How to carry a duckling...

How to Carry a Duckling

In your shirt of course...

We had 3 ducklings hatch 2 days ago. We are totally out of infrastructure because my Muscovy insisted ongoing broody multiple times this year, and the last mom hatched out 11 Muscovy ducklings, which she thinks is wonderful, but I'm inclined to consider excessive...  However, that's an aside.

So Mom had to move into a "mini-hoop" and I had to add her to a mini-hoop with a mom supervising 2 almost 4 week old khakis. This is not ideal, but the best I could do. However, as I arrived in the field at duckie bedtime, I realized one duckling had ended up shivering in the duckie bathtub. I hauled it out, dried it off, and.... tucked in in my shirt. I wear an undershirt as well, so it wasn't the "skin to skin" they say for hypothermia, but even babies can have sharp claws.

Trying to do all my evening work without squishing said duckling (including retrieving 2 chickens that weren't where they belong and relocating a third chicken who was being picked on by a roommate, but that's another aside...) was difficult and I did give up on a couple of things. It seemed warmer, so I tried putting it back with mom, but it just wasn't moving well enough, and my guess was that its internal temperature was still too low to risk leaving it.

So how did I carry it all the way from the field to the house? Why, inside my shirt of course...  It is a bit strange to have one's abdomen "peeping".

I had some baking that *had* to be done. Lots of peeping and squirming going on, but I coped. However, I had some emails to write... Peeper was getting more adventurous. Climbed up between the undershirt and shirt, slid down the sleeve, and popped out at the cuff. I soooo... wish I could have gotten a picture! However when I tried to put it down on a towel beside me while I read a book, it still didn't seem to be walking all that well, and I hadn't convinced it to eat a bit of cooked oats, so into the incubator it went for the night.

I tried - I really tried - to just put it in a tote on the floor with food and water while I made breakfast. It peeped and peeped and jumped out. It was making a bee-line for the stairs when Hubby came up the stairs and it changed its mind. I closed the kitchen doors. It's definitely more mobile, it has eaten a little breakfast, but where does it sound happiest???   In my shirt!

I'm not allowed to head for the field until I've got my tea into me as I dehydrate easily. But yes, I'll carry it to the field in my shirt, and then with any luck, I can dump it back in with mom when no one's looking...

Just a quick update - at duckie bedtime last night, all was well with duckling. If there's a bigger problem than just temperature, it could easily be a week before we know, but fingers are crossed!

Duckling is still bouncing along with his hatch-mates! This picture was taken at 3 days and the mom's weren't cooperating.

The duckling closest to the adult head in the picture is the one that got too cold. I had a good look at the group today. The Crested Duckling and the Misadventure Duckling are both a bit smaller than the third. Soon they should have their first growth spurt and I'm hoping they'll all do fine.

As for the Crested Duckling, I have *no* idea where it came from? Spontaneous mutation? I know I've got a mix - Khaki-Campbell ducks are a mix to start with, and so are Golden 300's, which I crossed the khakis with. Goldies are bigger birds than Khakis, which is why I'm seeing a difference in sizes even in healthy birds. However, I wasn't aware of either breed having Crested Duck genes in them??? We will have to wait to determine its sex. If it's female, I will probably sell it as a pet to someone who hasn't got a drake, as there are some nasty co-morbidities associated with Crested Ducks. I have strong personal feelings that intentionally breeding animals for a certain "look" when there are negative health implications is not going to happen on my farm. This showed up spontaneously, and so long as the duckling is healthy, I won't cull it because of the crest, but I'll also not breed it. Often I don't know who laid which egg in a group, so the easiest way to be safe is to find it a new home.

When I first saw this thread, I assumed it was to post this, lol:

Since Jordan added a picture of the "hamburger hold" (not actually one I recommend for Noisy Ducks as the panic easily, so I use more of a football hold with one thumb and finger around the bird's neck) I thought an update would be in order.

My shirt duckling grew and grew and learned to quack - so she's officially a "she".

Unfortunately the crested duck was the one that didn't make it. It started to show signs I'd associate with Hydrocephaly, although in this case it was likely fat rather than liquid pressing on the brain and interfering with coordination and growth. About a week after I noticed the first signs, I was forced to put it down as it was no longer able to manage with its little flock.

A week after that, we started putting the 4 remaining Noisy ducks in that group, along with their two Muscovy moms, into the Muscovy overnight shelter. They seem to be doing well there and that shelter's in a better location and better type of shelter for the cold wet weather that is now upon us.