Nacktschnecken omlet Cube

[Zigana]

I had two rescue ducklings, about a week old however one little one died so I now only have one.

 

Is his/her survival rate less because he is on his own? He is extremely fearful so I am wondering would buying say 2 more help him or hinder him?

 

Is it easy to introduce young ducklings or does it cause them a lot of stress? I don't want to stress him out because he is already.

 

He is eating and drinking well.

 

Thanks in advance

Anna

[Lesley]

I don't really know whether it is more likely to stress the little duckling by having new additions or by being on his own

 

Have you tried asking on the Practical Poultry forum where they have a lot more duck keepers? - someone should be able to help you there.

[Zigana]

Thankyou for your reply. No I haven't asked on that forum. I will definately ask there.

 

Thanks again

Anna

[Guest]

Hi

If he is eating and drinking well that is a good sign, if you can find someone who will take him that would be better ...RSPCA are really good but if someone has some ducklings of similar age that would be best option, they can be introduced early on and it is better for them to be with their own. But at least it is eating

Good luck

indie

[Zigana]

hi again,

 

I looked into both getting some duckling friends and also finding him a new home. Unfortunately I don't trust the RSPCA anymore since working at a wildlife hospital and them having to sever ties with them due to their policy of just putting to sleep any wildlife that comes in

 

I still have him and he is doing really well. Growing my the day

 

He is called Tuesday. I have become very attached to him and am just waiting for my Storey's guide to raising ducks to come in to give me some help.

 

In the mean time could you guys give me some information on whether I should be doing anything different now that he is approx 2 weeks?

 

I would like to take him outside for a bit when it gets sunny but because he is not imprinted on me I worry I couldn't get him in again or it would be a huge stress. Will it do him harm for him to just be inside until he is big enough to stay outside?

 

Any help would be amazing.

 

Here are some pictures:

 

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_plUVdy1ff6Y/Sgc_Ed-LH2I/AAAAAAAAAxo/rdiZYGlgk5E/s1600-h/Tuesday+Standing+10May09.JPG

 

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_plUVdy1ff6Y/Sgc_EECjJKI/AAAAAAAAAxg/iRC0Agy4akc/s1600-h/Tuesday+Sitting+10May09.JPG

[bessandra]

Hi Zigana

Tuesday is sooo cute

 

Well done on getting so far with him and making a great job of it.

You are a couple of weeks behind me, my 3 babies are 4 weeks old on wednesday.

 

I'm still really pathetic about putting them out, ask anyone who knows me

 

I'm new to all this but I suggest the following to you:

he should still be on chick crumbs

get him outside on nice days - couple of hours max maybe

let him have a splash in a bit of water - mine used to splash around in a ready meal container and then dry off under the lamp

 

It wont do him any harm to wait inside, depending on how big your indoor accomodation is. It wil probably do him more good to get out and stretch his legs! I cant catch my 3 but when they get tired, they come 'home' into the conservatory and lie underneath the puppy cage, looking up at it as if to say they are ready for bed... Oh, also, I can mostly bribe mine now with spaghetti...they love it!

 

I'm not sure its any help but its what I was doing with mine at 2-3 weeks old. I dont think you can go far wrong but remember that he doesnt have the warmth of any buddies or his mummy so you will need to keep the heat going for a while.

[Zigana]

Thankyou Bessandra,

 

Appologise in advance for the long post but I am really happy about Tuesday and he is giving me so much joy at the moment so have to tell someone

Feel free to ignore if you wish

 

He is going to be approximately 3 weeks tomorrow. I can't believe he has got this far. He is getting big so quickly and is just starting to get some feathers.

 

We have made alot of progress on the trust front over the last 2 days and he now follows me around and has snuggles when he is tired.

 

He is such a little character. I wasn't giving him water to swim in because I wasn't prepared for him so don't have great heat equipment for him and didn't want to risk him getting a chill when he was so vulnerable.

 

Because we have made so much progress I was hoping to get him outside with my supervision because I don't have a run or outside housing yet. It has been awful weather here so not attepted it yet.

