Re: Ducklings Well, the boy duck she's living with is her dad, Jelly..... No sign of friskiness though. In the autumn and winter drakes' testes (and I think penises) actually shrink quite a lot and they're just not interested. In Spring they start producing testosterone again and everything gets back to size. The young ducks were a bit different. When they were all together as a group there was a LOT of romancing going on. They bob their heads up and down, which is duck flirting. And there was quite a bit of lovin' going on in the pond, very much invited by the young ladies. But Jelly is not into romance right now.
Re: Ducklings [quote author=drjs@5 link=topic=3806.msg86439#msg86439 date=1402267954] Other than Obi who is clearly eyeing up the possibilities. [/quote] Big fan of duck eggs is Mr Furry Face. [quote author=Lisa link=topic=3806.msg86458#msg86458 date=1402277092] Whoa... Flirts!! [/quote] Absolutely I noticed this morning that Temeraire and her Aunty Shackleton seem to have taken a fancy to each other, given that Jelly is not in the mood..... Let's just say that ducks are very loving animals.
Re: Ducklings Lots of people think that, but no, they only need to be kept warm once the 'incubation proper' starts. If left to her own devices a duck will add an egg to her clutch every day (sitting on the eggs for half an hour or so while she does that), turn the eggs, cover them with nesting material (and in some cases down that she has pulled form her breast) and then walk away to leave them till the next day. In between they go cold. You can even keep eggs in the fridge and then hatch most of them (not ideal though as a fridge is really a bit too cold and you will reduce your hatch rate somewhat). People even post fertile eggs around the country for hatching. You don't generally get many out of a dozen though as eggs are not designed to be sent through the mail... Temeraire's parents both hatched from posted eggs - her mother Tassie came from Tasmania as an egg and her father Jelly came from South Australia as an egg. So they are tough bunnies! Temeraire has robust genes My ducks mostly don't do the whole pulling out down and covering the eggs bit as they are not a broody breed. They lay well but most have no interest in sitting on and hatching the eggs. Temeraire's mother is somewhat inclined to be broody - in springtime if I forget to collect the eggs for a few days she might be found sitting on them and will get cranky if I put my hand in there and will hiss and bite. But she is pretty easily discouraged from staying there. Unlike chickens, broody ducks are not easily moved to a safe pen where they can raise ducklings away from other birds...they don't like to be moved and will abandon the whole exercise if they get disturbed. Chickens are different - once a chicken has decided to sit for real it takes dynamite to change their minds.
Re: Ducklings This is all so interesting, Rachel. Ducks do seem a bit casual about the whole parenting thing...it's a wonder they survive!!
Re: Ducklings Vey interesting about the cool egg thing. In Cornwall, lots of seagulls nest round the house and garden. I try not to mind - I reckon they are beautiful, strong, efficient, elegant birds and would be much admired if they were rare (unfortunately they are so numerous and bold they really are pests). A pair nest in my patch of cliff (called a cliff garden when I bought the house, but patch of cliff is a better description). Gosh, I'm glad to see those babies go each year! They leave the eggs exposed for quite long periods. I'm afraid the pair nesting on my chimney stack have been evicted, though.
Re: Ducklings Ducks that are closer to the original wild mallards in type (so, domestic Mallards, or bantam ducks) are good parents and wild ducks obviously have very strong instincts to hatch and raise babies. It's just the larger domestic ducks (also Indian Runners) that have become reliant on human managed incubation. These breeds have been bred for eggs (and meat) and time spent being broody is time spent not laying eggs. So it's an undesirable trait that's been bred out. They wouldn't survive without human intervention. Must be pretty amazing watching the baby seagulls hatch, grow up and leave. They're impressive birds to me because we don't have that kind of big seagull in Australia. We have seagulls but a different species, much smaller, and called Silver Gulls. Also considered a pest but really very attractive birds. Egg was 63g today, laid in the run. Once the other ducks start to lay she'll probably copy them - they should lay in the nest.
Re: Ducklings [quote author=Oberon link=topic=3806.msg86771#msg86771 date=1402349635] They wouldn't survive without human intervention. [/quote] Huh, interesting this breeding lark. [quote author=Oberon link=topic=3806.msg86771#msg86771 date=1402349635] Must be pretty amazing watching the baby seagulls hatch, grow up and leave. They're impressive birds to me because we don't have that kind of big seagull in Australia. We have seagulls but a different species, much smaller, and called Silver Gulls. Also considered a pest but really very attractive birds. [/quote] Adult seagulls in flight are very beautiful. Not so when ripping your dustbin lid off and scattering the contents the length of the street... The babies create a lot of mess, and the parents are really aggressive, dive bombing people if they approach the nest. Sigh..they are too successful, seagulls. [quote author=Oberon link=topic=3806.msg86771#msg86771 date=1402349635] Egg was 63g today, laid in the run. Once the other ducks start to lay she'll probably copy them - they should lay in the nest. [/quote] Getting heavier, those eggs! What do you do with them all?
Re: Ducklings Eat 'em for breakfast Haven't eaten any yet though. Two are in the nest working hard to lure Temeraire in there and the latest two are in the fridge. We haven't had duck eggs for a few months (the older birds stopped laying around the end of summer) so it's great to have a supply again. We've been slumming it with chicken eggs.
Re: Ducklings [quote author=JulieT ] Adult seagulls in flight are very beautiful. Not so when ripping your dustbin lid off and scattering the contents the length of the street...... [/quote] Indeed. I lost my lunch firstly, then my ice cream to ghe vicious seagulls of Llandudno on two separate visits several years apart. Think Daphne DuMaurier's "The Birds"(better still Hitchcock)
Re: Ducklings Sounds like the time an emu stole my peanut butter roll. That is particularly low, though, stealing an ice-cream.
Re: Ducklings [quote author=Oberon link=topic=3806.msg86791#msg86791 date=1402351264] Sounds like the time an emu stole my peanut butter roll. That is particularly low, though, stealing an ice-cream. [/quote] That definitely tops my seagull Rachael
Re: Ducklings I was a kid. It came up behind me and reached over my shoulder to snatch the roll. Then it ran off. My family laughed. Still not over it 30 years later.
Re: Ducklings Yeah, they are big birds!!! Always great to see them in the wild though, which I have only had the chance to do a couple of times. The peanut-butter-roll-stealing one was in a wildlife park and was well versed in the arts of nicking lunches from children.
Re: Ducklings Emu! Wow, if I could see an Emu for real, I'd feed it my lunch. Really must start saving for a trip to Australia one day.
Re: Ducklings Indeed!!! They are kind of evil looking. Temeraire is still laying in the run (65g today) and her mother Tassie has started laying too....in the run : Tassie laid a 91g egg this morning. Ouch. Might be a double yolker!
