The Duck Thread

[jenniferlamar70]

Thank you am and a and chick girl,
I did contact the lady I bought them from yesterday and she has said she could swap them but even the idea of getting rid of the BOYS because the whole egg thing makes me feel so so guilty.
Big softy and have grown to love them a loT, she said the boys would be happy on her farm chasing the girls but I'm worried about them, they have a lovely little life here.
I am so so disappointed though, it was really something i wanted to experience with my daughters in the morning out to collect eggs etc
I don't know how 2 new ducks would settle and would they be as friendly now? The boys/girls? Seem so settled and are very friendly and call for me all day! Would I be riddled with guilt and end up with 2 girls that yes lay eggs but may not be interested in us at all!! Just lost now totally!
Thanks for replying xxx

If you have built a bond with these ducks I personally wouldn't trade them. Our drakes are way more friendly then our hens. They let us cuddle them and come when we call. Our hen always hangs back and watches unless we have treats. I've found the younger you get them the easier it is to bond with them and they you. You can trade for hens bit they may not be as friendly depending on how often they are handled currently. Have you thought about getting some hens for your drakes? To us it seemed like to many but once we got them we realized they don't need loads of room. We free range but they hang in the same spot by there pool all day lol we have 7 now and 3 ducklings.

 

[Ren2014]

HELP

I'm knew on this site so forgive me if I've not posted correctly.

So... I have 2 campbells one white one brown.
From my calculations from the age I was given then the white one should be 19 weeks and the brown one I think was 2 weeks younger due to the size and time difference between moulting their juvenile feathers.
I've been going mad since I've noticed a little curl on both their tails so I've attached some pics. I am in literally 2 minds here as to their gender!! The brown khaki has mostly moulted now and her new feathers are growing back along with this little curl but from looking at pics of male khakis Im thinking female and hoping female too, the white one also has this little random feather but am really hoping female aswel.
I was in contact with the lady I bought them from and was very specific about having girls for my twin girls to collect eggs from etc and confirmed with her before picking them up that they were girls. However I'm not so sure; obviously no eggs as yet and thinking the the oldest they could be would be 19 weeks.
Can anyone help?? X

Looks like you have two boys there. Are they quacking or raspy sounding? Girls this age would be quacking and a lot. I've never seen a white Campbell. How do you tell them apart from Pekins?

 

[AmandaMBG]

So the duck I rescued from the pond that I thought would end up being a boy made a quacking honk sound today. If it ends up being a girl I officially have the opposite of luck everyone else seems to have

This was from when I first got it. Thought the green bill was a giveaway and it sounded raspy but I'm guessing it could have been its baby voice still.

 

[mummasducks]

  Looks like you have two boys there.  Are they quacking or raspy sounding?  Girls this age would be quacking and a lot.  I've never seen a white Campbell.  How do  you tell them apart from Pekins?

Hi,
I'm thinking boys too!
I actually have no idea if the white one is a campbell or not, I was told when I bought them that she had 2 girl campbells one white and one brown! The white one has always been bigger but I thought it was down to them being about 2 weeks apart in age! Do you think pekin? Oh dear what a mess! Lol
Thr brown one has stayed brown the whole time! Moulted juvenile feathers but remained the same colour which has confused me!
I may have witnessed the brown one attempting to mate with my dog yesterday!!! They live harmoniously and the brown one tried to jump on my dogs back with wings flapping! My doggy didn't seem to care much luckily!
I've decided to keep them anyway but still hoping for a little miracle!
They have brought a lot more joy to our home then expected.

 

[The Duck Ladie]

I have a mallard female and welsh harlequin female and about a week ago one or both of them started laying eggs!!!! They are about 23 weeks now. My husband really wants them to sit and hatch them so we have left the eggs. There are 8 as of this morning. We have seen both our girls sitting on the nest at different times but as soon as we come up to their pen they are all out and about. Any idea when we should give up and remove the eggs if neither of them goes broody? I caught my mallard yesterday making a little nest in the edge of the woods yesterday when they were out of the pen. I'm afraid they will never go broody since they all like to stick to close together always.
Also anyone know what a mallard/welshie mix would look like???

I'm not to sure, but, harlequins look somewhat like mallards, so it might not be to crazy looking.

 

[Ihaveducks]

I'm really struggling to give Squidge his antibiotics. Vet told me to put it on bread but he hates bread. I'm worried that if I syringe it in he will get it in his lungs... HELP ASAP. Any tips ANY information please!!

 

[EmilyP]

I'm really struggling to give Squidge his antibiotics. Vet told me to put it on bread but he hates bread. I'm worried that if I syringe it in he will get it in his lungs... HELP ASAP. Any tips ANY information please!!

Is it liquid??? We had the most trouble giving meds till we just sucked it up and shoved the pills down past his tongue. The liquid we never were able to master, he just held it in his bill and squirted/dripped it out the sides.

 

[jenniferlamar70]

Hey guys recently one of my drakes has started getting aggressive. He chases the kids and myself on occasion. We don't run and we aren't afraid of him lol but he has also started being aggressive to my other drake. They were fine before so I'm not sure why. Him and my oldest hen have mated now and she has just started laying eggs. Could this have something to do with it. I have quite a few juvenile females but they haven't reached maturity yet. Wondering if that could be it too? We have 3 drakes altogether and he is fine with our rouen just the ancona drake he has taken a disliking to. Any thoughts?

 

[Ihaveducks]

Is it liquid??? We had the most trouble giving meds till we just sucked it up and shoved the pills down past his tongue.  The liquid we never were able to master, he just held it in his bill and squirted/dripped it out the sides.   

Yes, unfortunately it is liquid. I managed to do it tonight with the bread again but he really does hate it and it takes waaaaay too long! He also spits some of it out. It's not ideal as he needs the correct amount. I'm going back to the vets to get his stitches out tomorrow, I'll ask if they know anymore ways! Thank you for replying.

 

[EmilyP]

Yes, unfortunately it is liquid. I managed to do it tonight with the bread again but he really does hate it and it takes waaaaay too long! He also spits some of it out. It's not ideal as he needs the correct amount. I'm going back to the vets to get his stitches out tomorrow, I'll ask if they know anymore ways! Thank you for replying.

Two options I'd try, first ask if you can get it in pill form. Ours was an antibiotic and our vet actually just filled it through Walgreens for us. You can just slide the pill down the top of his bill and past the tongue, he won't like it but most effective method we found. Second option is to get a tube to connect to the syringe and get the end past the back of his tongue and squirt. Hope this helps!