Muscovy Duckling questions

[Smoochie]

Somehow these came home from the feedstore last week

. They were napping with some 7 week polish in the picture.
I've never owned ducks

. I am feeding them layer crumble, boiled eggs, and fruit/veggies daily and bought one of those green turtle kiddie pools from Toys R Us. They sleep in the Brooder box locked up at night with my young chickens that are 7-8 weeks old that LOVE the new ducks (at first they were so afraid of the ducks that waddled around like they owned the joint).

1.When can I tell if they are a drake or duck? They all seem quite similar in size.
2. How old do you think they are?
3. Should I try picking them up? Should I pick them up like a chicken underneath (gently holding the feet with the fingers)? They are not overly shy of me but shuffle away when I try to touch them.
4. How cautious of predators do I need to be? I live Western Canada. They are in a very safe enclosed run but I do like to let my chickens out supervised in the yard but it is open but has the woods on either side. I have never lost a chicken and have lots of feisty large game hens watching over however they look like very easy owl/hawk food. Do they run under cover like chickens?



Picture sleeping with 7 weeks old Polish hens. They were all cuddled up until I disturbed them.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Somehow these came home from the feedstore last week

. They were napping with some 7 week polish in the picture.
I've never owned ducks

. I am feeding them layer crumble, boiled eggs, and fruit/veggies daily and bought one of those green turtle kiddie pools from Toys R Us. They sleep in the Brooder box locked up at night with my young chickens that are 7-8 weeks old that LOVE the new ducks (at first they were so afraid of the ducks that waddled around like they owned the joint).

1.When can I tell if they are a drake or duck? They all seem quite similar in size.
2. How old do you think they are?
3. Should I try picking them up? Should I pick them up like a chicken underneath (gently holding the feet with the fingers)? They are not overly shy of me but shuffle away when I try to touch them.
4. How cautious of predators do I need to be? I live Western Canada. They are in a very safe enclosed run but I do like to let my chickens out supervised in the yard but it is open but has the woods on either side. I have never lost a chicken and have lots of feisty large game hens watching over however they look like very easy owl/hawk food. Do they run under cover like chickens?



Picture sleeping with 7 weeks old Polish hens. They were all cuddled up until I disturbed them.

Congrats on your new adventure with ducks, they are so fun to have, With Muscovy's to tell the difference between drake and duck is around 5 weeks the drakes will really start to grow and the ducks look like they have stopped. The legs on the drakes will be thicker and set further apart than the ducks also They look to be around 3-4 weeks old You can pick them up if you want but most ducks really don't like to be held I only hold mine when I have to for clipping wings etc. They do fly by the way. so if you want to keep them out of your neighbors yard and out of their dogs mouth you may want to clip a wing. They are bad for roosting on your roof too. lol which can bring in the owls for supper. They will not run for cover like our chickens will, usually if our roosters sound the warning they will just look up and watch the hawk. So ducks are an easier target for preds flying and on land. but I do let mine out to free range and we are surrounded by woods. I supervise mine too. Your ducks are pretty keep posting as they grow because it is always interesting to see what color they turn out to be. They change so much over their first months,. Do your yellow ones have blue eyes? if so they will be solid white.

 

[Grassman 52]

Another thing to be careful of is deep pools - Ducks will sink when young and the water should only be a couple of inches deep with a way to get out.

 

[jdywntr]

you also don't want to feed growing birds layer feed. it has to much calcium in it for growing birds and can cause problems. a starter or a grower feed is better. congrats on the new additions.

 

[Smoochie]

Thanks everyone for the replies and great advice. All my coops have top fencing and we have no neighbors and very tall dense cedar fencing so I am not sure if I need to clip and a three storey house. Really good to know about how they are more risk to raptors and hawks. The kiddy pool is only 3-4 inches deep and I am working on a extensive water pond feature in the coming months. I am not sure if the white ones have blue eyes... hard to tell. Not as dark as the mottled one.







Snuck under my veggie garden gate!

 

[Smoochie]

Oh I just thought if something else.

5. How well do they get along with older hens? In particular some large game hens? It is just I have this one "Misery" that attacks rabbits and squirrels and chases them off the property (which I LOVE however I would not want her to do this to the ducklings). Do you think some between the fence visits may help? thank-you

 

[Miss Lydia]

Oh I just thought if something else.

5. How well do they get along with older hens? In particular some large game hens? It is just I have this one "Misery" that attacks rabbits and squirrels and chases them off the property (which I LOVE however I would not want her to do this to the ducklings). Do you think some between the fence visits may help? thank-you

For sure, a full grown game hen could put a hurting on a duckling, I have a few of them myself and when I have ducklings I always keep the mama and ducklings separated by temp fencing till they are at least 3 weeks old. so hens can get use to them. Those are precious ducklings Enjoy.