The khaki-Campbell duck Thread !!!!!!!!

[caesargirl]

My babies! 6 1/2 weeks old. When should I be able to tell if they are male or female??

Until the drake curl appears, I'm bad at sexing them.. But you have some seriously cute KCs!!!

 

[Showjumperstar]

Mine were very shy when I got them and they still get nervous when getting picked up but have settled into a nice routine of getting let out to run around big area and get treats then they get in their bath and play for a bit after that they are tired so I take them out wrap them each in a towel then set them together on my lap under a blanket and I softly rub their heads, necks and beaks with my fingers and talk to them gently. The drake will fall asleep but the duck isn't that calm yet. She will relax and almost sleep but she fights it. Once they are warm and dry I put them back in their tub under the light and they take a nap. This seems to make a huge difference. They know my voice and greet me and today finally ate out of my hand

So cute! Mine will eat out of my hand, but they're not fond of me petting them, so they'll take off. They do greet me and seem to enjoy the attention, just not the petting. LOL

 

[caesargirl]

Cuddles with my Khakis

Those babies are precious

 

[nchvac]

It's everything that went into their mouths. Food, dirt, poop.... Use it for fertilizer. I wouldn't feed it back, you risk ill ducks. Bacteria flourishes in it, the beginning stages of algae growth....

I think maybe you are into the duckaponics ceasargirl??? I was thinking of feeding these fines to my fish in an aquaponic setup I am doing. Would this be safe for plants that are intended for human consumption? I guess I could dry out the fines and bake them at 150 degrees for 10 minutes or so to pasturize???

 

[caesargirl]

I think maybe you are into the duckaponics ceasargirl???  I was thinking of feeding these fines to my fish in an aquaponic setup I am doing.  Would this be safe for plants that are intended for human consumption?  I guess I could dry out the fines and bake them at 150 degrees for 10 minutes or so to pasturize???

I don't even bother to do anything other than use a fish tank vacuum to fill a bucket, then directly to the plants! Even the edibles! For higher nitrates, I use my fish tank gravel cleanings. For indoor plants I use the water above the muck!

 

[nchvac]

Am I hearing correctly that it is not safe for humans to eat duckaponic raised plants? I'm talking in a hydro system where the water is carried straight to the plant roots with no soil to filter and buffer.

What I was thinking was to use the water like you are doing in the outdoor beds and keep the fines off of the bottom of the bucket to feed the fish in aquaponics setup where I will grow lettuce and wheatgrass mostly. I won't have big enough setup to buy large bags of fish food and I just don't see much nutrients in the flakes they sale, so I thought maybe the chicken feed fines left by the ducks may be more nutritious and have some minerals that kiddie fish food may not have.

 

[caesargirl]

Am I hearing correctly that it is not safe for humans to eat duckaponic raised plants?  I'm talking in a hydro system where the water is carried straight to the plant roots with no soil to filter and buffer. 

What I was thinking was to use the water like you are doing in the outdoor beds and keep the fines off of the bottom of the bucket to feed the fish in aquaponics setup where I will grow lettuce and wheatgrass mostly.  I won't have big enough setup to buy large bags of fish food and I just don't see much nutrients in the flakes they sale, so I thought maybe the chicken feed fines left by the ducks may be more nutritious and have some minerals that kiddie fish food may not have. 

I've never tried it in a system last le that. Everything I grow is in soil. I'm going to try to find the thread on here where someone did that....

 

[caesargirl]

Am I hearing correctly that it is not safe for humans to eat duckaponic raised plants?  I'm talking in a hydro system where the water is carried straight to the plant roots with no soil to filter and buffer. 

What I was thinking was to use the water like you are doing in the outdoor beds and keep the fines off of the bottom of the bucket to feed the fish in aquaponics setup where I will grow lettuce and wheatgrass mostly.  I won't have big enough setup to buy large bags of fish food and I just don't see much nutrients in the flakes they sale, so I thought maybe the chicken feed fines left by the ducks may be more nutritious and have some minerals that kiddie fish food may not have. 

Check this out. It's not an active thread, but such a fabulous idea!!!!
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/913753/clean-duck-water-and-free-food-aquaponics-duckaponics

 

[Showjumperstar]

Hey y'all! My feather babies are about 6 weeks old. They're still in the squeak toy phase of talking, though I'll sometimes hear a surprised quack out of any of them. I don't know if I'm bill sexing them right, but it appears that I have two males (the yellow bills) and two females (the darker brown/grey bills). I'm just waiting until they molt and the males get their tail feathers in. I'm hopeful the odds are in my favor and I can keep all four of them! But if not, then I'll keep the dominant gender, or the two girls (whichever it is), and then find a home with someone who has ducks and can take one in.

They're so much fun to watch, especially during bath time.

Their enclosure is almost finished (they grow up so fast, and we had some rainy weekends...building didn't happen as fast as we would have liked), and there's a kiddie pool pond that'll be waiting for them.

They love playing in the water.

This is Ducky, one of the two (maybe) females. The other one is Runt, and by the name...yes, she's the smallest. They're otherwise all about the same size.

Runt (left) with one of the two possible males (Petrie and Littlefoot).

Just wanted to share, though if you are able to tell them apart, lemme know! That top picture came out a little dark in the shadows when I was color correcting (the bathroom lighting is yellow...) so her head really isn't that dark. They are all about the same shade right now (and then there's Runt with all of the penciling...is that the correct term?...on her feathers)

 

[LadyLiz]

3weeks old now