The Quack Shack

[WannaBeHillBilly]

What happened to the mallard's foot? Got chomped by a turtle?

Love the broody running through screaming at the top of her lungs!

I have no clue what has happened to the Missus Mallard. She is one of two who show up here daily and suddenly she is injured. No open wound is visible, so not a snapper turtle. And unfortunately she is still too afraid of me to let me try to help her. Nature is cruel…

The "Broody" is Karen. She is calling for the "Manager" multiple times a day…

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Beautiful Ducks. I have a duckling that has now feathered out but has the feet that looks like it has yellow orangish feet just like one of yours. It is Black and I believe a half Black Swedish Call Duck. It looked just like one of your ducklings with the two tone colored feet and was black. Is it a Black Swedish Duckling? I am still trying to determine what the sex of it is. What do you do if you have too many drakes. I loved this video, thanks so much for sharing!!!

It is very likely that the two black ducklings are pure bread Black Swedish. I have two Black Swedish hens and a Ralphie Dux (a mis-sexed duckling). Ralphie is my largest and strongest drake and keeps every other drake away from "his" ducks. - With the exception of Tweedledum Drake who grew up with him. But Tweedledum is a light breed and i don't see how he would be successful with a Black Swedish hen…
We'll see when they grow up.
The only solution to the "too many drakes" problem is ordering more ducks at a hatchery! Fortunately all my drakes are gentle with the ladies, with the exception of the Monty-Phytons. They are drakeholes…

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Now we're talking

View attachment 3549113

A beautiful dirty duck egg! - Get used to washing eggs daily…

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

This is egg # 3, the first two were about half smaller and they also don't yet appear every day. Or maybe they do if we count yesterday and today as both being covered by this huge egg

They lay in their house, I leave them inside until about 7:30 AM (curfew is at 9:30 PM) so I'm not sure which one produced this super specimen. Junior is much too young but it could have been any of the five first-generation ducks who are now 5 months and a week old.

I'm noticing that their appetite is increasing, albeit selectively -- pellets are very much in demand; they did not care for soybeans and also not particularly for millet. Oats and corn still OK, buckwheat okayish.

Laying ducks prefer protein for a good reason: Do the math. Let's say you have a 3Kg duck
- which is a really heavy duck! She lays one egg per day and the egg weighs 60 grams, which is average, but a heavy duck would more likely lay eggs between 80 and 100 grams, but anyways… 60 ÷ 2000 = 0.03 = 3% That means your duck is loosing 3% of her body weight every day in mostly protein. Let's say your weight is 100Kg (just an example, no offense intended!!!) - you would have to cut 3Kg off your body every day. And not belly-fat, no, muscle tissue, protein…
On top of that you must pull out the bone from one of your fingers to extract enough Calcium to wrap that protein with a hard Calcium-Carbonate shell.

Just to put in perspective what our ducks accomplish almost every day.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Happy Fake Monday to Everybody in the U.S.!
(we had a day off here yesterday)
Happy Second Monday to Everybody else!​

Barely finished what i had planned to do yesterday, planting the Brassicas and Potatoes into the vegetables garden, before it started to rain again. It is raining on and off here since yesterday about 8pm. Ducks and ducklings love it but the PeaDuck hates rain. He found a new perching place on the railing of my work-platform, where he has a roof over his head.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Good morning All!

 

[Canadian Wind]

The only solution to the "too many drakes" problem is ordering more ducks at a hatchery! Fortunately all my drakes are gentle with the ladies, with the exception of the Monty-Phytons. They are drakeholes…

That's what you get for naming them after the Pythons!

Still my favourite comedy act of all times.

 

[Canadian Wind]

Greetings from the Lonely North. Starting to go stir crazy.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

For those, who still not believe that you can eat the cake and can keep it, here is the proof that it i possible for a potatoe-cake. Those were the sprouting eyes, i cut off my potatoes before i ate them and placed them in shallow water:

After a couple of days, i laid the developing plants on some soil and started to cover them with more and more soil until, yesterday:

Almost all of them were ready to be planted into the ground (the little green fuzzies in the foreground):

I kept the six smallest potatoes and planted them into pots, i am not sure what to do with those, my garden is full now.

 

[Luv Ducks]

It is very likely that the two black ducklings are pure bread Black Swedish. I have two Black Swedish hens and a Ralphie Dux (a mis-sexed duckling). Ralphie is my largest and strongest drake and keeps every other drake away from "his" ducks. - With the exception of Tweedledum Drake who grew up with him. But Tweedledum is a light breed and i don't see how he would be successful with a Black Swedish hen…
We'll see when they grow up.
The only solution to the "too many drakes" problem is ordering more ducks at a hatchery! Fortunately all my drakes are gentle with the ladies, with the exception of the Monty-Phytons. They are drakeholes…

Don't under estimate Tweedledum my friend because the daddy to mine is a Call and I don't have a single Call Hen. It wasn't from my Mallard as the egg was white and she lays light green. My Muscovy was the one with the muddy back so I think she might have been the Momma. I can see wondering Whose Your Daddy but I have to play instead, Whose Your Momma!!! LOL