What do I do when our ducks hatch!

[ginah77]

Hi everyone! I'm new here but constantly looking for answers so I figured, why not be a member? Lol! I'm the mom of 4 ducks, 1 khaki campbell, 2 runners and 1 pekin. The runners are the newest addition as of last February. We kept all of them as babies in the house with supervised outside time until they were old enough to be outside full time. Our Pekin started laying eggs a few months back but we never found them together, just laying in odd places. They have a house with straw to nest in but she always ended up just laying in the yard or on our dock. Our ducks are not in a pen, they have full access to a 4 acre pond on our property. We feed them daily and love on them. I am curious though, she has just recently figured out to lay in her nest and sit on her eggs. What do I do when they hatch? Do I need to bring the littles in and care for them or do I let mom do all the work? The pond is too big and they aren't waterproof for several weeks. I know ducks handle this in the wild but I'm nervous they'll drown. Will mom even let me take her babies? Any advice? Thanks!

 

[Pork Pie]

Hi and welcome to BYC - thanks for joining us. Sorry, I know nothing about ducks, but these guys do, so it may be best to post your question on this forum - https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/42/ducks

More generally, you'll find lots of info in the Learning Centre - https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center and if you have a specific topic in mind, just type it in the search box - there's a wealth of information on past and present threads.

You may wish to consider joining your state thread as it will put you in touch with other BYC members in your area - https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/270925/find-your-states-thread#post_3239224

All the best
CT

 

[Chicken Girl1]

Hello

and Welcome to BYC!
So glad you joined us! I suggest you check out the duck forum: https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/42/ducks and the learning center which has lots of helpful articles: https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center

 

[Teila]

G’Day from down under Louisa

Welcome!

As you have already received links to some good starting points, I will just wish you all the best.

I hope you enjoy being a BYC member. There are lots of friendly and very helpful folks here so not only is it overflowing with useful information it is also a great place to make friends and have some fun.

If you would like to share pictures and stories of your flock, you have come to the right place. BYC’ers never tire of these and do not back away slowly or commence eye rolling when the photo album or home videos come out

 

[drumstick diva]

Broody mamas usually do a very good job of raising their babies. Give her a chance.

 

[shortgrass]

Welcome to BYC


As @Teila mentioned it.... Here ya go

Granted, its a Mallard, and a great natural broody. Her ducklings are a week old in this pic, but she had them in the water by day 2. Ducks are amazingly easy to leave with the hen to brood. They're much hardier than we assume


Enjoy your babies!

 

[ginah77]

Thank you all so much! I would love to let the moms do their thing but I should have also mentioned that 2 of our 4 ducks are drakes. They can be pretty aggressive with the females at times. Should I be concerned about this with the ducklings? I've read drakes will try to kill them and since they're free range I'm trying to figure out what's safe for mom and babies. I can picture myself running around like a crazy person trying to scoop up a bunch of ducklings and mom to get into a pen. Maybe move the 2 females and their nests into a pen before the babies come? If I move their nests with they abandon them? Thoughts?