Baby Ducks

19 Apr '07 2:02 am

Well, I have mentioned my new baby ducks in several posts now, so I figured it was time to post some pictures.

There are five of them. All Mallards, but don't know sexes yet. They are just a little over a week old. A friend orders the eggs from a catalogue and then incubates them to hatch out the babies. This is my first time to try raising ducks, so I am getting a crash course in how to be a mother duck.

Basically all they do right now is eat, poop, and sleep. Baby ducks are very messy eaters as the pictures will testify. I tried to get a close-up of one in my hand, but missed most of "his" head in the shot so will have to try this trick again later.

The first couple of pictures show them the first day we brought them home. They are in a pet taxi in these photos, but I found this awkward for their feeding because they all tumbled out the door everytime I opened it to try to put in their food and water dishes. They now live in a large cardboard box in my mudroom.

They sleep through the night thank goodness. I have bottle raised a number of kittens and waking up every couple of hours through the night to feed hungry babies gets very tiresome. Especially for mature foster mothers like myself. They wake up at daybreak and begin peeping away to let me know they are ready for breakfast. They are very messy eaters. Scooping up a bit of the wet food and then shaking their heads causing bits of wet food to fly in all directions. After a bite or two of food they rush to the water dish and repeat this same action with the water. They walk or stand in both the food and water dishes, so by the time they have finished eating, everything in the vacinity is throroughly wet. The other thing they do very prolifically is poop. I have been changing the box lining several times a day and it still looks messy all the time. After eating they all toddle back to their nest box for a nap.

The nest box is a cardboard (beer) six pack carton stuffed with hay. Not too picturesque, but very functional.

When they get a couple of weeks older and the weather becomes reliably warm, we will move them outside to a cage with basically a doghouse for their sleeping site. I will then have to teach them to swim by leading them to the pond for a daily romp. Fortunately I think the actual swimming part comes naturally to them; so I won't have to jump in the water to teach them the breaststroke. That's really good because I don't know how to do the breaststroke. Come to think of it, I guess ducks technically just "dog paddle". That I do know how to do!

Anyway, I will try to keep everyone posted on our progress.

19 Apr '07 8:10 am

Oh, Faith, I was so glad to see your new adopted babies! They are tiny, and fluffy, and incredibly cute! All this information you give about their everyday baby living is so precious, and unknown to me!

Will you , please, take some close ups of their cute baby faces? You could ask a friend to hold them -- one by one, or only one -- tenderly in his/her hands, and then, you could find a chance to capture their baby faces, kneeling in front of them ( am I saying nonsense, because you hurt? Or, because they would not like it?).

19 Apr '07 4:59 pm

Just checking out the critter forum and look who I should find but my friend from Alabama. When I was a kid I couldn't get enough of animals. Still love dogs, some of my favorite people. My Sophie and Fletcher show up in some of my garden pictures but I haven't posted any of them. I will.

How fun to live on a farm and with so many other animals - and plants. Okay, time to hit the sack. Good night Faith and Liza too.

19 Apr '07 8:17 pm

Faith, they are gorgeous! Eventually - will they have their own pond? I had friends who had a big child's blow-up paddling pool for their duck family. You will have hours of fun being a mother duck! hee hee. LOL, and lots of progress pictures, please! Can we have the mother duck in the photographs?

20 Apr '07 1:42 am

Thanks for your kind comments. To answer Mary's question, yes they will have a wading pool in their pen when they move outside. Of course, they will also have special outings to the pond out back. Once they are grown, they will have free range during the day and will only be confined to their pen at night to protect them from predators. Dixie tells me they are great for cleaning up bugs in the vegetable garden (and stealing the occasional tomato).

I will try to get some close-ups of their faces later today. A friend may come by to see them and perhaps she can help me get some pictures of the "mother" duck with her babies.

Here are a few more pictures showing their grooming session after feeding. It's a good thing they groom themselves and each other because they end up spattered with bits of food during the feeding frenzy. Once they are done grooming, they are ready for a nap.

21 Apr '07 2:07 am

Oh Faith, they are just precious!! How lucky you are to be able to witness the every day lives of these special little creatures! Do keep us updated with lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of pics!! Very Happy

22 Apr '07 7:04 am

They are ADORABLE! Wait for the first flights and landings Faith Very Happy

I promise you much mirth and enjoyment!

By the way, when they get a bit bigger and feather up you do realize you will have to do the motherly 'once around the paddock' every morning don't you? Wink

22 Apr '07 7:53 pm

They're so lovely!
I hope once they're settled into their routine that you can have a bit of peace and less of a hectic time. But I bet they're worth it, aren't they? Smile

23 Apr '07 2:37 am

Thanks Bambi, Pumpkin and Anna. The baby ducks are growing fast. They have doubled in size. Their routine is still about the same, but they are eating a lot more now. I started today trying to get them to take some dry food from my hand. I want them to trust me since they still don't like me to catch them and pick them up. I do realize I will have to walk them around to become familiar with their farm. I just hope they will follow me like a good flock. When I move them out to the garage next week, I will test the following theory by walking them around out there. I can't do that inside because of my dog and cat. Neither of them has been too interested in investigating the strange noises that are coming from that large box in the utility room, but I don't want to tempt fate just yet. Once they are grown, I won't have to worry about the housepets trying to eat them. Just the wild creatures and neighborhood dogs who occasionally wander through.

My husband took a picture of me holding one of the ducks at Mary's request. The other two were my attempts to get a close-up of their faces. They were'nt too sure about that strange creature that flashed lights at them. They all huddled in the corner when I was trying to take the pictures.

23 Apr '07 5:55 am

Faith! Thank you so much for these photos!! Both you and the babies are sugar sweet! Their faces are really so cute!! Do not worry about them following you outside; I had read somewhere , that they follow and recognise automatically as mum the person or animal that takes care of them!

Baby Ducks

Baby Ducks

How lucky you are , dear Faith!

Hi Faith, its been too long!

Ducks

Thanks to Liza, Mark and Mary

Growing baby ducks