Bantam Duck Page

[BlackBrookPoultry]

Hi everyone! I`m not sure this is the right place to post this, but since it pertains to call ducks, I thought this might be a good place to ask. So I got a pair of white call ducks about 2 months ago and they're currently living in a large dog kennel. I`m feeding them flock raiser and corn. The hen just started laying about a week ago and everything was fine until yesterday when she started holding her wing wrong. She seems fine other than her wing, but I don't know whats wrong. Any suggestions?

Those are some nice quality call ducks

 

[momo18clara]

Those are some nice quality call ducks

Thanks! I absolutely LOVE them! They are the first true call ducks I've ever had. Thankfully the hens wing seems to be almost completely better now too!

 

[Duck Lover3000]

Hi everyone i was wondering can i turn my bantam duck eggs or will the duckling drown in the egg hey eggs are currently being sat on by my bantam cayuga duck but I want to candle them but my mum will not let me because she said i will drown them even though I know that the mothers turn them anyway but she won't listen

 

[hfchristy]

drown them? You don't want to dry them out by having them out in the open too long, but I can't imagine how candling them would "drown" anything.
I incubated eggs from an Australian Spotted duck, some of which had been fathered by a Cayuga/Blue Swede drake, and while they didn't all make it, I imagine that had more to do with the wild swings in incubator temp than with turning/candling, which are both recommended when you're using an incubator.

 

[BlackBrookPoultry]

Yes, you can take them out of the nest and candle. The duckling will not "drown", the hen turns them multiple times per day. The duckling is not taking in any oxygen through its lungs until it actually pips through the membrane of the shell. I candle all of my chicken and duck eggs and toss the ones that are not forming or that have died.

 

[Duck Lover3000]

Thanks for your help I think they have about 4-5 more days until they hatch

 

[Duck Lover3000]

Thanks for your help I think they have about 4-5 more days until they hatch

 

[Duck Lover3000]

I have a bantam cayuga who is sitting on a clutch of 18 eggs that are at day 25 will I hear them start to cheep soon or don't all ducklings do that

 

[hfchristy]

I've never heard of bantam cayugas. Are they supposed to take 28 days to hatch, or fewer because they're bantams? I had heard 26 days for Australian Spotted eggs, but I set them late to try to hatch at the same time as the Welsh Harlequins that I was incubating with them, and they hatched late.

Last year, I remember hearing lots of peeping and rattling as the eggs rocked on the hardware cloth floor, but this year there was nothing at all until after the external pip. And even then they were really quiet until they were about to pop out. I was really worried that meant that they were weak or sickly, but they've been a hardy, healthy group of ducklings.
No clue what makes them peep a lot sometimes and not much other times, but I don't think it's anything to worry about.

 

[aprille218]

Could you mean East Indies? They look similar to Cayugas but are much smaller. Any small ( bantam sized) duck takes between 25-28 days to hatch.