We Did It... we got two little ducklings! (Pictures Included)

[Nifty-Chicken]

Thanks everyone for the posts. Our plan is to keep them inside with us as long as possible (so they will really bond with us) and then let them out with the rest of our girls.

We're really hoping they are both female and quiet. Anybody have runners or blue Swedish and can say how loud / quiet they are compared to standard breed hens (chickens)?

 

[NiftyChick]

I think our Blue Swedish is trying to learn to quack. Cute little breathy noises. Tried to take a video to post, but she (he?) stopped making the noises. How old are they when they begin really quacking?

The little runner has a cute fluff tuft on it's head...do you think it will keep that? And is there any way to sex them at this point?

They are SO cute! This is so much fun!

 

[chickens^^]

I have 3 pekin whites. 1 is suppose to be a Pekin White but it has alot of gray in it and it is very different from the other chickens. Pekin Whites are a heavy breed and a good meat and egg bird.-I hate saying the meat part because I would never kill one of my ducks unless it really needed to be killed, even then I would not eat it. I am a huge fan of Khaki Campbells. They are great egg layers. Not a fan of runners. They 'stand up' instead of 'squatting' like the usual duck. By the way, one way to sex them is with the males you will see a curled feather in the back and the males are larger. The females do not have the 'drake feather' and they are smaller.

 

[NiftyChick]

Thanks for the tip on "drake feather," Chickens^^.

I did a forum search for "drake feather" and found this post: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=2225 (in case anyone else is curious about it).

So far no curl, but maybe they'll need to have more tail feathers before that really happens.

 

[SandraChick]

COOLNESS! you got a runner!

About the noise...I have 3 runner ducks- 2 hens and a drake- drake is quiet but talks all the time and the two hens...well their quacks are both louder, but one talks all the time (unusual for a hen) and the other only speaks when she's giving an alarm call --then again she couldn't get a quack in edgewise

They are less noisy than a chicken doing the "I laid an egg" serenade, but noisier than the general clucking throughout the day.

Sandra

PS---so I guess now we need the hug a duck smiley over on this BYC!!!!!! psst...it's ky over there.

 

[loopy]

Yeay!, cute ducks. In the movie "Babe" Ferdinand the duck is a runner. I think that was his name.
Cute Pics too!

 

[Saltiena]

i have had runners, but never the blue, i have had pekin whites, they were so cuddly and nice they were so sweet & so were the runners congrats on the new budles of joy

 

[Critter Crazy]

Awww...how cute!! I have some ducks as well. Right now I have one cayuga, 2 Pekins, and two Silver Appleyards. On Monday I will hopefully have some Crested Ducks to add, all depends on how well the hatch goes.

 

[MissPrissy]

Very cute little ducks. When will you be getting geese?

 

[Henrietta23]

LOL, MP!!!
Our two blue swedish ducklings are 4 weeks old now and tooo cute! Congrats on your new babies Mr and Mrs Nifty! Still waiting for feathers to see if we have ducks or drakes. Hoping for two khaki campbells too. Our TSC gets their chicks and ducklings TOMORROW! Oh, did I mention I should have 14 new chicks here by Monday evening??