Our “Six-Pack” of ducks from 2016 is no longer with us. For various reasons, we have culled the flock one by one. Most of them were removed because they had stopped laying eggs, or laid only soft-shell eggs. We began raising our small, 2019 flock of ducklings while we still had two remaining “big ducks” from 2016, but in short time they were culled because they were just too crabby and no fun to have around.
Coco (Chocolate Runner) spent most of her waking hours hunched up with her feathers ruffled, quacking-quacking-quacking. Most of the time she looked like the right photo. It was unbearable.
Our other adult, Whitey, had been our best layer and generally a calm duck. But, after we’d culled two others, leaving just Coco & Whitey, Whitey began to quack just as much as Coco. Thinking Coco had infected her with crabbiness, we got rid of Coco first and attempted to calm Whitey down. Tim would sit on the ground to feed her out of a bowl located by his lap. At first, she would continue to quack and go hungry, because she was unwilling to come near. We tried holding her in our laps until she calmed down. A couple of days after starting this process, she was much quicker to come and eat quietly. There was some improvement, and we hoped she would return to being her calmer self, but even after a few days it just didn’t help calm her down. Whenever we would walk nearby or past her even at some distance, she would still quack like crazy. It just wasn’t worth the effort to continue working with her, not knowing if our efforts would calm her down.
With the baby ducklings growing, we decided to cut our losses with the old, and bring up the new flock without their influence. We are hoping these new ducks will be happier, quieter, calmer.
Sadly, one of our baby ducklings didn’t make it through the first night at home. She was scrawny right out of the box, and not as active as the others. We had doubts she’d make it. Fortunately, Metzer Farms offers either a refund or replacement when ducklings do not survive the trip. They are unable to safely ship just one duckling, so she needed a companion duckling. They offer to send a “mystery” duckling free of charge, or one of our choice that we pay for. We chose a female of another breed we were interested in. They hatched just one week after the first 3, and we received them last week. Now we have 5 baby ducklings, growing fast in our care.
White Layer. One of the ducks we currently have is a white layer from Metzer Farms. She has been our most consistent layer and has a calm demeanor, even though she rates 6.7 on the temperament scale. (10 is high) She forages right along with the rest of the ducks, rated “Good” for foraging, and her all-white feathers make her easy to spot.
Golden 300 Hybrid Layer. Also bred at Metzer Farms, this duck promises to lay 200-290 eggs per year. She rates high on the temperament scale at 7.7, but we hope that the other calmer ducks will keep her in check. She should also be a “Good” forager, and will be a brownish color.
Silver Appleyard. This breed rates 1.2 for the calmest temperament, and “Very Good” at foraging. She won’t lay as many eggs, 120-175 per year, but hopefully her calm demeanor and foraging will encourage the others to follow suit. She will have mixed colors of white and brown.
Black Swedish. This should also be a calm duck, 2.3 on the scale. She should lay 130-180 eggs per year and be a “Good” forager. She will be predominantly black with a white chest. This is the one that didn’t survive, and we will receive a replacement next week.
Rouen. These ducks are known to be on the calm side, a 4.5 on the temperament scale. She should lay 140-180 eggs per year and should be a good forager. She may lay blue-green eggs, and should be a nice looking, dark brown duck.