# Duck questions!?



## M.R Drake (Sep 1, 2010)

Hello mates!!
I have some questions about my ducks, I tried to look in books and google but nothing worked, so I said that maybe someone knows or keeps ducks in Here, some questions are studied in schools but I can't recall the answers. 
Quistions:
1)-why does one of my ducks gets wet while others don't while swimming in the pond?
2)-how do you know if a Duck is going to lay eggs soon?
3)-why do two of my ducks don't like to get in the pond's water while others enjoy it?
4)-if one of my female Ducks lays eggs will she incubate them or not?

And here are some info on my ducks if it will might help:
1)-some of my ducks are about 10-9 months old, while the others are 7-6 months old.
2)-I feed them lettuce, rice, tomatoes, bread, grains.. And I occasionally feed them feeder fish.
3)- one of my female ducks looks like a wild female mallard, I think most of them are domestic mallards but deferent in coloration.
4)- one of my female duck laid infertile eggs last year ( because there wasn't any males around).
I will be very grateful if anyone answers these questions,I googled them but with no good. 
Sorry if I had bohered or wasted anyones time,


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## rob158 (Nov 7, 2009)

1 ducks use their bills to apply waxes from the preen gland i think its not making as much as normall is it one of the young ones? i had one like this it got better as it got older.

2 i dont know when they are about to lay, i normally just know because thay start to mate, mine are laying now which is a bit odd,march is about the time thay normally lay

3 is it a male and female? mine also done this, mayby try giveing them water to there self, 

4 ducks are not like chickens so dont start to incubate as soon as thay lay the first egg, she should lay one egg every day untill she has about 7 (sometimes 12) when she has finished she will then start to incubate so thay all hatch at the same time.


hope this helps,
Robert.


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## M.R Drake (Sep 1, 2010)

1- she is about 10 months old.
2- mine had mated just the other day.
3- they are both females.
4- I'll try to keep my eyes on her, will she make her nest or should I do it for her?


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## rob158 (Nov 7, 2009)

thay normaly make there own nest but you can make one for her if you want, put some straw or hay down and she should line it with her feathers.


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## M.R Drake (Sep 1, 2010)

Thank you very very much for answering my questions, and I have two last questions if you won't mind answering them, how long does it take for a female duck to lay an egg after mating? And how can I know if the eggs are fertile?.... These are my last questions. And thank you again for the great help !!


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## rob158 (Nov 7, 2009)

hi, im happy to answer any questions you have,
i think my duck started to lay a week or two after i saw them mating,
i dont think there is any way to know for sure if thay are fertile, 
my duck laid 20 eggs all at once that where not fertile,but it was her first time laying, 
she then laid 13 and hatched them all.


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## M.R Drake (Sep 1, 2010)

Thank you very much again, I hope I didn't bothered you with my questions.. And I know they were a lot..
So, sorry again and thank you!!:thumbup:


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## Binga (Aug 28, 2010)

Firstly ducks dont need to mate to lay eggs. A duck will start to look alittle heavier when she is due to lay, regardless of any treading from a drake. If a duck is laying then the eggs should be fertile about 10-14 days after the drake has started to tread. If you keep taking the eggs away then ducks dont readily go broody but dont leave `first` layed eggs in the nest as they will be in-fertile.


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## M.R Drake (Sep 1, 2010)

So do you mean the first egg laid by a female duck is infertile ?


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## Binga (Aug 28, 2010)

Anything is possible but it is highly unlikely that the first 10-14 eggs will be fertile.


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## M.R Drake (Sep 1, 2010)

But my duck had a lot of eggs last year but they didn't hatched because there wasn't any male around at that time, but now there is a male and she had mated with couple of days ago.


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## Binga (Aug 28, 2010)

Sorry I should have been clearer. Each time ducks start to lay after a break...perhaps for moulting or during winter months without any artificial light provided fertility is very poor in the first few eggs. A drake has to be treading the ducks daily and sometimes several times a day. When she starts to lay fertility is poor so there is no point in leaving the eggs in any nest hoping that she will sit. It is far best to take all the eggs away for about 14 days, after then the eggs will be a better size and hopefully fertile. Then you can start to collect to put them in an incubator or leave them for her to hopefully sit. You could also use a broody banty. It is the wrong time of year really to be rearing ducklings as they do better earlier and winter is fast approaching.


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## M.R Drake (Sep 1, 2010)

Ooooh now I know what you mean!! Okay I had took the eggs away, they are surprisingly small for a duck eggs... She had begun molting as well, looks like I'll have to wait for a while and see.. In my country the winter is not that bad,it's only a bit cold at night, but the summer is causes brains boil :lol:, you might be able to boil eggs on ground:thumbup:.. I will try!!


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## Paul Dunham (Apr 1, 2010)

Ducks getting water logged is a very common problem with farmyard ducks. It's usually because they have been kept away from sufficient water to live on. Often only being given a small trough to bathe and drink. There evolved to live on water and when reared and kept away from sufficient water they get lazy and neglect to preen and oil their feathers.

Once there introduced to a sizable pool they tend to get water logged and begin to sink. Usually once they have plenty of water they begin to oil their feathers regularly and there's no futher problem. Sometimes you can get a oil gland which isn't working because of lack of use. I've pricked the gland with a sterile needle and got it going again in the past. Failing that take it to a vet.


