[DartmoorLiz]

Our broody duck has just brought 4 babies back to the house and abandoned them.  What do I do?

[Kimbo]

Ha! Stick em in a brooder and get ready for mucking out!!
At least she was kind enough to drop them off at the babysitter before she went off to party!

[DartmoorLiz]

 !

[DartmoorLiz]

smilies didn't work

[DartmoorLiz]

 


OH is suggesting I don't bring up the drakelets - I think I'll become really bad at telling the difference and deal with the problem of 4 new drakes later - they can't all be as bad as their dad.

[Carey boy]

Hi,

If they are all drakes you could just look on them as four dinners in a few months.

Dave

[doganjo]

What breed are they - you may be able to tell now which are which.  Nice surprise though - looking froward to getting my new babies on Thursday

[DartmoorLiz]

Thanks for the replies. 


I'm just off to buy chick crumbs.  Anything else I should get?  I've read I should keep their bed dry and seen a photo showing them standing on a metal mesh.  I've currently put them into my empty fish tank on newspaper with a spot of water in a take away carton with fish gravel in the bottom to make the water not too deep.  Boiling an egg to feed them till the crumbs arrive.  Found a 60watt reflector spot light for heat lamp.  What temperature do they need?  Do I really need a metal mesh?  One sight says chopped straw, a book says peat bedding

[doganjo]

I found that shredded newspaper on a thick bed of whole newspaper was best - easy to clean - they do make a mess.  They grow fast so your fish tank won't be big enough for long.  A glass tank will heat up very quickly so watch they don't get too hot - keep the lamp raised above the tank.

They'll probably knock over the carton with water frequently    Very messy, very time consuming, very cute - and WE need photos 

[Fleecewife]

Do you have a small ark or similar you can put them in, then get the broody back with them?  She will provide just the right conditions to rear them.  She may simply have decided to dump them on you temporarily while she went off for a swim and a feed.  Then when she came back, they'd gone.

With mother raised ducklings, they get moving pretty quickly, and can jump (float) up onto things within a couple of days.
I use a seed tray (with no holes in the bottom) for water and paddling, with a stone on the outside and another inside so they can get in.  Initially there's hardly any water, but as they get bigger they get a bit more.  It does have to be changed 2 or 3 times a day, but so - you'll be looking at them that often anyway.  As well as chick crumbs, they will soon need some greenery such as chick weed.  They will also soon need a separate water bowl - we use a heavy glazed pottery dog bowl.

They do c**p a lot, but you'll be used to that from the adults.

We have always raised our chicks and ducklings in the polytunnel initially, but I do have to sacrifice some of my plants to them.

[DartmoorLiz]

Fleecewife, you may be right but the genie is out of the bottle now, they've been in too long.  Good advice for next time though.  Attempting to get photos.  There are definately 2 colours, 1 liver coloured and 3 lighter conker colour.  Any opinions on their sex - I tried to turn our over and have a look but everything's too small, covered in feathers and generally obscured for me to even find the vent let alone looking for a "rose" or anything else.

[DartmoorLiz]

photos!

[Fleecewife]

I only know with Muscovies, but with them the back of drakes is a bit longer than ducks,( ie ducks are rounder), the drakes' feet a bit bigger, and the beaks looks slightly bigger too.

[greensleaves]

So cute:-) I had some ducklings a few years ago - drakes turned out to be the darker ones, maybe that was more   coincidental, I'd be interested to know the duck/drake ratio when you find out :-)