Raising Ducks Blog

Aggressive Ducks: Why drakes attack and how to permanently stop aggression

Featured Hannah Management May 5, 2018 March 12, 2019 22 Comments

You’re wondering how you can walk in your yard without Mr. Macho tearing a gash in your leg with his razor-sharp talons and leaving nasty dark bruises with his hard, twisting bite. You don’t want to resort to inviting your beloved drake for dinner. Neither do you want to become the subject of the next viral YouTube video if your neighbors catch you facing off a little 15-pound duck in medieval armor.

You know he’s just a puny little bird, but you’re kinda scared of him. The kids can’t go out to pick eggs anymore. You can’t turn your back for a second, or he’ll pounce and attack.

I hear it over and over. HELP!!! Why does my male duck attack me? How can I make my duck stop biting me?

Don’t give up. There’s a solution, apart from killing him. Drakes are not mindless maniacs, however much they may seem to be. There’s a secret to it.

10 Effective Ways To Sex Your Muscovy Duck (With Pictures)

Featured Hannah Ducklings / Management January 17, 2018 June 10, 2019 41 Comments

When a Muscovy duckling hatches, you can’t say, “It’s a boy!” or “It’s a girl!” All you can do is look at the cute fluffball and say, “It’s a baby!”

Three months later, it’s no longer a baby, but it still hasn’t said what it is. Why did they have to make it so difficult? Why couldn’t they just hatch with pink and blue bills or something?

They sure do like to keep it a secret–but they do spill the beans eventually. Even though male and female Muscovies may look identical as babies, and may not seem to change much as they mature, there are some subtle differences that reveal their little secret.

Unfortunately, it’s near impossible to determine the gender of a day-old duckling (except by vent sexing). However, differences do start showing up after a few weeks. This article contains a complete list of methods to sex young ducks, in order of the approximate age the duckling will be when these differences become visible. Differences in the bill and feathers show up first, by three or four weeks. Differences in voice and caruncles show up much later, by about sixteen weeks of age. In general, the differences that show up later are more reliable, so the older your Muscovy duck is, the easier it will be to tell if it’s a boy or girl.

Why aren’t my ducks laying eggs? 15 reasons

Hannah Eggs and Meat October 4, 2018 May 6, 2019 27 Comments

Ducks lay eggs. Except when they don’t.

Why aren’t my ducks laying? Why did my ducks suddenly stop laying? When will my ducks lay? Shouldn’t my ducks be laying more eggs than this? It’s one of the most frustrating issues people have with their ducks, and also one of the most frequent complaints I hear.

The answer is here. Every “my ducks aren’t laying eggs!” case I’ve ever heard of can be attributed to one or more of these fifteen causes:

I Found a Hidden Nest! How To Stop Your Duck From Hiding Her Eggs

Hannah Eggs and Meat December 18, 2017 March 12, 2019 10 Comments

I was wandering around the duck yard, looking for two rascals who were late for bed, when I saw this: three lovely white eggs, snug under a wood pile.

Muscovies are notorious nest hiders (and have a bit of an annoying propensity to hate bedtime, too). They think hiding their nest is their life’s duty.

In fact, pretty much any breed often inclined to go broody is likely to hide their nests sometimes, because ducks who go broody are also interested in going broody where no one will find them…at least, so they hope.

Owners of ducks who like to hide nests frequently receive a pleasant surprise in the form of running into hidden treasure: a nest, sometimes with twenty or more eggs in it.

The only problem?

Can ducks lay 2+ eggs in one day? (You’ll be surprised!)

Hannah Eggs and Meat December 17, 2017 March 12, 2019 10 Comments

Everybody knows ducks lay one egg a day. If you exclaim excitedly, “My duck laid two eggs today!” you’ll probably get funny looks, if you’re talking to people who know anything whatsoever about ducks. They’ll tell you, no, ducks never lay two eggs in a day.

But they’d be wrong.

Once in a while, a duck owner will get one more egg than the amount of female ducks they have.

Can a duck really lay two eggs in one day?

Surprisingly, yes.

What time of day do ducks lay eggs?

Hannah Eggs and Meat December 16, 2017 March 12, 2019 2 Comments

Ducks generally lay their eggs at early morning, around sunrise.

However, it varies a lot. Some ducks lay around 4:30 AM. Most lay around 6 AM. Others lay around 9 AM. And occasionally, a duck will lay in the afternoon, or even evening.

Do ducks need a mate?

Hannah Management December 13, 2017 March 12, 2019 2 Comments

When glancing through my site analytics, I noticed that someone searched this. I did the search myself, and nothing useful came up. So here’s the answer, for whoever searched or anyone else wondering this.

Does my male duck need a female companion?

Does my female duck need a male companion?

Answer:

When do ducks stop laying eggs?

Hannah Eggs and Meat November 15, 2017 March 12, 2019 Leave a comment

Ducks often lay for far longer than chickens. The average length is 7-9 years. The exact age when they stop laying, however, varies, depending on the breed and how hard you have pushed them to lay.

Should My Duck Eat (fill in the blank)?

Hannah Management / Nutrition July 12, 2016 March 12, 2019 4 Comments

I was walking around, looking at the duck flock, when suddenly I noticed one duck, Kiwi, running off with something in her mouth – something big and slimy.

When do ducks start laying eggs?

Hannah Eggs and Meat July 5, 2016 March 12, 2019 27 Comments

Your tiny fluffy ducklings have somehow transformed into a duck. They quack all the time, poop everywhere, and somehow turn everywhere around their water into a mudhole. They’re fun, but you’re wondering when you’ll get the rewards of all the work and money you’ve put into them. Where are those …

Clipping a Duck’s Wings

Hannah Management / Videos October 7, 2015 March 12, 2019 2 Comments

Some ducks will fly. That’s sometimes fine, but sometimes they will fly away, and you may never see them again. The solution? Clip their wings. Here’s how you do it.

Feeding in a Nutshell

Hannah Nutrition August 18, 2015 March 12, 2019 2 Comments

Entire books have been written on the subject of feeding poultry. However, here’s a quick guide to feeding ducks – in just a few paragraphs.

Ducks and Onions: Can Ducks Eat Onions?

Hannah Nutrition July 28, 2015 March 12, 2019 Leave a comment

The scoop on feeding onions to your ducks: Is it okay or dangerous? Is it healthy for them?

When Should You Assist With Hatching?

Hannah Ducklings July 9, 2015 May 12, 2019 255 Comments

You’ve been on tenterhooks for several weeks now, anxiously waiting for your ducklings to hatch. Then one egg pips! You can see the tiny bill inside, moving and squirming. A few hours pass, and it hasn’t made much progress. Should you help it?

Never Say Never: Emergency Hatch

Hannah Ducklings July 9, 2015 March 12, 2019 2 Comments

When I started raising ducks, I never thought I would need or want an incubator. I was raising Muscovies, one of the best breeds for mothering. I was 100% for natural incubation, and I told myself, “Who needs an incubator if they have Muscovies? These ducks can hatch their own babies! I’m never getting an incubator.”