Pekin duck losing ducklings

[jaspersaitta]

Hey there, so I’ve had female pekin ducks for a while now I currently have 3 females.
About 4 months ago I brought a Drake, not long after I had 2 pekin ducks sitting on eggs.
The first mother hatched out 12 duckling's, she was very protective while sitting on them. But as soon as she was up and about, not so good of mother. The ducklings seemed to just huddle together not following her while she walked around and ate food she didn’t call to them at all, and only really had them under her at night.
I came back the next day and she had 5 ducklings left and then the next no ducklings.
I also have a hen with 8 chicks all thriving, so I don’t think they were killed, maybe she left them if they couldn’t keep up, they are in a quite big coop.
This is my first time having ducklings raised by a mother ducks are Pekin bad mothers, or is she a bad mother it is her first time.

The other duck has ducklings hatching currently just wondering if there is something I can do to help, or change, for more success.

Thanks heaps Jasper

 

[Andkingquail]

If you decide to hatch more ducklings from the Pekin duck you could move them in a brooder with a heat source once they hatch and later move them with the rest of the ducks once they grow older.

 

[CHlCKEN]

Some birds just aren’t great moms. Pekins especially are unlikely to even go broody in the first place. If she tries again and you let her, you’ll just need to move them inside to a brooder as soon as they’re hatched. So sorry to hear they all passed.

 

[Yardmom]

Keep an eye on the next mom, she might be better or not. The Pekin breed is not known to have good mothering skills.

I had one Pekin who loved being a mom. She would collect all ducklings that hatched when she had ducklings. It was quite comical to see a tiny creature mixed in when she would steal a new hatch when hers were two weeks old. Unfortunately even though she loved ducklings she still stepped on and squashed a couple of day olds.

I was sad to loose her to prolapse last summer.

 

[GraceValleyFarms]

Hello! Am I allowed to jump into this conversation with a similar situation?
We have 2 Pekins females (and 2 males) both hatched 6 ducklings in Aug and Sept and none survived. The ducks are free range and won’t go back into the duck house we put them in after brooding them. The put their nests in my flower beds.
We were so upset that they all disappeared or were killed by a heron ( we saw it stalking them and have since bought a heron decoy, which is working for now) and found them dead in the pond.
They were both first time moms and only a little over a year old. Two of the babies almost made it to adulthood, but then disappeared. It was rather heartbreaking to go through that twice.

NOW it’s November and one of the mamas is laying a clutch in the flower bed again. I am almost certain she will take the ducklings down to the pond the first day they hatch and they will probably freeze to death given it will be nearly December. should we try to catch her and relocate her clutch to a brooder room?

Also, any advice on making friends with ducks who are afraid of you? we have a male and female pair of gray Chinese geese who tell the ducks lies about us and keep them from becoming our friends

But mainly, what do I do with the mama and eggs?

We have had chickens for years, but decided to get some ducks and geese for the pond in 2023, so we are pretty new to this duck thing! Thanks!

 

[Yardmom]

Breaking a broody duck isn't usual as challenging as with a chicken. Often just removing the egg is all that is needed.
I have had Chickens raise winter broods, but I have not had ducks brood in winter.

 

[jaspersaitta]

Keep an eye on the next mom, she might be better or not. The Pekin breed is not known to have good mothering skills.

I had one Pekin who loved being a mom. She would collect all ducklings that hatched when she had ducklings. It was quite comical to see a tiny creature mixed in when she would steal a new hatch when hers were two weeks old. Unfortunately even though she loved ducklings she still stepped on and squashed a couple of day olds.

I was sad to loose her to prolapse last summer.

Thanks heaps for that, I was too late with the second mum she lost her 5 ducklings in the first day. Will definitely be putting them in the brooder next time. Or taking the ducklings as they both seem to terrible mothers. They were more interested in hanging out with the other ducks than looking after ducklings. Sorry for your loss.

 

[jaspersaitta]

If you decide to hatch more ducklings from the Pekin duck you could move them in a brooder with a heat source once they hatch and later move them with the rest of the ducks once they grow older.

Thanks you definitely will be implementing next time I have a clucky mother.

 

[jaspersaitta]

Another question, what are your opinions on Chickens raising ducklings does it work well. Has anyone had any success with that?
I would love to have some ducklings.
I have a few really good mother hens who I put chicks under all the time, and they always raise as their own.

 

[Yardmom]

I let some of my chickens hatch ducks this year. Over all it went well. One mom didn't break sitting on the eggs when the ducklings hatched (I added a couple chick a week later). The ducklings came out to eat and drink but knew the sitting chickens were their heat source. One morning I came out and found a new hatch duckling following an older duckling instead of staying with chicken mom. Other sets had no problems with the first days and all sets learned who their family was after the first week.
I had an older pair of runners move to that coop, but the young ducks still stay with their chicken friends. I am not far enough in the process to know if the drakes will be a problem for the chickens