Lil' Quacker

[Taceas]

A month ago my dad brought me a slew of eggs to incubate in my incubator since it was still running from incubating chicken eggs a month or so earlier. A dozen or so peafowl eggs and about a dozen duck eggs from his neighbor lady.

As I expected, the peafowl fertility is low and they just don't artificially incubate well. The duck eggs all started out great, but several died in the eggs. I was almost out of hope till I checked on it today and heard a peeper.

Opened up the lid to see a dime sized hole in one of the duck eggs and a little beak peeping at me. I checked on him throughout the day and he kept turning and chipping away at his shell.

I just checked on him a few minutes ago and he's finally all the way out and mostly dried off.

Now for the obligatory "Awwwww..."







Go little paddle feet, go!


Hopefully someone else hatches, we leave for a week long vacation on Saturday and it'd be nice for him to have a roommate so he won't get lonely. Otherwise I may have to stuff him under one of my four broody hens who are waiting for a stork to bring them babies (I have no adult rooster, so the eggs they're sitting on are hopeless).

[desertanimal]

Awwwww. So what happens now? Is he imprinted on you? I have no experience with that social bird stuff. How do you "get rid of" him (give him back) if he's imprinted on you?

[Taceas]

It usually takes a few days of consistent handling and interaction for full imprinting to take place.

If I keep it to a minimum he'll just be a bird with a slight affinity for humans, as I've no other ducks for him to interact with. The closest thing he's going to possibly get is a chicken.

Even if he does become imprinted on me, getting "rid of" him will be stressful for a day or two and he'll cry continuously, but they eventually get over it and get on with their lives.

But if no other ducklings hatch I'll probably work pretty consistently on him before we leave for vacation and he'll go to my parent's house for the week and they can babysit him.

I'm sure the neighbor lady doesn't want him, she's been losing a lot of her birds to foxes that can apparently climb fences and neighborhood dogs that dig under her fences, so we'll probably end up keeping him. I guess he can go with the hodge podge collection of birds...40 chickens, 20 pigeons, 1 turkey, 1 duck, and a partridge in a pear tree...

[Nanci]

What a cutie! When I was a teenager, neighbors across the street had a mallard duckling for some reason, that grew up into a hen, that was very imprinted on humans. She'd follow kids all over the place, which was easy for her, because she was a good flyer. She migrated in the winter, but returned the following spring, friendly as ever. Somehow she managed to find a mate, who never came around, and hatched ducklings. This continued for several more summers. I wish I could remember her name...Ducks seem to be inherently people-oriented, and get very friendly if given any encouragement.

Nanci

[Hurley]

My mom has a duck named Melvin that lives under the front deck. Yet another """pet""" brought home by an idiot who has a habit of acquiring and then forgetting about the animal they've brought home, but that's another story. Melvin chose to leave his (for lack of a better word) "owners" and adopted Mom, Mom's deck, and Mom's dog, Deidre. Melvin preens Deedee, chases her and lets her chase him, and comes out happily quacking from under the deck when he sees any Aussie now...which unnerved my guys at first, LOL.

Nice duck. I feel bad for him, though, acquired as a birthday present for the idiot's kid of all things, with no thought of his basic requirements and a lack of interest when he wasn't a tiny, cute, peeping thing anymore. Melvin lucked out though since Mom took him in. He's a right spoiled duck, even if he does wonder why he's not furry and can't bark.

[Joni Garcia]

Absolutely darling!!!

[mlove]

How cute. I have a friend that has over a dozen ducks living with her chickens. I love watching them every time I visit her. Congrats on your new baby.