Moving Day

by with No Comment DucksWelsh Harlequin
Duck House – Not yet finished, but functional.

The ducks moved out to their own house today, at two weeks old!  This morning one of them managed to escape the brooder box in the basement, so we decided to hurry up and get their own house completed enough for them to move in.  Tim took a break from work, and I helped, too.  Tim made another frame with hardware cloth on it, so added to the first frame (which was in the brooder) we’ve more than doubled their living space inside.  It’ll be a lot cuter when it’s done and painted, but for now it’s functional–it’s even insulated!  We put the heat lamps out there, since it’s still pretty cool at night.  We got this nifty door at a recycle place: it has interchangeable glass panes or screen door, so we can close ’em up and night or when it’s cold, and let them have more ventilation during the day.
In addition to finishing the inside of the duck house, we put up some temporary fencing to make a pen for them outside the house.  It is so warm now in the daytime, we feel they can spend a fair amount of time outside.  The pool is there, but blocked off so that they can only enter when we are present.  It’s been much cooler since that first day we put them into the pool, so they haven’t been in it since.  When it warms up, we’ll let them go in again, with supervision.
Here’s a video showing them outside by their house.

Ducklings First Time Outside & In Water

by with No Comment DucksUncategorizedWelsh Harlequin
The ducklings went outside today, at just about a week and a half old.  We wheeled them out in a wheelbarrow, and put them in a small pen we put up made with snow fence.  They did quite well in the water for their first time; after all, they’re ducks!  Even though we’ve read some warnings about putting them in the water so young, it was a warm day, we had the water warming up all day, and we didn’t leave them in very long.  They were just fine!   Here are some videos. 

DUCKLINGS DAY SEVEN

by with No Comment DucksUncategorizedWelsh Harlequin

The ducklings are doing well, on day seven.  Here is a current photo, with “Whitey” front and center as usual.  The big guy does always seem to be the most bold, and I don’t think it’s just because he’s the only one we can pick out.  I’ve thought about giving them colored bands, just so we can keep track of who’s who, but maybe it’s just as well that we don’t single any out, since one day some will be dinner and all…

Ducklings Day Seven

Duckling Feed

by with No Comment DucksWelsh Harlequin
We are fortunate to live in an area that is plentiful with livestock and feed shops.  As we researched options for duck feed, and particularly organic feed, we discovered that the most affordable organic feed available to us is produced right here in Fort Collins at Ranch-Way Feeds.  We can buy it right at the mill, where we’ve already been buying horse feed for several years.  They don’t make waterfowl blends, but we’re combining their turkey starter with chick starter and some oatmeal and a little grit for our ducks’ starter feed.**  That combination was recommended in Storey’s Guide to Raising Ducks, by Holderread, so hopefully that will do the trick.  I suppose we’ll mess around with different combinations as they grow, and do the best we can.  We want to keep them organically fed.
**One part turkey starter, one part chick starter, ½ part oatmeal, with some grit sprinkled on top.

The Ducks Are Here!

by with No Comment Welsh Harlequin
Our ducks arrived at the post office this morning, so Tim went to pick them up soon after.  Our order was for 10 Welsh Harlequin ducklings, and along with the 10 we received one White Appleyard as a “bonus”.  One of the 10 arrived dead, but with the bonus, we still have 10 total.
They are very cute, of course!  We put them into the brooder that was all ready for them, and it’s amazing how quickly they wander around exploring.  Right away we gave them water to drink with a little honey in it and some chopped up greens.  After a bit we gave them their food, and one by one they figured out what was there and began to eat.  Within no time at all they were jumping over each other and over the food trough to get to the other side.  The one White Appleyard is the largest and boldest of all.  He will be pure white, so I’m already calling him (or her) “Whitey”.  Of the others, we think there are 4 females and 5 males, based on the bill color.  With this breed, you can tell the sex by their bill color within the first couple of days after hatching, with 75% accuracy.  Apparently, the ducks with a lighter bill color are females.  We have no idea what sex Whitey is, but hopefully we’ll have at least 4-5 females out of the bunch for egg production.