The Duck Thread

[ricebabyca]

I want to see pics of peachicks!!! I love peafowl! I really want to get some once we get our farm, but I can't risk it right now because of the noise.

They are noisy! Here is my latest chick:






And a couple of Muscovy pics:

 

[JadeComputerGal]

Oh my gosh, those are so cute! Yes, I know they're noisy. We used to live in a place where people the next neighborhood over had peafowl, and we could hear the things screaming all the time like they were right next door.

 

[City farm]

Well, something raided my pekin's nest She was so close to hatching, too. I found one duckling obviously too young to hatch dead with its yolk sac unabsorbed and the crushed egg it came out of, and nothing else in the nest. All the other eggs are gone without a trace. The pekin is still sitting, poor thing, so I'm going to order her some ducklings. They won't arrive until the end of next week, unfortunately, so I hope she keeps sitting. If not, I'll be giving them to one of my broody hens to raise. I feel bad for her though, she was doing so well.



...

On a lighter note, I filled up a big snapset pool for the waterfowl today! They love it. Lacie, my roman tufted goose, took to it right away and figured out how to stand on the temporary cinder blocks I put to help them all get in until I get a ramp built. She jumped right in and had a blast. One of my juvenile American buffs just flew up over the side and in, lol. She won't be able to do that once she gets older and fills out. The ducks haven't gotten in yet, but I'm sure they'll figure out the cinder blocks before I get the ramp built tomorrow.

Sound's like your flock is spoiled..

 

[City farm]

My muscovy Amy wasn't too happy to get her wing wrapped, but she tolerated it pretty good once it was finished.

Amy look's like her sister, Lynn .. She is beautiful .. Jackie still has lazy wing.. I guess I could chase her around so she would get some exercise, but they still are upset about their move here..

 

[JadeComputerGal]

Okay! I am going to do this! And I'm going to do it right!

Would something like this be okay?

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=121455838818&globalID=EBAY-GB

I think I could have saved the duckling if I had acted sooner this time but it's so hard to tell and I didn't want to jump in too quick, that's most of the advice I received on the Internet before!

He is perfectly formed from what I can see in the egg and it breaks my heart! But onwards and upwards!!!

I have heard some things around about hatching shipped eggs and there seems to be some steps you can take (like leaving them on there side for 24hrs before incubation) to give them a better chance. In your opinion are these just rumours? I would have thought getting them in the incubator and warm would be best thing to do?

Thank you!

I can't comment on the hygrometer since I don't have any experience with that one. I usually check reviews if I'm thinking of buying something for the first time. The best thing to do would be to see if you can find online sites like Amazon that sell that exact thing to see what previous buyers have to say about it.

You never want to leave a shipped egg laying on its side for any amount of time. They need to be placed in an egg carton with the large end up before you start incubating. Shipped eggs often have loose or detached air cells from the trauma of shipping, and the air cells will sometimes stabilize if you set them upright for a time.

 

[City farm]

Anybody else want to weight in in this thread? Someone is asking if they can keep ducks (illegally and in the city, I might add) in a loft above their chicken coop with little to no swimming water, as an attempt to replace the last two types of poultry they had in it after they got bored of them and decided they didn't want them any more, because they 'need' a new pet:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1011095/i-need-a-pettttt-another

I tried to weigh in and I got called names for my troubles. I may have been a little harsh, but I don't think I really was...

I missed the name calling.. You did get the most ovations I have seen.. Hope they will go volenteer at a local shelter to get their animal fix..

 

[City farm]

We plan to get ducks next year, and are preparing now by having just constructed two ponds that are attached by a small waterfall.  Also, researching duck care.  My question is do ducks have mating habits similar to chickens having one male with many females, or do ducks pair up and mate for life?   They will be taken care of very well.

How exciting!! What are you wanting, for egg's,meat, pet ? Yes, your drake will need at least 4-5 girl's..

 

[JadeComputerGal]

How exciting!! What are you wanting, for egg's,meat, pet ? Yes, your drake will need at least 4-5 girl's..

It's also really nice to see someone planning that far ahead and going to the trouble to create a nice habitat for them. Whatever she ends up with, those are going to be some lucky ducks!

 

[Wobbles]

So we unfortunately had to totally re make our flock.

We will thankfully get to keep most of our original five ducks, all but the pekin who will still have a lovely life a few miles down the road from us and I can visit him.

We are only keeping two ancona girls, the rest also go with Marshmallow the Pekin to our friends. So if we decide to revisit our plan for anconas we will be able to. We will be adding three or four Muscovy girls to our flock. We just ended up with too many drakes and not enough space to get them all enough girls. Sad but we figured that would happen.

Here are two of the possible new Muscovies. If we think they are girls when we see them in person next week.



If not she has a few younger ones we can pick from.

 

[caesargirl]

So we unfortunately had to totally re make our flock. We will thankfully get to keep most of our original five ducks, all but the pekin who will still have a lovely life a few miles down the road from us and I can visit him. We are only keeping two ancona girls, the rest also go with Marshmallow the Pekin to our friends. So if we decide to revisit our plan for anconas we will be able to. We will be adding three or four Muscovy girls to our flock. We just ended up with too many drakes and not enough space to get them all enough girls. Sad but we figured that would happen. Here are two of the possible new Muscovies. If we think they are girls when we see them in person next week. If not she has a few younger ones we can pick from.

Awww! Very sweet! Good luck!