The Duck Thread

[jenniferlamar70]

Is it possible I got the sex of one of my ducks wrong? I thought they were girls because they are at six months all honk quacking (nothing raspy about it) and none are sporting a drake curl. However today when one was mounting the others I noticed it was using its tail like a male would and when I picked it up it looked like possibly cemen left on its feathers near its vent. Is it possible that a six month old drake could have no curl and no hint of male characteristics? It's loud, friendly, no green or white at the neck, not aggressive at all, orange bill. Here is a photo of all of them. Any of them look like they could possible be male? Was I just seeing some poop residue?

Could be a boy. They don't have the green neck all year. Part of the year they look like females. The quacking and lack of drake curl is odd but I've seen the semen hanging off my drake after mating too so I know what you mean. I've never seen any of my females with that. I would give it awhile longer or if you can voice record the quack we could take a listen.

 

[Ravynscroft]

Ahem... girl ducks produce 'lubrication'...

 

[The Duck Ladie]

I love this idea! we have a kiddie pool right now and it is very fragile, i'm concerned when it gets cold it won't survive. I found a 110gal Tuff Stuff stock tank at TSC. i'm hoping this will be big enough for our 4 birds. i checked the area on this vs the pool we have as i was worried it would be smaller but the numbers look much bigger! you say you only drain it every few weeks, how much time are they confined to the area with the pool? my 4 get their pool filthy in a day! because it is deeper (7.5" vs 20") does the dirt, poop and sediment sink to the bottom and not be quite so dirty??

They spend pretty much the whole day in there with the pool. It gets pretty dirty. The min. for cleaning it out would be once every two weeks. I think Once a week is pretty good. It's easy to drain. I open the spout, let it drain, rinse it, fill it. Yes all the gunk sinks to the bottom so it's not gross.

 

[tonisummers]

Hello all, so I recently got two baby ducklings from Mcmuarry Hatchery. One a Buff, and the other a Cayuga. The Cayuga passed away after two days, so they're sending me replacements. Well, the buff duckling, Milo, has been super entergetic and full of life and always chirping. He's a blast. But this morning when I woke up, he was chirping lightly in his area, which is kept warm by a heating pad. He suddenly couldn't walk! He was perfectly fine the night before, playing, the whole nine yards. Now, his eyes seems more tired and he keeps wanting to sleep...even though he slept through the night and half the day. He can barely hold his head up accurately, and his wings are more downward and not toward his body at all. He's also not walking. I checked for any apparent injury, and found none. He seems like he's at a discomfort though. I'm just super worried about my little Milo and just want him back to his normal. Sometimes he walks a little but only very short bursts, and he's not as talkative. Please help! I have been feeding him dumor 24% starter, and he's had no problem up until now. He's a little over a week old, so he's still rather small. Could it be some sort of a niacin deficiency? Should I get him save a chik and nutri drench? Thanks so much

 

[EmilyP]

They spend pretty much the whole day in there with the pool. It gets pretty dirty. The min. for cleaning it out would be once every two weeks. I think Once a week is pretty good. It's easy to drain. I open the spout, let it drain, rinse it, fill it. Yes all the gunk sinks to the bottom so it's not gross.

how tall would you estimate that your tank is?

 

[EmilyP]

Hello all, so I recently got two baby ducklings from Mcmuarry Hatchery. One a Buff, and the other a Cayuga. The Cayuga passed away after two days, so they're sending me replacements. Well, the buff duckling, Milo, has been super entergetic and full of life and always chirping. He's a blast. But this morning when I woke up, he was chirping lightly in his area, which is kept warm by a heating pad. He suddenly couldn't walk! He was perfectly fine the night before, playing, the whole nine yards. Now, his eyes seems more tired and he keeps wanting to sleep...even though he slept through the night and half the day. He can barely hold his head up accurately, and his wings are more downward and not toward his body at all. He's also not walking. I checked for any apparent injury, and found none. He seems like he's at a discomfort though. I'm just super worried about my little Milo and just want him back to his normal. Sometimes he walks a little but only very short bursts, and he's not as talkative. Please help! I have been feeding him dumor 24% starter, and he's had no problem up until now. He's a little over a week old, so he's still rather small. Could it be some sort of a niacin deficiency? Should I get him save a chik and nutri drench? Thanks so much

Is he pooping regularly? eating and drinking lots of water?

 

[tonisummers]

Is he pooping regularly? eating and drinking lots of water?

Yes he's still eating and drinking and pooping. There's not a problem there

 

[Ravynscroft]

Hello all, so I recently got two baby ducklings from Mcmuarry Hatchery. One a Buff, and the other a Cayuga. The Cayuga passed away after two days, so they're sending me replacements. Well, the buff duckling, Milo, has been super entergetic and full of life and always chirping. He's a blast. But this morning when I woke up, he was chirping lightly in his area, which is kept warm by a heating pad. He suddenly couldn't walk! He was perfectly fine the night before, playing, the whole nine yards. Now, his eyes seems more tired and he keeps wanting to sleep...even though he slept through the night and half the day. He can barely hold his head up accurately, and his wings are more downward and not toward his body at all. He's also not walking. I checked for any apparent injury, and found none. He seems like he's at a discomfort though. I'm just super worried about my little Milo and just want him back to his normal. Sometimes he walks a little but only very short bursts, and he's not as talkative. Please help! I have been feeding him dumor 24% starter, and he's had no problem up until now. He's a little over a week old, so he's still rather small. Could it be some sort of a niacin deficiency? Should I get him save a chik and nutri drench? Thanks so much

DuMor definitely does not contain enough Niacin for ducklings... do you have any Complex B tablets or brewers yeast? I'd get some extra Niacin for him ASAP...

@Amiga I can't remember the dose for tablets in water???

 

[tonisummers]

DuMor definitely does not contain enough Niacin for ducklings... do you have any Complex B tablets or brewers yeast? I'd get some extra Niacin for him ASAP...

@Amiga I can't remember the dose for tablets in water???

I'm actually on my way to tractor supply to get save a chik and nutri drench? Should I instead get those two? I've heard all four. I just want the one with the best result

 

[Ravynscroft]

I'm actually on my way to tractor supply to get save a chik and nutri drench? Should I instead get those two? I've heard all four. I just want the one with the best result

Stop at Walmart or a Vitamin Shop and get plain Niacin tablets (not slow release or flush tablets) or a Vitamin B complex tablet... you want *I think* 100 or 150mgs of Nicain to crush and dissolve into water...

Savachik an Nutridrench are good supplements for general purpose, but ducklings need a higher dose of Niacin itself...

Also, might want to check into switching feed, I recommend Purina Flock Raiser instead... it's good from hatch to lay and had higher Niacin...

Edited grams to milligrams!!