'd say pop a couple ravens, just like with chickens if they find and easy meal they will keep doing it

 

[Julie Birb]

They usually don't quack at just being picked up. That's why I have to restrain them to make them uncomfortable enough to quack. I usually put my hands all the way around them so they can't flap around, then I hold them out away from my body. That usually gets them to make whatever noise they're going to make because most ducks hate for their feet to dangle. It makes them feel insecure when they don't have solid footing.

Then that explains why they paddle their feet or legs so furiously. I always wondered why they did that. I just about dropped my friend's Pekin when she did that. And given her size compared to a Call's she was hard to hang onto.

 

[Julie Birb]

LOL. Yeah, I really love all this stuff about how ducks will eat all your weeds. I don't think my ducks would know a weed if they tripped over one.

Heehee, how cute. They'd be oblivious. Sweet little things.

 

[Julie Birb]

Thanks all I'm glad you enjoy them!

Willow and Shane were peeking at each other through the hole under his arm. He and Willow have a pretty special bond and me and Wobbles do too. They know their names very well and when I call Wobbles I always say Wobble dobble duck in a weird baby voice lol and he comes running over making sweet sounds and wiggling his butt. So cute. I can't stand it.

Shane enjoys all of our animals as much as I do. He often says the ducks are just the best things ever. He goes out and says good morning as I am still dragging my carcase out of my warm bed LOL! He will feed them if he has to get to work but if not he waits until I come out because we let them out to roam for a bit and it is easier to herd them when they see a full bowl of food haha.


One more Willow and Wobbles with dad. These two ducks are just awesome.

Awe, so sweet. You guys are so lucky. Especially when Wobbles responds to you when you call his name. He and Willow are absolutely precious. Such nice and gentle webs of burd they are. And their faces are too much. I always enjoy your pictures. Your comment about dragging your carcass out of bed made me laugh.

 

[WVduckchick]

Egg laying question(s):

1. My pekin began laying eggs about two months ago. After laying about ten eggs, I thought that she had stopped.... but then I found what is definitely one of her eggs sitting in the hollow part of a concrete block. Haha.. I know pekins like to lay their eggs all over the place, but where on earth do you think I should look?! She's free range, so they could be absolutely anywhere... Is there any way to encourage her to lay them at least sort of in one spot?

2. This one may be a stupid question... My runner / cayuga mix is about 6 months old. I haven't seen a single egg from her. She has a drake that's the same age as her. I've looked absolutely everywhere and I can't find any eggs. Do you think she's just not laying yet, even though her pekin counterpart that's the same age began laying almost two months ago? Could she have made a nest somewhere that I can't find? Is there any possibility / risk that the eggs will hatch even though she's put away at night? We aren't home for ten hours of the day and she often is somewhere that we can't see her when we ARE home, and she takes the drake with her.... I ask because I've seen a lot of people say that they were surprised with ducklings and I can't imagine that all of those people let their ducks just wander all night long...

My Swedish duck has been laying for about a month. She seems to pick one spot, lay there for about a week, then she picks a new spot. She's on her 4th spot. I think I found her first egg on 9/2, and today being 9/29, I think she has only skipped 4 days. About every 6th-7th day, she will skip. And I think that's about the time she moves to a new spot. They are always in a pen, about 50' x 50', so they aren't that hard to find.

My chickens, on the other hand, free range all day, and put themselves away at night with an automatic coop door. I have 8 hens and some days I will get 8 eggs, but lately, I have mostly been getting 7. Always in the coop, all but 1 in the nest boxes (the 1 out open in the coop, silly bird) I think one is laying somewhere else, but I have been unable to locate a spot. A while back, I noticed a chicken under a tarp, on a brush-hog. A couple weeks later, I looked under there and found 5 eggs. But since I removed those, there have been no eggs there. But I try looking in spots that would give them cover, like it did under that tarp. Any other suggestion on what types of places they like to find to lay would be awesome!

 

[Pyxis]

I'd say pop a couple ravens, just like with chickens if they find and easy meal they will keep doing it

I think this was for me, so I'll answer

I actually like the ravens. They keep hawks and other birds of prey away by mobbing them and driving them off. They never cause any harm except in this case they keep breaking into the duck's nest because she's nesting somewhere where it's easy for them to fly in and take the eggs. I'd rather just keep her enclosed than kill the ravens. A little more hassle, but totally worth the predator protection!

 

[caesargirl]

@pyxis have you ordered from Holderreads before? I was given 2 WH males and was thinking of ordering from them for next spring....

I'm sorry about Sugars nest. I was sooo happy when Big Momma built her first nest and started sitting. (She's a jumbo pekin) My Cayugas ate her eggs one day...