Emergancy Help Needed, Duckling?
September 15, 2009 by Swimming Pool Fanatic · 6 Comments
I recently got 2 ducklings. I was only getting one but the guy game me a free one. They were supose to be swedish ducks but they dont look it at all. They are a mix between a brown and yellow with dark bill and feet/legs BUT if you move your finger across there back there is a grey color, could be grey swedishes. Dont know if there male or female he said they were 3 weeks old but they dont look it or anything. They fit in my hand. Unless they were malnurished or kept in a small cage. Because they are growning well now. There names are Buckley and Barley.
1.) They sit on my leg, eat out of my hand, and like to crawl up on my shirt on my chest or in my hair. Is that a good sign they are getting use to me? They run thought when I stand to get them. But sometimes when I sit there and talk to them they come up close to me makeing peeping noises. Is that a good sign they are liking everything asnd me?
2.) How can I tell if they are male or female? What age is best/earliest to tell? I know 4 months but any earlier(besides vent sexing)
3.) If I have 2 males would they fight over territory or attention?
4.) If I have a male and female and trhey lay eggs when they are old enuff can I sell the babies or will I be stuck with a bunch of babies? Could I become a hatchery? Do they make ok $ bussiness wize?
5.) Mabe it will be ” Bethani’s Grey Swedish Ducklings” sell them for $4 each. I have a nice set up and they will have High Quality Feed. They have a nice pool to swim in and stuff for best health. It will be cleaned once each week. There is a Duckhouse that has straw in it for them as well. I wont be like some breeders you go to get them from which there place smalls and are diskusting, If I breed they will be in best health and only go to people that eather know how to care for them and or own them. Im not carelaess and care for there well being.
Now there in a XL dog kennel with feed/water in there auto feeder/waterer and have a little area that for some reason they only sleep on, its a towel in a carrier.
ALSO
I have been researching and I believe that one of my ducklings have Encephalomalacia and/or exudative diathesis. The duckling is having tremors of his head/neck. I read that it is from not being fed proper feed, is that correct?
I got them from a man who had the nastiest house ever, it smalled and he kept the ducklings in a 10gal aquarium. If I feed him and his other sibling High Quality Dumor starter/grower for all pultry should he get better or will he get worse? I had him for 4 days now.
Your stated questioned alarmed me. . . I thought your ducklings might be dying. I’m glad that they aren’t.
#1. They are recognizing that you are their food source. Sudden movements will definately scare them because you are sooo much bigger than they are.
#2. The ducklings will be approx.6 months old before you can look at them and tell if they are male or female. When you start to see a feather in the middle at the top of the tail feathers and find a turned up feather you will know you have a male.
#3. Two males raised together might challange each other once in a while but generally speaking they won’t fight over territory if there is no female present.
#4. In the 4yrs I have had ducks,I have had females want to sit to hatch out ducklings but have yet to have any hatch. No luckier than I have been I think it is safe to say that you probably won’t need to worry about having enough ducklings to start a hatchery.
Even if you were to be lucky enough to hatch out a few ducklings you would not want to interbreed as this eventually lessens the quality of the bird so if I were you I would probably find a Feed Store or Pet Store that would help you sell what few ducklings you would possibly end up with.
#5. $4.00 for any duckling breed seems fair enough.About what I paid when I bought my Peking ducklings.
There has become such a demand over the years for ducklings that often times there is such mass breeding,interbreeding and hatching processes going on that not all ducklings are actually good and healthy.
I have no knowledge of the illness you speak of but it is obvious that if the duckling is having tremors there is something wrong.
Are the ducklings getting the proper warmth along with their diet?
Most all Duckling Starter Feed is of good quality but Dumor is a good brand and the brand I buy for my Chick Starter Feed. Just get a starter feed and stick with it,jumping from one formula to another could cause some problems though I wouldn’t think that it would. I would NEVER give them anything else to eat in the way of grains or veggies/fruits until they are about 3-4 months old!
When I got my ducklings I kept them in a LARGE cardboard box lined with straw in my spare bathroom.
I keep a warm light on them to keep them warm 24/7
I kept clean water and plenty of feed available 24/7.
I clean my box every 2-3 days mostly depending on how nasty it gets. Often times having to get new boxes.
While I am cleaning the box I allow my ducklings to swim in lukewarm weather with a space heater going so that they don’t get wet and take a chill. I never leave them unattended as they can get tired and drown if they can’t get to high ground when they need to.
By the time I am through cleaning the box and have it ready for the ducklings,I take them out of the water and towel dry off the majority of the water and place them back in the box with the heat bulb.
When they are all feathered out and at about 6-8wks old they are big enough to put out in their pen. . . course with winter coming you need to make sure they are totally feathered out and that you have taken them out. . in a cage (to protect them from predators) off and on so that they can get acclimated to the weather.
To take house raised ducklings right out to the colder weather could possibly kill them.
Hope I have been able to help.
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well i had two duckling actually born today because i own a girl duck and she hatched them.first of all buy some timothy hay,get a medium sized box maybe 2 and half feet long by 1 foot or so wide and put some off they timothy hay in the box go to your local blue seal (aka) feed and sead and buy some mulch them when yo put your ducklings in the box you make sure they have a heat lamp and a light bul 40-100 watt and put the heat light above the box like an inch a bove and if the ducks lay under the light working there way to sleep then light heat is just right but if there running around taking heavy breaths having problems breathing then its to hot so try a lighter watt of a bulb if you need anything else like info email me
Ducks get attatched to people really easily when they are babies and will keep bonding with you as long as you love them to. You will know at around 6 months which is male and which is female as the female ducks are the ones who QUACK really loud all the time and the males will whisper their Quacks. No males will not fight over territory as long as they they are the only 2 with each other and them being tamed they wont even care anyhow. If you want to make sure they are getting the best of feed possible go to the pet store and buy some powder KAYTEE HAND FEEDING FORMULA and give them some of that daily. I don’t how else to answer your other questions.
oh you are keeping ducks for the first time and that is what making you worried. ducklings are always yellow or yellow and black and when they grow up their colour changes naturally.. no, they wont fight for territorry when they grow up… keep on feeding them the food you feed and give them vegetables at least once a day.you dont have to fear about anyhing.. just keep them away from cold starting today because winter is about to begin and they wont be able to tolerate the cold for now.. by the time spring begins you will be having experience on how to keep them..(i used to have ducks in kenya and i kept them on the terrace of the house and because there was no winter there they loved swimming) i hope you will chose this as the best answer because i gave you all the information i had….THANKS.
hi
your ducklings first of all need heat, a lamp with a high watt like an 60 to 100, then you should get some duckling start grower and have plenty of fresh water for them. i have got 2 babies when they were 1 day old and they were sexed by the breeder as i wanted females that is what i got, they are now 5 months old and now outside enjoying life.
you must keep them warm i would also put a hot water bottle under the towel that they sleep on, for extra warmth, and keep them dry as they can be messy and get cold, you can keep them inside until they are big enough to go outside, as i did. if you think one is sick take both to a vet to get them checked out. look i hope this has helped you they are very hardy normally. please you must keep them warm, i had my lamp on them till they were 8weeks,decreasing the heat every day after they were approximately 4 to 5 weeks, good luck ,i just adore ducks