My Love Affair With Ducks...

[Mimi13]

You can see her gulping whatever she found in the yuk!

 

[Mimi13]

The others are physically ok, but since i only let them loose when i am outside, the drakes are fighting each other and are forcing themselves on the ducks.

Can you split them into the two bedrooms you made for them? You may have to add a little run and rotate access to it, girls one day, boys the next.

 

[Magnolia Ducks]

Beautiful Duckies! You can clearly see the Runner duck heritage.

except these are not. I got the eggs from a different source for some diversity as all the adults I have now are full siblings. These are WH, Saxony cross. I suspect the yellow might be full Saxony. I have been perplexed by the upright stance and the coloring.

 

[Mimi13]

Feathers are breaking through the skin! Had this jumping up and running around with every duckling so far. Sometimes the squeak before they jump up.

So the feathers popping through is definitely what causes the unknown sudden scurrying? I just thought it was a sudden spurt of energy. I have wondered though if the feathers’ emerging stage was painful to ducks like it is chickens. Are ducks’ emerging feathers called “pin feathers” filled with blood, like chickens’? The duck’s feathers don’t seem to be made quite the same as a chickens, that I can tell yet anyway. A chicken’s feathers emerge completely surrounded by a waxy sheath or whatever, that peels off during preening after the blood supply has dried up, leaving the quill. I haven’t gotten that far on watching the ducks’ yet, but so far I’ve not seen anything like the sort. What I have noticed is (mostly seen on the tail feathers, cause they’re bigger) the “baby feather” appears to have that waxy sheath on the end of it that has ahold of the emerging feather, and once the emerging feather has actually broken the skin barrier, the waxy sheath turns loose, thus the losing of the baby feather. I may be wrong, so correct me if I am.

I have also studied their feet in depth and I thought this was cool. Their front three toes (hind toe excluded) each have a different number of knuckles. Weird huh? The inside toe has two bendable knuckles. The middle toe has three bendable knuckles and the outside toe has four bendable knuckles. It can completely curl up tight. Don’t even ask me why I like inspecting everything about them, but I do. My first two Buff Orpington chickens were so gracious for letting me poke, prod, and pull everything on them. I know way more useless knowledge regarding chickens that anyone I’m sure. If only it was useful stuff.

 

[Mimi13]

Now that is true duckling love! Huddling with their humon momma. You're very lucky, none of my duckling ever did that with me.

Maybe that’s just the difference in a momma and a daddy, you reckon?

 

[Mimi13]

Cardboard and tarp-brooder? - One morning they will have the tarp pulled down, chewed through the cardboard and there will be poop everywhere!
My Spring Ducklings did that once successfully and one failed attempt - i used two tarps!

These little boogers are smart. They always seem to be into something.

I used a tarp that was way too big so it was folded I think four times and then a few more times in some places. I only put the tarp on the floor. I had already wrapped the walls and cabinet with thicker than normal plastic, but that did not deter them from Trying To Find A Weakness In The Barrier!

And guess who was the ring leader? Of course she was! Petey is always in the middle of it all! I believe the duckies checked out every inch of the surrounding walls.

 

[Mimi13]

You know, that video is a bit disturbing. And to think I kiss them...right after I’ve seen them eat poop in the bath tub.

 

[Mimi13]

first brooder escape this morning. The yellow one went walkabout. 18 days old. 14 in the picture. View attachment 2100447
View attachment 2100445

They are precious and the dark ones are beautifully colored. What breed are they?

 

[Mimi13]

except these are not. I got the eggs from a different source for some diversity as all the adults I have now are full siblings. These are WH, Saxony cross. I suspect the yellow might be full Saxony. I have been perplexed by the upright stance and the coloring.

Then the lines I see on the faces of the dark ones are the two lines that the Saxony has on its face/head. That was the reason I got the Saxony, but she just didn’t make it.

 

[Mimi13]

Do duckies generally lounge around quite a bit or are mine depressed or bored? I mean, I love just sitting out here in the warm sunshine, with a nice north easterly breeze (with a few strong gusts), but a little duckie might not.

And little Hershey looks like she’s got a minor case of dandruff where her little down feathers are coming out.

Hey now, don’t be judging the dirty jeans. At least you can’t see the poop on them.