What a beautiful sight!
Help! Baby geese or ducks?!
Cmoxon they are adorable!!!!! I love the yellow ones:] I wish I could have just one or two:[ Oh well I cant wait because our baby chick will be hatching soon:]
Dominique
Great information, everyone.
Some ducks do lay year round. Campbells lay almost as much as chickens (up to 300+/year for up to 7 years.) As a matter of fact, some farmers are beginning to replace chickens with ducks, just for eggs. Ducks do not have to be medicated, are rarely sick and a few breeds can live many years (Campbells can live up to 20+) However, many domestics make terrible Moms (especially Campbells) The brooding instinct is all but gone. They will make a nest, sit in it for a few days, lay an egg or two and then they get bored a walk away. Most people use Muscovy females to hatch ducklings because they are excellent Moms!
You will find that each duckling has its own personality. I have had ducks that will stay in the water all day, but I have had some that hate the water and only get in to bathe and/or get a drink. Some love to snuggle and others will run when you get too close. The same goes for their like or dislike or certain fruits, veggies and other proteins (like worms). Most of my ducks will fight over slugs, crickets and watermelon. However, Eliza Ducklittle does not like any of that. She loves mealworms! So, don't get discouraged if they all do not like something that you just paid good money for. ;o))
This is Khaki Quackie. She is a Khaki Campbell
She is adorable.
Here are my five little ducklings during the summer, they were about a week old. They were hatched by their mommy so they did have the advantage of the oil in their feathers. As you can see, they have a nice ramp to get in and out of the water. Mother Pittypat had gotten the water pretty muddy already and I had to change it frequently. At about 3 weeks she took them all to the creek and they have been there ever since.
bluebunn they are adorable! They are so tiny. How cute!
Dominique
Awwwww! How sweet they look. I do love the little fuzzy ones!
They are a joy to watch! Thanks for sharing!
Oh blue, they are so cute!
Look at how smart they are using the little ramp. That is just the sweetest.
Here is the revised duckling setup with shavings, water raised above floor level, proper duckling food, and a bunch of apparently happy ducklings. The tank is 67 inches across and 2 feet high. It is working perfectly for this purpose!
They sure are heavy drinkers!
I can't get over how cute they are and all their cute little noises and habits. I'm a duck convert for sure.
Ahhhhhhhh, so it begins (EG)!!!!
Duckmother - Khaki Quackie is beautiful! She has gorgeous colors. I would like one of those! I am excited about the egg potential. I bet silkies would hatch duck eggs....
Bluebunn - your ducklings were so adorable! Mine are bigger than that now, but they are still in the cute phase. I can see feathering just starting to come in on the largest of the white colored ones.
Oops one little yellow one is having a time out. Must have done a duck baddie. I wonder what would constitute a duck baddie?
Yeah, and as they grow up you will love how very happy ducks are. They are always so busy, they are great foragers, gobbling up buckets of bugs, splashing in the rain and sloshing through the mud! They Do know how to make a major mess though, so watch where you let them wander. You may not want a mud puddle dug in your flower gardens, but they sure will eat all the Junebugs and grubs and snails!
You'll call for them from across the yard and then hear them "QUACK" in unison. Quack, quack, quack, quack as you walk towards them. They'll lovingly quack and shake their tails and bob their heads up and down in complete happiness. They are wonderful pets. If you get them a kiddie pool, they'll swim beak to tail in circles, all the ducks trying to fit into one pool. Blowing bubbles and diving. These are my experiences, but I'm sure yours will be just as great.
Synchronized swimming was also invented by ducks I'm sure.
Oh yes...I am sure also! I think they hold the pattent. Lets call Claire to find out!
CLAIRE!
Oh yes, I can see it now, U.S. Patent 9,374,224, "A Method of Swimming In Unison" by Campbell, Khaki, Muscovy and Mallard.
Dahlianut - duck baddie = pooping on another duck's foot.
I can't wait for this backyard antics that you're all describing. They sound so cute!
See...I knew it!!! Do we have to send royalties whenever performing a synchronized swim? I wonder?
I am so green! Pics just wont due when they start that stuff! VIDEO!!!!
I can't wait for the POOL PART-Y! Poor little yellow. Just got too excited and randomly pooped on a feets. I would think that might be a frequent occurrence when in formation with all the burbling around.
He didnt mean it!!!! I am sure!!!!
It was an honest mistake.
Could have happened to anyone!!!
This message was edited Jan 1, 2009 7:58 PM
Me too sewincircle. But she needs to learn duck ways so had to have a time out. That must be an extra toughie when you co-exist in a wave formation. I think Claire should call that little one 'Kripke' after the American philosopher because she will be very wise from her learning.
Yes, we learn from our mistakes! I am a genious! hehehe (I have made a many mistakes)
I like the name! What do you think Claire?