 

At the moment I am getting him out of his housing in my room (following him closely with a cloth and water!) so he is getting a good stretch of his legs.

 

He is attempting to fly! so funny. Also suddenly gets all excited and runs round his cage Can't believe how well he is doing my self and I am so proud of him.

 

Few updated photos here from about 3 days ago but he seems to have had another growth spurt and his feathers on his tail are much more pronounced:

 

If anyone wants to keep an eye on his progress I keep a blog (usually about my dog!) which is being taken over by Tuesday at the moment

http://www.thelifeofahungarianvizsla.blogspot.com

 

Enjoy

 

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_plUVdy1ff6Y/Sg8KHJvV1aI/AAAAAAAAAy4/mu9__4zvX5M/s1600-h/DSC00145.JPG

 

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_plUVdy1ff6Y/Sg3m1sUXwSI/AAAAAAAAAyo/pvBVGynXHg0/s1600-h/Tuesday+Funny+15May09.JPG

 

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_plUVdy1ff6Y/Sg3m1KmNJXI/AAAAAAAAAyI/CH0ry2ECB6Y/s1600-h/Tuesday+Standing+15May09.JPG

[Lesley]

It all sounds as if it's going really well

[bessandra]

Oh wow!

How is the dog with Tuesday?

I have two labs and they are awful with the babies..naughty things. Its strange really as they are fine with my chooks

 

Sounds like you are doing just fine with him - well done!

I'm very interested so please keep posting

[Zigana]

Hi,

 

My dog isn't too bad. She can become fixated so it is just quite a lot of management at the moment. Ziggi in her crate when I am not in the room to supervise. Tuesday's crate is still got the sides blocked to prevent drafts so not too much for Ziggi to see.

 

Ziggi has a good 'leave' command so we are getting on ok.

 

I will keep posting. Over night he has had a sudden growth of feathers He seems to have a day of growing then a day of feather growing and repeat. Doesn't have enough energy for both at the same time!

 

Anna

[Zigana]

Hi again,

 

I have been reading my Storrey's guide and am getting so confused on the feeding aspect.

 

He is coming up to 4 weeks I think (is there anyway I can know for certain as I was only guessing he was approx 1 week when I got him).

 

But I am really worried about feeding him right. He is on chick crumbs at the moment but I guess I should soon start mixing something in. What does everyone start to mix in? And what adult food do you feed ducks?

 

Thanks again and sorry for all the questions.

 

Anna

[Lesley]

You can start gradually mixing in some Growers pellets now Anne.

 

Gradually increase the amount of pellets in the mix until he/she is on just Growers. We use the same stuff we feed to the hens.

 

Our duckling start on growers quite quickly as they are hatched under the duck and have access to the ducks feed all the time We do put crumb for them but they eat that and then move to the pellets and eat in there as well

[Guest]

Ducks love mash potatoes, & you will be suprised at how ducklings of a few days old can eat pellets

Glad the duck is growing well

indie

[Zigana]

Ok. If I have this right. Growers till about 16 weeks and then layers??? Or do ducks just stay on growers.

 

It is just that I am having trouble finding a small bag of it. If it is only for the next 12 weeks or so then I don't want to have to buy a large bag. Am I also right in thinking that it needs to be un-medicated so normal chicken stuff is not great? Or is that just for when they are really young?

 

Sorry for all the questions!

 

Also I have found some duck/goose specific food. But again the names confuse me cos there are growers/finishers and then breeder.

 

He came for his first trip into the garden today because the sun has finally come out He had a great time but is there anything poisonous to ducks and do they know what it is if they come across it? He just seemed to want to eat EVERYTHING!!!

 

Thanks again

[Zigana]

Please forget all the above questions!!!

I found the simple bit of my book and found what proteins are necessary for each life stage and have selected the appropriate growers pellets. Chose organic just to make sure no medication which could cause problems.

 

I have been a bit thrown in to this and am just so worried about doing it wrong and causing him harm.

 

Thanks

 

Anna

[Lesley]

I'm glad you have it sorted! - now you can enjoy duck keeping !