General Chat

Sounds as though the ducklings will do just fine. You will be able to sex them when they are older, hope you have got females and not 2 drakes. Jean

Hi Wendy

I was wondering how the little duckling was getting along?

Tina xx

n

Hi Wendy,
I used to keep ducks, it started when we 'acquired' a male rescued from a neighbour and bought an adult female to keep him company.
Never had a problem with keeping the ducklings warm as mum was always about. However, mum used to disappear into the woods and hatch her eggs, then come back when the babies were about 3 days old,
Don't feed them layers pellets until you know their sex, you can buy growers pellets, that are smaller and give the ducklings all the vitamins and minerals they need to grow. Layers pellets are, as the name suggests, for helping females lay eggs!!
As others have said, don't give them any water to swim in until they have feathers, Strangely, ducks are prone to rheumatism in their legs, and getting stuck in water can cause it!!
I also found one male to 4 - 6 females was a good ratio, as drakes can be a wee bit rampant, and two males can lead to 'male rape' - hence our rescued drake - the neighbour had 6 drakes cooped up in a pigeon loft and poor old Manny was constantly raped, in fact he suffered chronic depression afterwards - hence we got Peggy for him and kept some of the female ducklings to boost the ratio, because as Manny's depression went, his libido shot up and poor Peggy couldn't cope!!
Let's hope you have either a pair or 2 females or there could be some nasty goings-on.
What variety are they?

maggie

Sad to tell you one of my little ducklings died this afternoon, i believe it was to young to be taken away from mommy, DIB passed away and DAB is pining for her, she was breathing shallow so and not eating so i sat all day giving her syringe with water and grinded up food..... I just come back from the farm where i brought them from .... and the farmer has given me another one in replace of DIB.... she wont be replace as she was alittle cutey god bless her she was very sweet..... Now we have FAB & DAB....
we have bured DIB in the garden where my roses grow beautifully..... GOD BLESS GODS TINY LITTLE CREATURES.....

Oh Wendy I am soo sorry that is very sad, bless the little thing. I hope the other one survives - especially as it now has another little pal to snuggle up to.

Tina xxxx