The Duck Thread

[AxolotlLove]

Some of my pekin males. They're the best of friends these 4. Been through a lot together

 

[Phoenix Native]

I'm learning how posting on here works but, I'm trying to say all these ducks on this thread are so cute & these last few post the ducklings & duck buddies are so precious!!

 

[AxolotlLove]

One of my Rouen drakes. See? I just think Rouen drakes are stunning. I'm a big photographer lover and birds are my favorite especially big colorful ones like my Freddie

 

[Ren2014]

Jasper and Beau two muscovy ducklings that were abandoned because of curled toes. Got to them too late and now they can't be straightened but they are going to stay inside away from harms way....I have got my hands full I know! Lol

hello! So cute! How old are they? Did a Vet tell you they can't be straightened? Two inside is more than a handful, lol.

 

[Ren2014]

Well a flock of 2 is not like a flock of 14. My drakes are my little darlings. I love them to bits. They are not livestock they are pets. I could never give them away. I am going to try my hardest to get more ducks but I can't always know I'm getting females. The only place that sales ducks where I love you have to order ahead if time and if u want a certain breed it's even more money and they can't tell the sex. I have 5 Cayuga females that I got from a neighbor recently so that adds more females to my flock but they came with a male. Thank you everyone for your suggestions but drakes are not all that bad. If you treat then like pets and not livestock. My one drake follows me around like a dog and knows how to play tetherball

If you can order on line, you can be sure to get females. They cost a little extra though. I don't think anyone on here treats their ducks like livestock. We are not saying drakes are bad. We are just sharing our 10 and 20 years of experience.

Some of my pekin males. They're the best of friends these 4. Been through a lot together

Beautiful! Are you certain they are all males? I can only see the tail on one and from what I see there is no drake feather.

One of my Rouen drakes. See? I just think Rouen drakes are stunning. I'm a big photographer lover and birds are my favorite

especially big colorful ones like my Freddie

He's beautiful! And I love the name

 

[sspeirs772]

hello!  So cute!  How old are they?  Did a Vet tell you they can't be straightened?  Two inside is more than a handful, lol. 

A vet tech told us. Their feet will barely uncurl Beau on the other hand has one foot that isn't curled and she/he will stand on it. And yes way more then a hand full. But they are really getting attached as am I.

 

[needlessjunk]

I agree! I don't have any drakes in my flock of 2! Ha Ha! I can't handle the killing! My niece had a few of hers killed by a drake, no thank you!

Well a flock of 2 is not like a flock of 14. My drakes are my little darlings. I love them to bits. They are not livestock they are pets. I could never give them away. I am going to try my hardest to get more ducks but I can't always know I'm getting females. The only place that sales ducks where I love you have to order ahead if time and if u want a certain breed it's even more money and they can't tell the sex. I have 5 Cayuga females that I got from a neighbor recently so that adds more females to my flock but they came with a male. Thank you everyone for your suggestions but drakes are not all that bad. If you treat then like pets and not livestock. My one drake follows me around like a dog and knows how to play tetherball

Drakes can be nice and sweet but when you have females ducks in the mix it isn't all honky dorie. From my personal experience my single PET drake overmated the snort out of my girls. He had 5 and overmated 3 to the point their backs were tore up. How do your females look? You really should go ahead and order some females and have them sexed. I can speak from experience that Metzer farms is good and also Ideal. Does it cost more? Yes. Does it keep your flock dynamics healthy? Yes. You do have sunning boys and I have no problems with drakes but just because you call and treat them as a pet does not mean that they won't do what nature intended for them to do.

 

[Ren2014]

A vet tech told us. Their feet will barely uncurl Beau on the other hand has one foot that isn't curled and she/he will stand on it. And yes way more then a hand full. But they are really getting attached as am I.

it's very easy to get attached to the little fuzzy things

I've not experienced curled toes in ducks but I have with chickens. Seems to me that yours are still young enough that something can be done. Hopefully one of the experts here will chime in or someone who has experienced it. I'm tagging a few of them here
@RavynFallen @Lacrystol
@WVduckchick @Amiga
there are others but I can't think right now.
@casportpony @Miss Lydia

 

[Hayden W]

I read some where that you can tell if your duck is more likely to lay if there pelvic bones are farther apart and bendy-ish. if this is true how far apart do they have to be?

 

[needlessjunk]

I read some where that you can tell if your duck is more likely to lay if there pelvic bones are farther apart and bendy-ish. if this is true how far apart do they have to be?

Maybe this will help you. Their pelvic is futher apart once they start laying http://metzerfarms.blogspot.com/2011/03/how-do-i-know-which-of-my-ducks-are.html?m=1