When to remove ducklings from mother?

[lauralou]

Ah, when to remove them from mother...

Well, I'm no expert, and muscovy ducks are different from mallard-derived ducks. I let the broody momma keep her babies as long as she wanted this time, and that was a mistake. She continued to mother them for 3 full months!!!! I just moved them to another pen a few days ago. Because she looked like she was about to drop an egg. Her rear end was almost dragging the ground. Sure enough, she laid an egg the very next morning. Not fertile, of course, because I put the drake in with her when I moved the babies out. (Bummer!)

In retrospect, I should have taken them from her at 6 weeks, or maybe 7. They were big enough, and had plenty of feathers. I actually sold most of them off at 7 1/2 weeks. And I wasn't at all worried about how they would do in there new homes. They looked like grown ducks.

But even the estimate of 6 to 7 weeks may be too long. I can't quite remember when they feathered out. That would be my thought for your case, to take them when they are reasonably well feathered. Especially with colder weather right around the corner.

But I could be wrong about that. I have no experience with Call ducks at all. I don't think that I've ever even seen one! Hopefully someone who knows will be able to give you a better answer.

 

[Feathered Wings]

Quote:
Thank you

They will be 4 weeks in 3 days and are starting to show feathering beginning.
By what you have told me i think i will wait maybe another week or i may move them now.
They are eating and doing wonderfully and our temps are in the 80s daytime 60s at night.
so i'm not concerned with chilling them and they sit beside her now she hasn't covered them in a while.

Thanks Again

 

[Sunny Side Up]

I've only had one duck go broody, a Khaki, and had to take her duckling away after just a week. But that was because she was hanging out with her little flock, 1 drake + 3 other ducks (so my son named the duckling Six), and the drake started being aggressive & biting the duckling. I kept Six in a pen with some other chicken chicks who were the same age, there wasn't any other company for her but them. Now she's joined a group of 4 other ducklings just a few weeks older, ones hatched & raised by a bantam hen named Biscuit. So we refer to those ducklings as the Little Biscuits.

Even though I try to handle my ducklings a lot when they're little, they all run away from my approach shrieking as if I were a monster. I don't know, maybe you have to handle ducklings a whole lot more to make them tolerant & friendly. I just don't have the time to even try.

It seems the older ones are finally realizing that we just may not be The Enemy, and don't run away as fast any more. My flock is mostly Khakis plus 2 Pekins. As long as they keep leaving me their deeeelicious eggs they can think whatever they want about me.

I still don't know if taking ducklings away from their mama at an early age will make them more friendly towards people. Especially if the Mama is herself approachable. I think that chicks & ducks learn a lot of important lessons from their moms & I like to leave them together for as long as possible, as long as Mama wants to stay with them. And if your Mama duck is friendly towards you, she will eventually teach her kids that you're not such a bad sort after all.

 

[1duckychick]

Well, ducks are skittish by nature so don't take the freak out personally!

I've had my 6 since the day after they cracked! And I've been crazy cuddly with them. They're still skittish when I go to pick them up and there are times that they simply want no part of being picked up and cuddled (well, they've never really been thrilled with the cuddling part - they've tolerated it tho). But, they know when they "need" to be picked up and carried (the non-flyers need help down the back deck stairs) and they let me pick them up then w/o much of a fuss. They'll also eat treats and regular duck feed right out of our hands. I've even taught a couple of them to give kisses.

Even with all this handling and attention, they still jump and freak when we move at them quickly and protest loudly when they don't want to be held. They're least skittish with me then with anyone else but they'll let my kids pet them and only mildly freak out when my DH tries (unless he has peas!)

The advice you've gotted so far is best - make yourself a constant presence in their living area, bear treats, and work your way up to petting. Treats are key tho. You want them to get used to being not only a non-threatening presence but a pleasant one too!

 

[Dances with Ducks]

I think Calls are supposed to be one of the friendlier breeds of ducks. Most ducks arent very friendly to people, but I think you could expect more from your Calls. You could remove the mother at any time as long as the ducklings can be warm enough. There are some guidelines about how warm ducklings need to be as they get older, something like 90 degrees the first week and decreasing 10 degrees each week. So depending on how cold it gets you may need to give them some extra heat at night, maybe for a week or so.
And then sit/lie down near them and give them a lot of treats until they are eating out of your hands, and crawling on your lap. If you can spend a lot of time with them you may win them back. They do go through a stand-offish teenage phase, it would be good to try to catch them before that starts, but when it does just know they will get over it.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Quote:
Do you think this applies to human teenagers too, or just ducks?

 

[Dances with Ducks]

It did to mine!!!

 

[pollizichickens]

My mama Muscovy hatched 15 ducklings. I had no other choice but to remove them after they were only a day old. I have them in a play pen with a light on them. I purchased baby game duck feed for them to eat so they have water and food in proper containers. The containers were left over from when I raised my baby chicks. Basically I am treating them the same as I did with my baby chicks. My question is, if anyone can help me is, was it to soon to have removed them from the mama and when will they start eating the food?

 

[chickenlver2013]

My mama Muscovy hatched 15 ducklings.  I had no other choice but to remove them after they were only a day old.  I have them in a play pen with a light on them.  I purchased baby game duck feed for them to eat so they have water and food in proper containers.  The containers were left over from when I raised my baby chicks.  Basically I am treating them the same as I did with my baby chicks.  My question is, if anyone can help me is, was it to soon to have removed them from the mama and when will they start eating the food?

When a chick or a duckling hatches, it takes about 3 days before they start eating because they use those 3 days to absorb nutrients from the egg they hatched from. So give them time and kind of take your finger and peck at the food to let them know what it is.

 

[andreacroyle]

You should have been holding them from the day they were born! Now they don't have ANY socialization from humans, so they think you're going to kill them, as being handled is very unnatural for them. If you had begun early (it's that same for puppies and kittens etc) they would be used to human interaction.

They're going to take A LOT OF WORK to get anywhere near 'people friendly'. Lots of time spent one on one, and still, they will probably never come to trust humans because you didn't spend the time with them as babies.


And I thought the mom kicked out her babies when they were ready like any other animal?? ;


Hope all goes well though.

I am very new to having ducks but I rescued two ducks one a 4 wk? duckling and a adult drake that was injured when hit by car. they are together but separated (for duckling safety) A Muscovy mom raised duckling until the day I took him. She wasnt a good mom and let her 13 ducklings get eaten one by one by predators in the area. I tried to catch her too but it was impossible. The scovies in my area are ??? wild/domesticated. They let you sit next to them and feed them but not touch them. They trust you enough to come to you and get treats. I have had the duckling for one week now. He went from being terrified to allowing me to hold him like a baby. I dont know about call ducks, but I think with any animal all it takes is treats and lots of time. If it wasnt too late for my duckling then it isnt for yours. I am quoting this post because I think it is a little to harshly said for a help forum. I have worked in several wildlife rehabs. Although I am now to ducks I have to disagree about never trusting humans. The ducklings are still babies and it will take much more work. My advice is to spend time with them and start out slowly with treats.