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

[mzmolly65]

Well .. I'm sorry to say I rehomed the 4 Khakis I got not that long ago. They were lovely and hard working slug hunters and great egg layers but even though I cleaned their coop every couple of days the smell was wafting and I knew it was only a matter of time before the neighbours started complaining .. never mind my husband (I could tell he wanted to complain but was being very nice about it because he liked the ducks as much as I did)

Their new home is on an acreage with a big pond and vegetarian humans so they will not be dinner but only asked to lay eggs and do slug patrol (same as here). They have some chickens and 3 other ducks for friends. The 3 ducks are black and white pied some-thing-or-others (don't know the breed). The two boys were arguing through the fence but by the time I left they were just laying beside each other - still on opposite sides of the fence - and just grumbling about new comers and how these are "my girls" . I think by the time she opens the gate they will be ok with each other and there will be minimum fighting. There will be two males and 5 females now and several broody chickens who want to hatch duck eggs!!! So there maybe duckling in the future.

I hope they will be ok. I'm pretty sure they will be and still way better than the home I got them from so I'm still happy for them.

It's a little too quiet in my garden today :-(

 

[tanaBanana]

I am in the Houston area, actually about an hour NW in Montgomery, TX. I have a khaki Campbell drake, Nuck, that is 14 mos old and I am at wits end with him. My ducks had everyone's roles in place and Nuck was the not-so-dominate male to three hens. I know 2 drakes to 3 hens isn't ideal, but it worked. Until recently.

My two blue Swedish hens went broody and we now have several month-old ducklings, but during the times they were sitting their nests, I had to keep the drakes out of the duck pen. A couple of weeks ago, my favorite hen, my white and fawn Indian runner, was killed by a raccoon, I'm assuming. One of the mother hens has taken on the role of sidekick to the two drakes, abandoning her role as Nuck's special "buddy." The other mother hen wants to nothing to do with him, yet the minute I try to let her and the ducklings out in the yard and pond, he's all over her. She freaks out and seeks refuge for herself and the babies back in the pen. The babies need to be out and about during the day, but with Nuck constantly there, it's not happening. We've had lots of rain and their pen really needs a few hours a day to be cleaned up and given time to kinda air out. I've decided the only solution is to find a new home for Nuck. I'd actually planned on trying to find homes for both drakes and any of the ducklings which turn out to be drakes to prevent inbreeding. Right now I'm planning to keep Abu, the dominant male who's a pekin, but really need to find a new home for Nuck. I'd be willing to deliver him to anyone who can give him a good home, assuming it's not too far of a drive (~2 hrs max). Is anyone looking for a khaki Campbell drake? He's really a good looking duck, he just needs a few hens he can call his own.

 

[Showjumperstar]

Well goody...one of my drakes has a hurt leg. I don't have any help right now at home so I can't do a real examination of him until someone gets home to help me. It's his left foot/leg. I'm not sure if he sprained it, strained it, broke something. He's weight bearing when he has to (ie...running away from me), but he's holding it up . It doesn't look swollen and the few times I could see the bottom of the foot I didn't see any bleeding. When he holds the foot up, he tucks it way up under him and his foot kinda folds up. I'm almost wondering if it's a sprain of sorts like he pushed off of the pool/pond and just didn't land right or I dunno. *grumbles*

 

[beccaWA]

My female Khaki just injured herself about a week and a half ago. Same deal, wouldn't bear weight, didn't look broken, no bleeding. I think she just got it caught on something. Anyway, I did call the vet but decided to watch her for a few days and confine her to a small area. (Which wasn't easy as she has six ducklings!). After a few days she was still limping but her gait was considerably better. I decided to let her and her brood back out to free range. After about a week there was no noticeable limp at all.

I find my ducks are way more resilient than my chickens. They're never ill and seem to get over minor injuries on their own. Good luck with your exam, but if there is not a lot of swelling, nothing looks obviously broken, or no cuts etc. I'd just confine and watch for a few days.

Disclaimer! I'm not a vet! Just my own experiences.

 

[Showjumperstar]

My female Khaki just injured herself about a week and a half ago. Same deal, wouldn't bear weight, didn't look broken, no bleeding. I think she just got it caught on something. Anyway, I did call the vet but decided to watch her for a few days and confine her to a small area. (Which wasn't easy as she has six ducklings!). After a few days she was still limping but her gait was considerably better. I decided to let her and her brood back out to free range. After about a week there was no noticeable limp at all.