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## M.R Drake (Sep 1, 2010)

But I do see my ducks preening and roll their heads on their backs and wings, I heard that diet could have something to do with wet feathers, here is a list of what I feed my ducks:
1- lettuce
2- feeder fish
3- tomatoes
4- grapes
5- apples 
6- bananas
I don't think that with all those things my ducks get insufficient diet, if so what's wrong? And one of my female ducks is molting what should I do to support her while she at that procces?


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## Paul Dunham (Apr 1, 2010)

M.R Drake said:


> But I do see my ducks preening and roll their heads on their backs and wings, I heard that diet could have something to do with wet feathers, here is a list of what I feed my ducks:
> 1- lettuce
> 2- feeder fish
> 3- tomatoes
> ...


Diets got nothing to do with it. Domestic ducks (except Muscovies) have become lazy in every department apart from eating. There either bred for meat or egg production. (not their parenting skills) They are notoriously bad parents because of intensive farming has taken to job of parenting away from them.

It's the same with preening their feathers. Intensive farming keeps them away from a plentiful supply of water and they don't look after their feathers as well as they would if they were kept on water. They still preen their feathers. Almost always when left on a large pond or a lake they will begin to oil their feathers properly to stop them from becoming water logged.


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## M.R Drake (Sep 1, 2010)

Ok, what can I do with this wet feather problem? How to cure it?


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## Paul Dunham (Apr 1, 2010)

M.R Drake said:


> Ok, what can I do with this wet feather problem? How to cure it?


Two things. You either put them on a large pond and wait for them to begin looking after their feathers or get them checked out by a vet to see if their oil gland is working properly. Sometimes they can become blocked through lack of use. But that is a rarity. It's usually lazyness.


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## M.R Drake (Sep 1, 2010)

They had started preening a bit lately.. I hope they will be back to normal soon.


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## Paul Dunham (Apr 1, 2010)

Good! Fingers crossed, your problem will sort it's self out. "Water off a ducks back". lol.


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## M.R Drake (Sep 1, 2010)

I hope so, it seems hopeless now.


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## zoejames (Oct 1, 2010)

Her eggs will be fertile for about 3 weeks after being mated with, then the fertility drops off. If you have a male around all the time it is likely most will be fertile if he mates with her on a regular basis.
They start to lay at about 5-8 months old depending on breed and usually lay about 6 egs per week when it's spring/summer and tail off over the winter.
Some ducks just are not that bothered about swimming, or they may be being chased out of the pond by the most dominant duck (usually a drake).
What do you mean by wet? Could you perhaps post a picture? How old is the duck?
A duck will go broody between april-july if you leave her eggs in her nest and she has somewhere quiet away from the rest of the flock.
Most importantly, bread is not good for duck as it contains yeat which is a mico organism, i.e. mould related. It can cause them serious disease and is one of the reasons why town park ducks do not live very long. You should be feeding them layers pellets with treats such as corn and vegetables in the afternoons. Good layers pellets are:
Natural Free Range Layer Pellets Meal
If they are laying they also need a constant supply of oyster shell that they can eat when they like.
Good luck, they will bring you lots of enjoyment!
Zo
x


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## M.R Drake (Sep 1, 2010)

She had formed a nest, it contains six eggs and she had been incubating the eggs for about two weeks now.
But I'm worried about the ducklings when they hatch, my neiberhood is full of crow and cats, but I won't worry about the cats coz my guinea fowls are taking care of them, they chase a cat where ever they spot one, but crows are a deferent story,
Will the female duck protect them?!


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## zoejames (Oct 1, 2010)

she will ferociously protect them, and they dive under water if in danger from arial predators. So not to worry.


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## M.R Drake (Sep 1, 2010)

That's great!! And should I worry about cats?


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## zoejames (Oct 1, 2010)

If they are with mum then no, but try and keep cats out if you have small ducklings on their own. The bigger breeds can pretty much hold their own with cats, but cats will take small ducklings if they are apart from their mum.


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## M.R Drake (Sep 1, 2010)

The female duck I have is a magpie duck but with some faint brown markings on her back. The most important thing is that she will protect her young, that's great coz I was worried that maybe she will abandon her young a while after hatching!! Will she also take care of feeding her young?


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## zoejames (Oct 1, 2010)

Hiya, yes she will look after them as far as protection is concerned. As for feeding them if they are free range they will forage with her, BUT I assume you feed your ducks layers pellets? The babies will need access to the following:

Chick crumbs for the first 3-4 weeks, these MUST be coccidiostat free, make sure you ask your supplier this question. Then they need growers pellets up until they are a couple of months old, then they can go on the same ration your adults have. It is VITAL they have the correct ration, as each mix contains different amounts of protein and if they get the wrong amount in their early days they could have growth deformities such as Angel Wing. Try to stick to just the chick crumbs and whatever they forage for at this stage.
Let me know if you need anymore help


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## M.R Drake (Sep 1, 2010)

That's all I need to know about my duck!!
Is there anything I should know about my duck while incubating her eggs? Or any advice will be useful!
And thanks you've been a big help!


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