We think our Drake just killed our first Duckling :-(

[NorthCalFamily6]

After the painstaking process of incubating our very first duck eggs by hand and not being very good at it ...we were thrilled with the arrival of Liberty ! At 4 weeks old we tried to introduce her back into the pen with Mum and Dad ( Scarlett and Brodie -the Drake ) in a cage each day, sleeping inside the barn at night, so they could get use to looking at their new baby. Today I made the mistake of leaving the gate open on the little cage to give Liberty the opportunity to come out if she wanted to. She did when we were not watching her :-(....and while we were in the barn we think ( not sure which one ) but we think the Drake :-( as he never likes us coming near both them...killed her :-( but maybe we are wrong ??....the kids and I are so, so sad, the kids are crying.....any advice and tips are welcome to help us be better Duck raisers for our next duckling.

just a few extra things to know - we put Scarletts eggs in an incubator as she didn't want to sit on them or so we think, maybe Brodie rolled the eggs out ??....Scarletts was covered in blood when we came out to find Liberty?? Blood on her chest, and the baby duck head was bitten :-(...no blood on Brodie ?? we have no idea...

Thanks for any help or tips.

B

 

[needlessjunk]

Sounds like she killed the little one. Sorry for the loss. Some ducks do not go broody and won't sit or hatch their own. It is not uncommon for females to kill their own ducklings when they hatch or for males to do it. Next time you should wait till they are the same size before introducing them. 4 weeks is very young and ducks don't see smaller ducks as "theirs". Have you read through the sticky? I'm on my phone or else I would link it. What kind of ducks do you have?

 

[NorthCalFamily6]

Thank you for your reply. We have Swedish Crest Ducks.

 

[needlessjunk]

Thank you for your reply. We have Swedish Crest Ducks.

Are they crested, meaning they both have a poof on the top of their heads?

 

[NorthCalFamily6]

Yes this is correct

 

[Amiga]

So sad for your loss. Ducks have different personalities - so it is difficult to predict how they will react. It takes some time to figure things out - and we all have had very sad surprises in one way or another, I suspect.

 

[NorthCalFamily6]

Thank you. Its been nice to find this forum. We love our ducks but for now the kids hate the mum and dad duck :-(...Im hoping we have a bit better luck with our next ducklings now I know. Im wondering too if age has anything to do with it. Scarlett and Brodie the mum and dad Duck are only a year old each - are they young parents or does that not make any difference ? They have white Pom Pom things in their heads the Drake ones is bigger......

 

[Amiga]

It can make a difference - often first-time duck parents turn on duckings.

Try talking to the kids about how there are hormones that make the ducks do things - they do not think like us, even though they can be smart. The hormones make them feel a certain way and do bad things sometimes. It can happen with drakes mating roughly with females, or adults attacking little ones.

That was one of the big lessons for me with ducks - hormones drive just about everything they do.

 

[DemonicFowl]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/338488/introducing-young-new-ducks-to-older-ducks could help. It can be a tedious thing to introduce ducks. I introduced my scovies to my cayuga over 2 months. I just wanted to make sure they would be ok seeing as E'aster's the boss and Solveig is the muscle. What she says goes lol. Sorry to hear of your loss .

 

[needlessjunk]

Thank you. Its been nice to find this forum. We love our ducks but for now the kids hate the mum and dad duck :-(...Im hoping we have a bit better luck with our next ducklings now I know. Im wondering too if age has anything to do with it. Scarlett and Brodie the mum and dad Duck are only a year old each - are they young parents or does that not make any difference ? They have white Pom Pom things in their heads the Drake ones is bigger......

With both of them being crested you should not be hatching out any of their eggs. Around 25% died before hatching due to the crest gene. The ones that do make it have a chance of having neurological problems. You can breed a crested and a non crested but it is not a good idea at all to breed 2 crested ducks. That may explain why you had such difficulties with hatching. I'm sorry for your loss.

Here is something worth reading http://poultrykeeper.com/duck-breeds/crested-ducks

Edit to fix the wrong percentage