I find my ducks are way more resilient than my chickens. They're never ill and seem to get over minor injuries on their own. Good luck with your exam, but if there is not a lot of swelling, nothing looks obviously broken, or no cuts etc. I'd just confine and watch for a few days.

Disclaimer! I'm not a vet! Just my own experiences.

Thanks! We caught him and I felt him over. He was actually walking a lot better on it in the few hours difference. He wasn't reacting to any of my tests (pressure, movement, kinda stuff I do with my horses but in Duck form xD). He wasn't too impressed with being held, but he calmed down after a moment and then I tested everything.

So we have a mist system set up and we are running it during the day. There are a couple of places where the water pools up (the ducks are in heaven!) and the ducks like to snorkel and make these large holes in the mud. I'm thinking he might have gotten excited and stepped in one of those holes which caused an owie. We're pricing out gravel to put in the misted portion of the pen so that should help with the snorkeling. He is one of the two drakes I'm rehoming due to some aggression/alpha bird/hormones. I have right now 3 drakes and a hen that are three months old, and then two 3 week old hens. Two of the drakes are showing alpha signs (the injured one included) and have shown aggression to the 3 week olds (in a coop cage in the pen. They are separated, but they can still socialize with the other birds).

 

[jackandnick]

Hi everyone! I am new to the group and just wanted to say hi and add a couple of pictures of my babies. We are newbies to the duck raising and would welcome any bits of info that you all could share.

Here are a couple of pics of our bunch. We got four of them from TSC (unsexed). Maybe someone could give me some idea of gender?? They are about 6 - 8 weeks old. Thanks! Hope to learn a ton from everyone!!

Hi and welcome! I'm pretty new as well! I have 3 Khakis who are just about 13 weeks. The easiest way I've found to tell which are females is they are LOUD! They really quack with power behind it! My males are quiet and have little raspy voices. My female is more brown and my males have some added color to the wing tips but the voices are the best way to tell. I can hear Naomi from inside the house with the windows closed. Glen and Jake are very quiet even when I pick them up and it's like they are trying to yell but can't.

 

[beccaWA]

Glad he's feeling better!

 

[beccaWA]

Yep. Voice is a way to tell even before the male curly tail feather. I have four ducklings left (two sold) that mama Mocha hatched out that are now four weeks. They peep still. Well, until today. I heard one of them "peep peep peep-honk-peep". YAY! A girl. I have two drakes too many and am hoping for some more girls. Yours are looking great! Keep up the good work.

 

[AxolotlLove]

Well .. I'm sorry to say I rehomed the 4 Khakis I got not that long ago.  They were lovely and hard working slug hunters and great egg layers but even though I cleaned their coop every couple of days the smell was wafting and I knew it was only a matter of time before the neighbours started complaining .. never mind my husband (I could tell he wanted to complain but was being very nice about it because he liked the ducks as much as I did)

Their new home is on an acreage with a big pond and vegetarian humans so they will not be dinner but only asked to lay eggs and do slug patrol (same as here).  They have some chickens and 3 other ducks for friends.  The 3 ducks are black and white pied some-thing-or-others (don't know the breed).  The two boys were arguing through the fence but by the time I left they were just laying beside each other - still on opposite sides of the fence - and just grumbling about new comers and how these are "my girls" .  I think by the time she opens the gate they will be ok with each other and there will be minimum fighting.  There will be two males and 5 females now and several broody chickens who want to hatch duck eggs!!!  So there maybe duckling in the future.

I hope they will be ok.  I'm pretty sure they will be and still way better than the home I got them from so I'm still happy for them.

It's a little too quiet in my garden today :-(

Awww I'm so sorry! Maybe you could get some calls. They are small, oh wait, the neighbors... Calls are super loud. Hmm. I've found Khakis are pretty smelly, and messy. Sorry you had to give them up.

The black and white ducks where probably Magpie or Anacona.

 

[RusticGal]

This is my KC. She is 2 weeks old. This is my first time raising ducklings and so far it has been quite the learning experience! She is really calm and sweet.