The Duck Thread

[chickengirl72]

i tried vent sexing our hatchlings and couldn't see a thing, they all looked the same!

@Miss Lydia Thanks for all the info about how your feed your ducks! I will give it a try and see how it goes. My ducklings all love peas, so i think if i sprinkle some peas on top, they'll probably try it.

My husband picked up a truckload of hemlock shavings, and i tried it with our ducklings but they all started eating it. I covered the shavings with paper towels and they ate that, and kept after the hemlock shavings! They've been using a spruce/pine/fir mix which looks exactly the same but they weren't eating that!! I ended up getting rid of all the new shavings, and i've got to go back to the feed store and pick up another bag of the mix that they weren't eating. Do you think if i gradually added the new kind to what they were used to before that they might just leave it alone?

 

[Miss Lydia]

i tried vent sexing our hatchlings and couldn't see a thing, they all looked the same!

@Miss Lydia Thanks for all the info about how your feed your ducks! I will give it a try and see how it goes. My ducklings all love peas, so i think if i sprinkle some peas on top, they'll probably try it.

My husband picked up a truckload of hemlock shavings, and i tried it with our ducklings but they all started eating it. I covered the shavings with paper towels and they ate that, and kept after the hemlock shavings! They've been using a spruce/pine/fir mix which looks exactly the same but they weren't eating that!! I ended up getting rid of all the new shavings, and i've got to go back to the feed store and pick up another bag of the mix that they weren't eating. Do you think if i gradually added the new kind to what they were used to before that they might just leave it alone?

How old are your ducklings? usually by a couple weeks old they may taste the shavings but not eat it. I use old clean towels for a couple weeks when I have any new poultry babies. Just so they get to know what food is. Try mixing some of the hemlock shaving just to see how they react.

 

[luvmyduck]

How old are your ducklings? usually by a couple weeks old they may taste the shavings but not eat it. I use old clean towels for a couple weeks when I have any new poultry babies. Just so they get to know what food is. Try mixing some of the hemlock shaving just to see how they react.

Good morning,all...my duck ate everything I put down in her bed, and still does at 2 yrs. old. I use baby blankets for her, I do have to shake them out and wash them often..

 

[AxolotlLove]

Hello. My magpie duckling (8 weeks) is almost full grown. She is growing some brown feathers though along with her black and white feathers. Anyone know why...

Also my female black runner (1 week younger than magpie) is growing green feathers on her head,.... :/

 

[chickengirl72]

They're a couple of weeks old now. We have runners that hatched on the 4th and 5th and Pekins that we got as dayolds on the 10th. I'm put them all in together today in a bigger pen, they've outgrown the rabbit crates that i had them in. They're all getting along together anyways!

My husband was going to pick up alder shavings but the guys at the mill said that the hemlock ones were better for our chickens. One of the guys farms and he said that chickens would eat alder shavings until they die!! And then our ducks started to wolf down the hemlock shavings... I'm pretty sure they were eating them. They're all ok today anyways. If we can't use the hemlock shavings for the ducks they'll get used up somewhere else for sure! I think there's somewhere else i can get a truck of pine bedding, but it's not as nice, it's a bit chunkier.

 

[Miss Lydia]

They're a couple of weeks old now. We have runners that hatched on the 4th and 5th and Pekins that we got as dayolds on the 10th. I'm put them all in together today in a bigger pen, they've outgrown the rabbit crates that i had them in. They're all getting along together anyways!

My husband was going to pick up alder shavings but the guys at the mill said that the hemlock ones were better for our chickens. One of the guys farms and he said that chickens would eat alder shavings until they die!! And then our ducks started to wolf down the hemlock shavings... I'm pretty sure they were eating them. They're all ok today anyways. If we can't use the hemlock shavings for the ducks they'll get used up somewhere else for sure! I think there's somewhere else i can get a truck of pine bedding, but it's not as nice, it's a bit chunkier.

I buy horse bedding at feed store. it's in bales and about 6.00 a bale so far they haven't eaten any of it it's mixed wood, large size instead of small that might be too tempting to eat. Are you keeping food/water for them 24/7? Mine just turned 3 weeks on Friday.

 

[Margot30]

Here are some updated pics of my Saxony cross trout indian runner ducks. They are the best of buds!

 

[dazza1965]

Got a drake question.

I have 3 females and 1 drake. The drake will mate with all of them. But 1 of the females he is very rough with. So much so that he has ripped the skin off the top of her head and part of the neck. The other females do not suffer the abuse? Like that.

I have separated them for over a week now and he has 2 females with him and the other female is separate but close by so they can talk and see each other.
I am curios to k ow why he is so aggressive toward the 1 female?

 

[gander007]

Here are some updated pics of my Saxony cross trout indian runner ducks. They are the best of buds!

So cute and I believe you have some real bud's there .

 

[Ihaveducks]

Probably a stupid question.
I have three brown mallard, I always thought brown mallards : female. But they have green heads coming? Male or female? Dosent really matter but would just be nice to know.