The Duck Thread

[CyndiD]

I have a question we got our ducks send in the mail basically they were pretty small..they are now 1 year old can they fly? How do I know? They've tried to lift but never get anywhere so I think they can't..do breeders clip their wings ealry

Hi, i have runners, pekins and buffs. my runner & buff drakes can climb my fence (3.5') and when they get to/t top of it they fly for about 20'. if they really want to be w/their ladies, (when i have them seperated) they will climb, hop and fly. they can run pretty fast and if there is small drop off on our property (our property is hilly) they can get airborn for about 20' long and about 2'-3' off the ground. i think some people will clip one wing to off-balance the bird. there is a special technique to clipping wings, we must know what we are doing before attempting this.
what kind of ducks do you have? my pekins can not get off the ground at all, they are too heavy. i have 2 blue swedes, but they are only 1mo right now, but i dont think they will be able to get very high off the ground either. my runner ducks (females) can run-fly, they get off the gorund about 1'-2' only, if scared/spooked or ust excited and running around. hope this helps?

 

[CyndiD]

Nesting help!
Hi I'm just after some advice on my female Muscovy duck who has laid her first clutch of eggs. This was about a month ago. They weren't fertilised so I took the eggs away and she continues to sit in the nest... She hasn't laid any since but will not come out. I take her out once a day and she eats, swims and socialises but then returns to the nest after about 20 minutes. She seems to be losing weight as she's very light and looks smaller. What do I do from here? Is it healthy for her to keep sitting, do ducks go through stages? I really don't know and any help would be appreciated

Hi i dont have scovey, but my runner duck went broody last yr for her first time, and she did not have a drake. she sat on 2 of her eggs and then her sister would lay one egg a day and she would sit on those. i started to date them and i would take the older ones out every 2-3 days. i let her sit on them even though i knew they would not ever develop. her sister started laying her egg ea day away from the nesting box for about 5 days, then her sister stopped laying eggs and went into the duck house and would lay right next to her sister who was sitting on eggs. then i put a chicken egg under the broody duck and it hatched, but being a first time mom she squished the chick, it couldnt get out from under the duck. all this went on for about 2 months then i finally took all the eggs out and she stopped being broody. she went back to being a duck again and started laying again after she molted. this yr she and her sister hatched 10 duckings together. i bought a blue and a chocolate drake and female ducks... i have LOTS of ducks now!!!
that's my story and im sticking to it!! have fun. hope this helps?
I would shut the door to the nesting box, if you can. try keeping her out of that area all day, until bed time, for a few days and see if this change in routine changes her mind set??? just a suggestion.
Maybe @Miss Lydia can help us out here... she has scovey's

 

[AxolotlLove]

If they are pekins the chance of them ever actually hatching their eggs is low. I won't say it's impossible because I have a pekin that goes broody but in general the broodiness has been bred out of them in order to increase production, so unfortunately without investing in an incubator or getting another duck of a breed that is broody you may not ever get ducklings out of them.

Yes, pekins usually don't go broody. My pekin girls never laid eggs on land either, always in the water... In the 3 years I had them I got 4 eggs between 2.

 

[AxolotlLove]

He sure is beautiful!

@AxolotlLove
  X2

x2
Love your new avatar, AxolotlLove!

Thank you!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Nesting help!
Hi I'm just after some advice on my female Muscovy duck who has laid her first clutch of eggs. This was about a month ago. They weren't fertilised so I took the eggs away and she continues to sit in the nest... She hasn't laid any since but will not come out. I take her out once a day and she eats, swims and socialises but then returns to the nest after about 20 minutes. She seems to be losing weight as she's very light and looks smaller. What do I do from here? Is it healthy for her to keep sitting, do ducks go through stages? I really don't know and any help would be appreciated

What a pretty girl, oh boy these broody's I have found that it is best once broody to just let it run it's course as long as your making sure she is eating and drinking and bathing.
I have had scovy's for over 12 yrs now and have tried it all closing up the nest box, tossing them outside etc. Some are just programmed different. And Scovy's are ones that love to brood. Last 2 yrs I have one female that started brooding in April and went straight through till end of Sept. She was even late with her molt. So this yr at 5 yrs old I finally relented and gave her eggs to sit because I wanted some Runners. She was a great broody and a great mom but by 3 weeks she was ready to hand them over to another mama that had also hatched out some Runners so this one has had her enjoyment for the year she is happily back with her drake and flock.

I did have one broody that went about 2 weeks before I decided to put her outside and I took out her nest she had made [no eggs] and put in fresh shaving when she went back to her stall she was confused and did not stay in the stall. She is the only one that this worked with.

 

[mischievouslady]

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we have to have patience w/our ducks. most situations are on their time, not ours. just enjoy them and let them come together on their terms and time. we are their caretakers and our reward is being able to watch them co-exist. we have to keep them safe from eachother also.
have fun and ejoy them, their life span is many many years to come. thanks

doesn't matter anymore. My Henry got killed last night.

 

[mischievouslady]

Beautiful duck!

When I introduced my 5 new babies to the adults (2 Pekins) I had a partition down the center of their enclosure. The adults could come and go but the babies stayed in the enclosure 24/7. I kept the partition up for about 2 weeks. Then I let them be together only while they are free ranging, at night they were separated, I did this for about a week then I allowed them to do as they wished. The adults hung around with the babies but always out of the way. At night they were all together, I had very few problems. The only aggression I ever saw was from the babies to the adults. The adults just scoot out of the way and look at the babies as if to say "Cool It!!!". Lol

Now (the babies are 3 months old) everyone is together 24/7, no problems.

Good luck!

doesn't matter anymore. My Henry got killed last night.

 

[Miss Lydia]

doesn't matter anymore. My Henry got killed last night.

What happened? I am so sorry

 

[Lamaremybabies]

doesn't matter anymore. My Henry got killed last night.

That's horrible! I'm so sorry for your loss.

 

[mischievouslady]

What happened? I am so sorry 

something pulled his head through the fence last night. He must have fallen a sleep right next to it. Figures i post his picture and ask a question then he gets killed. He didnt even really get a chance to be part of the new flock.