Baby picture

First hatch of the year!

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]" />

Hehe, something not rite about that picture.
Thanks for posting.

thank you for posting the adorable picture, you've made my day

Aw! So cute

Here they are at one week old!  "Dora" is doing very well with them.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]" />

That poor chicken is going to be a wreck when her precious babies go diving into a water bucket!

Beautiful pictures, it is amazing how a mamma hen doesn't care about what the babies are, not colour, not breed. But ya, poor thing when the little ones want to bath. That makes me smile. Have a wonderful day, CynthiaM

lol ! that is so awesome!! adorable pics!! congrats!!

Here they are at 2 weeks old.  They look a little wet because my wife took them for a swim...I'm not sure who was more horrified...then mother hen, or the ducklings themselves!  Apparently they think they are chickens...they want no part of water!  


[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]" />

Haha that's funny.

So cute!

Well...at 3 weeks they are looking like teenagers...and they have figured out what water is!  Mom has also decided that quick baths are of no concern...as long as they don't try to swim away from her!

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]" />

Nice picture you have taken there. Thanks for taking the time to keep us up to date with them.
What breed of ducks are they Bob. I'm looking into getting some dual purpose ducks. What kind of ducks do you like the best?
Thanks for your time.
Kimball

Hi Kimball, these are Silver Appleyards. They are a large dual purpose breed. I'm completely enamoured with them. They grow very quickly and lay extremely well. They were at butchering size last year at 9 weeks, and started laying at 19 weeks old. We have 4 duck hens and they average 3 eggs a day. They haven't slowed down since they started laying last December. These are the only ducks we have ever had, so I don't have anything to compare them to. We are actually selling hatching eggs if you are interested.

What did they weight at 9 weeks old Bob? I would Like to try a dozen or two of your hatching eggs. Do you do E transfer or how would you like to do the money exchange?
Thanks Bob for giving me the opportunity to buy egg from you.

Hi Kimball, I sent you a PM.

Here they are again at 4 weeks old!  Mother hen and babes are pretty much into each doing their own thing at this point!

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]" />

i just love your pics! never had a crossdressing mama before...it is pretty amusing!

Ok...5 weeks old today...and all alone!  Mama hen is back with the flock after doing an excellent job!  She has earned herself "keeper" status!  These little guys are growing like crazy...but still can't quite tell the males from females.  We have 3 of them spoken for once we can tell.   2 more hens setting on duck eggs, both about 2 weeks along.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]" />

I see one of the ducks in the picture with a dark line in the eye area? They sure are getting big tho. Thanks with sharing.

Yes, two of these 5 ducklings are darker with striped heads. If they are males, their heads will turn completely green. If they are females, they will retain some stripe pattern around the head. At around 5-6 weeks, the bills of the males will turn green, and we will be able to sex them. So far, these all look much the same to me.

Do you have any pictures of the adult flock? Thanks.

For sure, here is our complete flock.  2 drakes and 4 ducks.  These may not be the actual parents of all the ducklings in this thread, as we had another pair that we sold a couple of months back, but they are the parent stock of the eggs we are collecting for you right now Kendall!

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]" />