As you can see from the drinking shot, he was quickly reintegrated into the flock. Duck baddies are very short lived problems.
I like the name, however, the 4 small yellow ducks are all pretty much identical, which results in some difficulty with naming. I might put leg bands on them. Otherwise, they are not particularly identifiable....
They are sooo cute!
Thanks Dominique! I love them - they are soooo fluffy!
Silkies definately hatch duck eggs. I had one batch where the silkie moved into the nest and tried to crowd the duck out. They sat the nest the entire time facing diffrent directions and never looking at each other. When the eggs hatched, there was an awful row and the silkie walked off with the ducklings. The duck then went off to start annother nest. It was pretty funny, the first time the ducklings went into the water. The silkie had a fit.
She stayed with them till they were much bigger than she and then went on to raise a batch of actual chicks.
If you have a rouen hen in the batch, (they look like mallards) they are excellent layers and setters. My aconna was pretty good too, but the pekin seemed to care less. She would just drop her eggs as she was walking across the yard.
LOL Jylgaskin I can just picture momma Silkie running in circles, fluttering in panic, calling out 'DANGER! DANGER! when the baby ducks went in the water. I didn't know that chickens and ducks would share a nest. Whoa that so doesn't happen with wild birds. Turfs are really big with wild birds in my garden. Even Bert the Challenged Blue Jay who everyone accommadates isn't given much leeway when there are chicks in the nest.
That image of the silkie and the duck sharing a nest is just too funny!
Bert the challenged blue jay?
Oh Dahlia! Do tell about Bert!! Do you have pictures of Bert?
Jyl - that's an adorable story! I love it! I will have to see if either of my remaining young silkies is a female and perhaps they will do the same!
Jyl! That just put a huge smile on my face even BEFORE having coffee! I can totally see that poor persistant chicken sitting butt to butt with that duck and then the water!!! It could and should be a movie! I love it!!! I want a silkie!!! wwwwaaaaaaa! ;)
cmoxon your welcome :] I love how ducks have big bills and web feet. I love the noise they make too. ha haha
dominique
Bert was born with a bad doo. It looked like a feather duster on his head. His momma and papa left him too early before he learned bluejay ways so he had to learn himself. Eventually he grew a pointy blue doo like other blue jays but he doesn't know that he is a bluejay. He mimics all the other birds. He almost drowned in the bird bath trying to bath like a robin and he spents weeks knocking on the trees after he met the woodpeckers. He doesn't land very well so he is always crashing into things and causing a commotion. This spring he thought he would visit the baby robins in their nest. That was not a good idea. Papa Robins are VERY protective. Poor Bert had to hide in the spruce tree for a long time before the Robins would let him come out to play again. He has his own open feeder because he knocks the other ones flying. Chick and Dee steal the sunflower seeds from him though. He squacks and chucks corn at them but they are too flittery fast for him. He gets very excited when other bluejays come to visit but he always stays apart from them. I think he instinctively knows that he is different.
Awww! Poor little guy!!! I am sad for him! He is like the ugly duckling! :(
He probably wont find a mate! We need an intervention....NOW!
Oh! Me! Me! Me! I'll adopt him! He sounds like he'd fit in perfectly around here. How cute! I wonder if he is that way because his parents didn't like his hairdo?
Awww! All because of a bad hair day!!?? That is even more sad! Okay. We have a new home for the poor confussed Jay, Bert! I agree, he would fit in perfect. Intervention!
I think Bert may have more problems than just his hair. I have raised many jays by hand since I startd rehabing and they may take a little while to asimilate to the wild flock, but they almost always do. He must not be the brightest bird in the feeder.
All baby birds go through that fuzzy head stage. To me, they always remind me of Albert Einstine. One year I raised a baby jay, a cardinal and a crow all about the same time. The cardinal was tipical to his species and remained aloof and independant. As soon as he could fly, he left me without a second glance. The crow and bluejay though, had absolutely no intention of leaving the free buffette and finding their own food.
Though they had a pen, the door was never closed once they learned to fly. They frequently slept there, but spend the days outside folowing me about the yard. In the morning I would put out a few handfuls of peanuts, sunflower seeds and corn. The two birds would then spen the rest of the day hiding their treats and stealing from the other. It got so the blue jay would hide in the bush near the porch and watch where the crow hid his peanuts. As soon as the crow went to get more, the jay would steal the one he had just hidden. The poor crow would go back to his empty stash and look absolutely confused as to what happened.
One day a group of young jays came into the yard with their mother and it was all over for the crow. He lost his best friend to a pretty beak and a flashy wing. He moped about for a few days and then took to teasing the cat for the rest of the summer.
That same jay will still come and peck at the widow if the feeder is empty.
The story is wonderful. Have you ever considdered writing it into a book for children? It would make a great story.