Re: Ducklings Something incredibly relaxing about watching ducks going about their day!nice to see Obi joining in with what looks like a big pea hunt in the first one and I feel a bit sorry for him when they all give him the cold shoulder in the second one....he looks plaintively after them as if to say ' can I come too?'
Re: Ducklings Lovely!! I do love the soft quacks...it is nice and soothing! Funny to see the leaves on the ground....after the winter we just had all I can say is glad it's you and not me, mate!!
Re: Ducklings Definitely very relaxing watching the ducks Now, I have some news that might cause a bit of sadness..... Before the show I noticed that Christopher had developed a bit of brown in his feathers on the shoulders, which was a real bummer as it's a fault that I don't want to perpetuate (and it will affect my breeding plans for next Spring). He is a lovely boy and will grow up to be a great example type-wise but the brown is a bit of a no-go for me (even though the judge totally missed seeing it at the recent show). So, I have sadly decided to find a new home for Christopher As I don't sell drakes on their own I will also be selling Woodget along with him. So, Meri, Harri, Christopher and Woodget will all be sold either as a group of four or as two male/female pairs. I'm very sorry about that (especially to Angela ). I will still be keeping Temeraire who is not related to the line of birds that I think is contributing the brown colouring (and who I am going to avoid breeding from unless my theory is proven wrong). Ariel, Temeraire's brother, may make a reappearance in the future too.
Re: Ducklings That is a shame Rachael. All the effort you have put in to them. your garden will be too quiet Time to be thinking of new hatchlings? Or do you take a break?
Re: Ducklings I still have 9 other ducks, so no quiet times in my future It is a shame about Christopher, though as he is a good looking boy in almost every other way (except for his small bib). But I have to be fussy with the boys as I can only keep small numbers of drakes. It is a lot of effort to raise them but I enjoy it. I know that 90% of what I breed will go on to new homes. It is a little harder having named them My main goal this season was to breed and keep a daughter from two of my original birds, Jelly and Tassie. In three years they have only produced 2 females (they are very, very good at producing boys!) so I was happy to get Temeraire. She is also the best of the three girls they have produced. So I achieved my goal. I will now take a step back and put Tassie with Solander with the goal of producing some birds with reasonably sized bibs (and hopefully no brown). I might try to hatch something from Temeraire. I will put her in with Jelly (who is actually an old boy of 7 now). If I can get a good drake from either pairing I will keep him. That will be my goal for next time. I'll be aiming to put some more eggs in the incubator in early September (or whenever Tassie starts laying).
Re: Ducklings Oh that is a shame! Sorry to hear that. I guess having to go back a step sometimes is what it's all about? Breeding can't be easy, otherwise I guess everyone would have perfect ducks.
Re: Ducklings [quote author=JulieT link=topic=3806.msg79597#msg79597 date=1400569857] I guess having to go back a step sometimes is what it's all about? Breeding can't be easy, otherwise I guess everyone would have perfect ducks. [/quote] Yep, that's exactly it. Got to see it as a long term game. Balancing the showing aspect and the pet aspect is another challenge. Often the ones you get the most attached to are not the best marked. Fortunately Temeraire is a curious and friendly girl so it's extra nice to be able to keep her
Re: Ducklings Ah that's a shame but understandable Here's hoping Ariel and his lovely bib come back to our pages
Re: Ducklings Oh what a pity Rachael , they all look perfect to me Just as an aside, do they wake early ? My neighbours have ducks , they seem to wake and making one heck of a row at about 5 every morning , thankfully the dogs dont react
Re: Ducklings Oh dear, hard decisions to make. Good luck with it, Rachel, I'm sure it's all as much art as it us science, therein the challenge and fascination of it all. Here's hoping for good results from Temeraire!!
Re: Ducklings Kate, they tend to quack when they hear us get up (because they want to get fed or let out) but otherwise they are not too noisy. It depends on the breed though - lighter breeds like Campbells are noisier, and bantam ducks especially.
Re: Ducklings So the 'indoor ducklings' will be going to their new home next Tuesday. Last year in March I had some ducks for sale but more buyers than ducks. There was a very nice lady who missed out and I said I would let her know when I had some more ducks available. So, I got in touch with her and she is going to take all four ducklings together. That is great, as they will be happy remaining as a group. She already has five Blue Swedish that she ended up getting from a friend of mine last year, as well as a few Call ducks (bantam ducks). She lives on 6 acres and has a large, fox proof duck enclosure with a built in pond in the middle, and the ducks also free-range in the house yard during the day. So, the ducks will be happy there with swimming water all the time, room to forage in during the day and a safe place at night. That will leave me with ten ducks. Two of those (Marco and LaPerouse) will probably be agisted on my friend's farm. There is a third duck that lives with those two, Freycinet, who is old (about 7 years old) and is nearly blind, so I will keep her here as she is too old to move to a new environment. Anyway, I will end up with two groups of ducks, each consisting of one drake and two ducks: Magellan (Jelly) - drake and father of Temeraire and Ariel Shackleton Freycinet (the old duck) Temeraire Solander - drake and father of indoor ducklings Duyfken - mother of indoor ducklings Trim - Duyfken's mother Tassie - mother of Temeraire, Ariel and Solander As you can see the family tree is a little complicated... Shackleton, Duyfken and Trim (and Marco and LaPerouse (who are Trim's parents)) all have ancestry in a line of birds that I got from another breeder and my theory is that that line is where the brown has come from. I have pretty good reason to think that. Jelly, Tassie, Solander and Temeraire (and Ariel) are unrelated to these birds, and so I will now be concentrating on breeding from them next Spring. Fingers crossed big time that we see no brown!! There are a lot of things to balance in breeding - type (or shape), pattern and freedom from faults. The aim is to reduce faults without sacrificing anything else....easier said than done! Anyway, the main thing at the moment is that the indoor ducklings are going to a good home.
Re: Ducklings Ah, that's lovely - all going together to a place with a big pond, perfect. Well done! Well, we look forward to the next instalment of babies!
Re: Ducklings [quote author=Oberon link=topic=3806.msg80184#msg80184 date=1400743724] That's the Southern Hemisphere spring, so we're talking Septemberish [/quote] Ah! of course! ;D
