The Duck Thread

[CamoBGStyle86]

Also another question and I will go with everyone's opinion.. should the ducklings have access to feed the grower stuff 24/7 and for how long?? Also what are y'all using for bedding?? What works best and what don't???

 

[madamiec]

It's normal and it's fine. They will eat anyway they can stuff themselves, in, on, under, standing up, laying down, especially ducklings and fermented feed. I wait for one to roll over and pop.

 

[WVduckchick]

Ok cause my father in law said that it wasn't normal but he is also old and senail lol ... They done it since they started getting bigger

Mine too. I still don't know that its normal. Maybe someone else will chime in lol

 

[Kaessa]

Is it normal for the ducks to want to lay down and eat???

Mine do it all the time. They lay down to drink, too. My WH parks herself on the grate next to the waterer, sleeps there and everything.

 

[Kaessa]

Also another question and I will go with everyone's opinion.. should the ducklings have access to feed the grower stuff 24/7 and for how long?? Also what are y'all using for bedding?? What works best and what don't???

For the first little bit they lived in the hall bathtub with old towels on the bottom. It worked really well for almost 3 weeks. At that point they moved to a kiddie pool with wood shavings, since they were WAY to big for the tub and were stinking it up something fierce even though I scrubbed it out and put down clean towels twice a day.

The shavings are nice, I just pick up the poops and the stuff they soaked with water and then put down fresh shavings. It's been a week now and it's starting to get a bit of an ammonia smell, so I'm changing all the shavings tomorrow to fresh ones. It still smells a WHOLE lot better than the tub did.

 

[Chrysolinsbirds]

Thanks so much for the advice you gave me I began feeding the ducks peas a couple day ago, and already some of them are eating out of my hands! The two Khaki Campbells have become MUCH less afraid of me, and actually pretty friendly. We always talked to the chickens and chicks, but not so much the ducks. I tried it today, and the Khaki girls quacked back and came closer and closer to my face until I thought they would actually nibble on it! Your help was invaluable to us, and as a result, we now like our quackers a whole lot more.

-Alexandra33

So glad I could help =) I just love my ducks they are hilarious and there's no reason for them to be terrified of their people there whole lives when a little extra attention will work wonders to improve your duck person relationship =)

 

[Reese7383]

How can I build a good coop that protects the ducks from predators?

We made ours out of 2x4's, chicken wire and RMAX. Its foam board insulation.

 

[okjenyp]

Hi everyone! I am a new duck momma. I've had chickens for over a year now and love them. And wanted to expand to ducks. I got 3 lil babies yesterday. They're so cute. I believe I have 2 pekin and 1 khaki Campbell. I am going to let them swim tomorrow in a metal feed pan., making the ramp out of scrap hardware cloth and covering with shelf liner. Anyways. My question is can you guys post pics of your duck house and run. I have the run fenced off. And was thinking about making the house out of pallets or whatever scrap lumber I have. Thanks

 

[Reese7383]

Thanks so much for the advice you gave me I began feeding the ducks peas a couple day ago, and already some of them are eating out of my hands! The two Khaki Campbells have become MUCH less afraid of me, and actually pretty friendly. We always talked to the chickens and chicks, but not so much the ducks. I tried it today, and the Khaki girls quacked back and came closer and closer to my face until I thought they would actually nibble on it! Your help was invaluable to us, and as a result, we now like our quackers a whole lot more.

-Alexandra33

We talk to our flock lots, but we have a special whistle. Our oldest (3wks) must recognize the sound already, they come running around the corner when they hear us.

 

[tinkerfairy]

So I've my ducklings from tractor supply about 6 weeks now. I knew 2 were runners and are 2 youngest are Rouen or mallard, they're 2 weeks younger but quite a bit smaller, our biggest duckling was black with a yellow chest and belly yellow tips to his wings and a hint of yellow to his face, his legs are black his feet yellow with black splotches, and a black bill. He's a lot bigger than the rest, he started feathering black and white but now his black id turning a beautiful blue green on his wings face and top of head. They guessed he was a black Swedish when I picked him. Is it possible he's a blue Swedish instead or a different breed? They don't have a lot of feathers yet just here and there. I'm shocked and thrilled by his color change. I love hoe brightly colored the cayugas are and that's kinda what he's reminding me off. He started feathering black then one day I was holding him and saw it had changed. Makes me wish id gotten another like him, but the original 3 I picked were all different colors so it'd be easy to tell them apart except the hubby picked the 2 Rouen or mallard, right now we can tell them apart by their faces one has 2 bold lines on the face the other one full line then a small line on each side of the bill like a big smile. My largest mystery fella ( he hasn't quacked yet so I'm assuming male, makes a cute whistle chirping sound) and my darkest brown runner are my sweetest 2. I always get happy quacks from my girl and she will jump and jump to be picked up and held if I'm sitting down she climbs in my lap, she'd rather hang out with me than her flock, they all love there faces rubbed and give affection back. I have absolutely adored raising my first ducklings. Even though they're messy its been worth it, they greet me with excited chatter when I get up and when I come in from work they're all standing up waiting for attention, they even way there little tails like dogs. I've always wanted ducklings, but I had no idea they could be so sweet and affectionate and enjoy human company, it's like they act like we are there parents. I'm not sure how old they were when I got them from tsc, they had just come in that day right before I came in so I was lucky to get first pick, the 2 runners and my mystery blue boy were friendly from day 1 they cried in the box in the car till I put my hand in then they called down and they've always jumped at us to be picked up, its like we bonded as soon as we got them to the car, the other 2 were more timed they'd run away screaming the first week but are now just as eager for attention but they don't seem to like being picked up like the others. I've read lots of posts from happy duck parents on here, I'm so happy I finally got to join in

I've held off from buying them before because all I saw were pekin ducklings and I wanted something with more color, after we move where we will have a fully fenced in yard I may try to find a ancona, and id love 2 have a grey/blue runner and either a magpie or welsh harlequin, of course even with a fenced in yard they will still have a safe lot for night time or when we are at work, they're safety is top priority. If my blue duck really is a boy I need to find him a female closer to his size, they started off the same I didn't know he was going to outgrow them, these skinny runner girls are so cute and funny when they stand up