The Duck Thread

[DuckGirl77]

Hello all! I've been buuuuuuusy! I took in another retired show rabbit. A Dutch, who is such a beautiful big eyed girl. My ducks are doing well, the males are still living in the orchard, instead of their pen and by the pond...

the ladies are getting SO big! They don't even eat baby food anymore. I miss my lings. Next year I'm getting 3 more Quackers, but they will be juvenile calls. Hope everyone else's ducks are well!

Hey, Axie! Yeah, ducks grow so fast!

Well the neighbor's ducks came over today (two pekins, a male and female) and I usually don't mind them visiting even though they eat my food but the male today kept trying to forcibly mate with Sugar, who is broody and wants none of it. Poor Hershey was trying to fight him off but he's a welshie and the pekin male is much bigger than him. So the first time I just walked over and knocked the male off. The second time I actually lifted him off her, carried him back towards the neighbor's place, and set him down. He came back and did it again, so the third time I tossed him off her and then chased him away, clapping loudly and making like I was going to try to grab him. It worked and he stayed away from her, but now I feel a little bad about it. He kept his distance from me and chicken/duck area for the rest of the time he was around. I only feel bad because I don't think the neighbors really feed them and they might only get to eat at my place. As I said, I really don't mind them visiting and I don't mind feeding them, so I hope they do come back if they get hungry - as long as the drake leaves Sugar alone.

Oh, that's quite a problem. Poor Sugar.

 

[AxolotlLove]

I know DuckGirl! I had MoonMoon all ready for a "pink flower" photo shoot, but my camera died! She looked so pretty too...
Miss Holly, on the other hand, turned out to be mini. My runners, who are a week younger, are huge compared to her. Moon is a giant! You should see her next to the pekins... maybe she'll grow?

 

[DuckGirl77]

I know DuckGirl! I had MoonMoon all ready for a "pink flower" photo shoot, but my camera died! She looked so pretty too...
Miss Holly, on the other hand, turned out to be mini. My runners, who are a week younger, are huge compared to her. Moon is a giant! You should see her next to the pekins...

maybe she'll grow?

Wow, are magpies supposed to be that big?! Is she, ummm ... what's the word for it with ducks ..... purebred?

 

[mischievouslady]

All clean....

Time for bed 8:30 pm

 

[CyndiD]

Thank you so much for your response! Let's see here..
-All eggs from same mama (was our only female

). They're free ranging and while she's had her secret nest for a while, she only started to seriously sit for about a week or so prior.
-I candled them the day I put them in the incubator (May 29 in, so 17 days in incubator now) and according to the duck egg candling chart floating around, they looked like what day 8 looks like.. veins, and a wee blob with a beating heart
- candled last night but forgot to mark the latest air sac progress. They now look somewhere between day 20-24. Took shitty pics but will post them.
- I've hatched chicks but not ducks!

After reading the link you shared:

-ive never misted the eggs. They have cooled for 5ish minutes while candling and or turning
- they've been turned 2-4 times a day depending if work day or not
- they seem to be growing to one side of the egg... is this normal?
- all 11 of them are really active buggers
- how long is incubation for Indian runners?? I assume less than the 33-37 for muscovies?

Let's see if I can figure out a pic here...

Hi, good picture of your egg, but i cant see the AC. the AC tell alot. so this egg has been in the bator since May 29th? and you took this pic on the 15th? it looks like it is on day 20, or there abouts, to me. but the AC size tell alot.
When you say the egg is growing more on one side, i am not sure what you mean by that? the shape of the duckling as it grows is larger on one side, in a way, but if you are only turning 2-4 times a day, it should be at lest 4 times cuz the duckling can get stuck or stick to one side of the egg and that is not good when hatching time comes. if you ask @Lacrystol or go to this thread, you can ask Q's there...
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...n-chat-meet-new-friends-w-host-sally-sunshine

Incubation for runner duck eggs and many other duck eggs (not all of them) is 28 days. i have had my runner & other duck eggs take 30-31 days but not very often.
Try not to touch the eggs very much except to turn them. and always wash your hands prior to handling your eggs. what is the temp in your bator? are you keeping the room the bator is in at 70 degrees? are you keeping the bator away from direct sunlight? do you have all the vent holes open in the bator? what is the humidity in the bator now?
If they are growing/developing and doing well, i would keep doing what you have been doing & on day 25 i would candle them & mark AC's and if you think they are truly on day 25, i would put them in lockdown and up the temp to 101-102 and turn the fan off, if there is one in the bator and you can put a small bowl w/a damp papertowel in it for humidity, keep it at/about 60%. then listen for internal pipping and when you see external pipping (shell cracking open) i would up the humidity to 75%, keep this as constant as possible, dont let the humidity get below 65% at this point.

I am not an expert and i do not have a high % rate of duck hatchings, so take my advise/suggestions lightly. try the sites above and find other duck hatching lovers here on BYC, get all the advice/suggestions you can.
hope i have helped and not confused you any more?
take care and hope to see hatching pictures soon.

 

[dianaduck]

Hi guys I've been here before about my duck Bella that had been attacked my maybe a cayote it's been about 4 days since and she is doing fantastic still separated though form my drake. Today I tried to see what they would do if I did put them back together and he is kinda aggressive I'd say towards and what's to force her to mate when she wants none of it! He doesn't seem to want to mate with my other female though he seems so focused on Bella even when he is behind the pen and not able to reach her! Is this normal behavior? Should I just let them be once I do put them back together? I was thinking go about doing it tomorrow but it worries me how he is being

 

[AxolotlLove]

Wow, are magpies supposed to be that big?! Is she, ummm ... what's the word for it with ducks ..... purebred?

XD I meant Moon is a giant compared to Holly. She's not actually a giant. She's about the size of a Campbell.

 

[Hamza Saeed]

You suggest me paultry feed and after givi g paultry feed they became healthier but sit all the day and not run .tell me the reason

 

[Hamza Saeed]

I have two runner ducks

 

[Miss Lydia]

You suggest me paultry feed and after givi g paultry feed they became healthier but sit all the day and not run .tell me the reason

Are they having trouble walking? sometimes ducklings can need extra niacin if they are not given enough in their diet,. alot of chicken feed doesn't have enough for ducks and they can become lame so if you can you might want to offer some extra niacin to their water 125mgs of niacin to 1 gal of water. make sure the niacin is plain not flush free or time released. You can find niacin in most pharmacies it's a vitamin. Or Brewers yeast will work too. 1 Tablespoon per 1 cup of feed. Just don't get the kind used for making wine or beer. It has to be for nutrition.

Most of us can't find feed just for water fowl so we use feed for chickens and have to supplement the niacin or Brewers yeast to keep their legs strong and healthy.