The Quack Shack

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Very good news about Junior!!

My ducks aren't crazy about slugs if I offer them but I am not seeing many so someone must be taking care of the slimy things.

Good Morning/Evening to you all.

sounds like they had a blast. lol

Everybody has a blast here: Because of still no real internet, i blasted the weeds out of the berry garden yesterday and mulched all shrubs with hay.
The little duckling are blasting all over the first/second level of the duck house, giving me and Momma Duck one heart-attack after the other; its just a question of when one of them will fall to the ground floor.
The ducks had a blast yesterday evening about half of their supper bowl being made of fresh salad. They love salad even more than kale or cabbage.
The salad, well i don't believe it had a blast…

 

[Supercow]

Well, eating a large amount of lettuce instead of drinking water surely explains the green sausages. - Glad to hear that she is making progress!

Your ducks aren't going crazy about slugs?
Maybe the duckies ate too many of them and crave another taste?
If a duck here acquires a large slug or snail she must have mastered the art of »eating while every female in the flock is running after you«. They go so crazy for slugs, that i have researched if i can produce extra ones. - Not very easy and efficient…

What about some new Junior pictures?

They absolutely are mad for slugs and they hunt all day after rain. We're very happy about that.

I'll take some new Junior photos at the next antibiotic opportunity... this evening most likely.

We let her out of the crate for an hour today because finally some sun appeared. While she is generally larger, apparently sturdier and has an appetite now, she's still not doing very well about running (runs for 5 m / 15 ft or so, staggers, plops down). All the other aspects that we were worried about seem to be clearing up.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

How much time does normally pass between ducks starting to simulate drakes and first eggs appearing? Thanks.

I had ducks laying their first, tiny eggs at an age of three months and withing six months everybody was paying the rent. I'm not sure if the drakes have an influence on that.
The drake simulation is more of a ritual to cement the pecking order.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

This is what it looked like last evening It's amazing to be so far away and having this. View attachment 3532203View attachment 3532204

Beautiful! - I have not been paying attention to the sunset yesterday, but surely will do this evening. Weather here is still overcast/hazy.

 

[Supercow]

I had ducks laying their first, tiny eggs at an age of three months and withing six months everybody was paying the rent. I'm not sure if the drakes have an influence on that.
The drake simulation is more of a ritual to cement the pecking order.

Oh, OK - I was thinking along the lines of the drake gymnastics showing that they became sexually mature, which to my mind would also mean that here come the eggs.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

How old are they again? I've yet to have a duck that laid the year they hatched but I may just be an exception.

Maybe Muscovies are different? - Unless the ducklings matured into the winter season, mine all have to start laying in the same year.
But wait, Canada! - Haven't you already had your week of summer this year?

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

In a week it will be 5 months.

Are you sure that they have not already started to lay? - And are hiding the eggs in a secret dungeon under the patio?
The longest i had to wait for eggs here was seven months, got the ducklings in August and had the first eggs in March. The delay was due to a really cold and nasty winter here.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Oh, OK - I was thinking along the lines of the drake gymnastics showing that they became sexually mature, which to my mind would also mean that here come the eggs.

Do they get enough daylight? - Most of my ducks stop laying when the days become shorter than 10 hours. They have windows in their house, i think i asked that before…
You can make ducks - and other birds - stop laying by artificially shortening their days, which can happen accidentally by locking them up in their house.

 

[Supercow]

Do they get enough daylight? - Most of my ducks stop laying when the days become shorter than 10 hours. They have windows in their house, i think i asked that before…
You can make ducks - and other birds - stop laying by artificially shortening their days, which can happen accidentally by locking them up in their house.

They are in the house about 9 pm to 6 am and half of one side of the house is a full height chicken wire door which lets in the light fully and is south-east oriented. Also some vent openings in the corners but those are small.

My eyesight is not really olympic but the eggs should be large and white, I think I should be able to notice ... or maybe one of these days there will be somebody visiting and go oooh what's with all the eggs

The underside of the house is blocked with a wire mesh; there are some semi-hidden spaces in the bushes inside the orchard so I'll take a closer look just in case.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Happy Third Monday to Everybody!​

Buffzilla says: »More is better!« - Now there are at least three ducklings that have hatched. Two black and yellow little fuzzballs and one gray/yellow very shy one. There's maybe more, but i can't tell as everybody is hiding under momma duck, except for the first hatched which is exploring the upper level of the duck-house.

Here you go, right to left Momma Duck, Black Fuzzball #2, Gray Fuzzball and to the left Black Fuzzball #1, exploring the food container: