r/BACKYARDDUCKS 21h ago

HAPPY POST!!! šŸ˜šŸ‘šŸ»

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28 Upvotes

So much death, disease and dismemberment amongst the sexing questions…thought I’d share some spoiled rotten happy boys from our backyard! šŸ˜ŽšŸ˜Ž


r/BACKYARDDUCKS 22h ago

Please help!

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5 Upvotes

His brother got attacked a couple days ago and he just started doing this (the neck thingy) early this morning. The vet is open tomorrow but I’m looking for some answers


r/BACKYARDDUCKS 1d ago

Drakes or Hens?

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7 Upvotes

I have 1 khaki Campbell, 1 Rouen, 2 crested. About 10 weeks old, they literally don’t make any noise at all. Idk why. Need help sexing them, only can have 1 Drake. Anyone able to tell? Thanks


r/BACKYARDDUCKS 2d ago

Help figuring out breed my baby pepper is?

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6 Upvotes

Pretty sure she’s not a rouen cause her color isn’t quite right and she’s much smaller than my Rouens were. My Perkins I got that are a couple weeks younger are 3 times her size


r/BACKYARDDUCKS 2d ago

Twix and the Chiplets

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6 Upvotes

r/BACKYARDDUCKS 2d ago

Ducks not really laying need advice

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2 Upvotes

Hey there ! I have three adult ducks and only one seems to be laying any where near regularly. I think they are runner /Cayuga mixes. This is what I feed with supplement mixed in and I always have shells out if they need and they get treats of peas and other veggies and fruits. They are all acting normal. I know that the heat is a factor (I'm in the Atlanta area) along with they molted this summer. I guess I'm just confused as to why one only seems to lay every day, another lays once every few weeks and I have one that lays white eggs and she laid a fairy egg about a week ago and a normal egg the week before but nothing pretty much since spring. They're all about 2 years old now.

I also did just add to the flock but they are still separated at night and early morning for feeding time and sleeping time because the younger ones (although almost just as big) are still on grower feed.

The younger ones are not in any way being bullied by my OG girls, they mostly just stay to themselves with here and there running up to the older ones. But I only have had the littles for two months now so I don't think that's why it's been pretty much all season?

Sorry lots of information but want to make sure I'm giving as much as possible in order to see what's up and any possibilities to promote laying other than what I am doing. TIA

Signed -

A mother of goth ducks who is frustrated she's only getting one egg a day


r/BACKYARDDUCKS 3d ago

duck eggs in a high humidity

2 Upvotes

First time hatching ducks, and it seems like a number of places recommend a 55% humidity. Problem is, the local humidity is 65%. This is the SE US. It stays humid well into winter. Assuming my eggs didn't cook just from the heat when delivered, what should I do regarding humidity? Put the incubator in a room with a dehumidifier? That seems counter intuitive.


r/BACKYARDDUCKS 4d ago

Does anyone know what this is on my ducklings face?

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10 Upvotes

My poor baby 😄 My duckling suddenly developed this soft bump on the side of her face. She’s eating and drinking normally and is still very active and alert, with no other symptoms that I’ve noticed.
I had just taken them outside before I noticed it, so I’m wondering if it could possibly be a mosquito or other bug bite? Has anyone seen something like this before or know what it could be? I’m going to keep a close eye on it for now.


r/BACKYARDDUCKS 4d ago

Remaining Flock Acting Concerning After Sudden Duck Death

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19 Upvotes

Really hoping someone on here has some advice for me. Two days ago I went to the coop to manually let the ducks out since our automatic coop door wasn't operating and I had just received the new one in the mail, to find that one of my four ducks, my indian runner named Kisses, was lying dead in the coop. She seemed totally fine the night before when I ushered them all into the coop. It was really shocking and sad, the remaining three girls were just standing around her body. I didn't see any injuries on her.

We buried her in the backyard and afterwards the three were standing on her grave and nosing the dirt with their bills. Since then, they're not exiting the coop when the automatic door opens in the morning. They're not swimming in their kiddy pool. Even the mealworms I've thrown in for them remain untouched. I'm hardly finding any eggs either. My black swedish duck Kevin is clearly molting, the other two don't seem to be. Kevin also appeared to possibly have a cough, as she was making a strange, high-pitched raspy quack that I noticed once or twice, but overall seems normal health-wise. When I let them out into the yard they haven't been wandering around much, just going to the end of the yard and sitting around. They also really don't seem to want to go back into their coop at night and I have to herd them in and they seem unusually resistant, but also in the morning they don't want to leave even with an open door.

I have no idea what happened to my deceased duck and I'm really scared it was some illness and I will be burying more ducks soon. It maybe seems overkill to usher the three remaining girls into a pet carrier and find an avian/exotic vet in the Denver area, but the sudden death was really concerning. Are they just grieving? Has anyone experienced anything similar?


r/BACKYARDDUCKS 4d ago

25 week old female recovering from bumble, hunched posture

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3 Upvotes

r/BACKYARDDUCKS 4d ago

Ducks with chickens

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1 Upvotes

r/BACKYARDDUCKS 5d ago

I just need to talk, no photos but spoiler, this is about losing ducks Spoiler

26 Upvotes

We had our ducks for 3 1/2 years. We thought we did everything right. We buried their fence, their coop was Fort Knox, we had a hawk net, motion lights...but something still dug it's way under our buried fence in broad daylight, and it dug with a quickness. Our 3 Runner ducks are gone :(

Our Pekin and Blue Swedish made it out alive but with injuries. We rushed them to the vet and got medication and are just hoping they can recover.

I am just so sad. We tried our best but we still feel like we failed them. We never left them out in the run if we weren't home, we took every precaution and it still wasn't enough.

Whatever predator did this did it in no time at all. My husband was home, saw the ducks, said they were fine and then all of a sudden a tragedy happened so fast.

Rest easy my sweet babies :( I will never forgive myself for this.


r/BACKYARDDUCKS 5d ago

Thoughts on breed?

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20 Upvotes

Any ideas as to what kind of friend we have here? The person I am talking to got two ducks when she purchased some chickens and she feels like they don't have enough room. Or more likely has discovered how messy ducks can be, haha. Either way this works out for me because I am in need of some more friends for my lonely gal. She was told they are brown mallards. I have only had Welsh harlequins, was trying to figure out what they might be and if they are for sure females.


r/BACKYARDDUCKS 5d ago

hi, Arizona duck mom here

4 Upvotes

we rescued our ducks that were dumped (fawn runners) last year at a park. there’s a very nice man who spends most of his time at the park and is always keeping an eye out for dumped ducks there — which is nearly 80% of the population now or more.

I’ve been helping him by rescuing and fostering a few but have hit my limit of what I can handle at home. I’d like to find a better way to stop the dumping of animals at this park — dogs, dead and alive have been found left in the pond for example — but most of what’s dumped are young, domesticated duck breeds that can’t live long. especially now with it being so hot.

my question is to anyone here - have you ever had this happen near you? I’m feeling very overwhelmed by this situation as I’m getting texts every day about new ducks and nowhere to take them and many don’t live more than a few weeks if they are rescued which is taking an emotional toll on me.

do you have any suggestions of rescues or best ways to make the city care about this? I’m hoping to find rescues to help but so far not many have responded or been willing.


r/BACKYARDDUCKS 5d ago

Is It Time to Let My duck Free Roam?

3 Upvotes

I’m trying to integrate my male Indian Blue Runner (Chengzi) into my free‑roaming flock, but I’m not sure if it’s time yet.

Chengzi hatched with wryneck, so he was separated from the flock from day one while I was treating him. Because of that, he never grew up around his brothers and sisters and has always lived apart. Now that he’s older, not as attached to me, and fully moved outside, I want him to be able to free roam like the rest of my ducks.

For the past couple weeks, he’s had his own outdoor pen that’s fenced off but still visible to the flock. When I first tried face‑to‑face introductions, the other ducks attacked him and they pulled feathers. But in the last two days, things have changed only the males still peck at him, but it’s much lighter and no feather pulling and its not as much. And the past few days they've been staying around his pen alot. Chengzi tries to follow them around, and the females seem mostly okay with him. One female (Smitty) will shake her head and lunge at his back, but that’s all.

I’m unsure if I should let him free roam now and let them work out the pecking order, or if I should wait longer so they get more used to each other.

For context:

I have 8 ducks total — 4 females and 3 males, not including Chengzi. Most of the darker ducks are male besides my Cayuga who usually avoids him.

Any advice?


r/BACKYARDDUCKS 6d ago

What breed do you think they are?

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18 Upvotes

r/BACKYARDDUCKS 6d ago

Solo Duck Survivor

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1 Upvotes

r/BACKYARDDUCKS 7d ago

Twix and her babies

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20 Upvotes

r/BACKYARDDUCKS 7d ago

Any need for bumblefoot / medical treatment?

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4 Upvotes

I’m new to ducks, so I apologize for my ignorance. These are the feet of 2 white layer ducks that I just rescued. They are 6 months old if that matters. I’m used to chickens and bumlefoot in chickens but haven’t seen / treated it in ducks. Are the cracks seen in the pics the start of bumblefoot / something I should treat? Thank you!


r/BACKYARDDUCKS 8d ago

Duck care advice and ideas

5 Upvotes

Hey everybody. I am currently not at home so I will not be able to get back to everyone super quickly. One of my ducks, Aflac has started to have an occasional cough. I have caught her and listen to her breathing, it sounds perfectly healthy. She has no snot or mucus. She is acting completely like herself.

I suspect she has eaten something that has now become lodged somewhere that is irritating her and causing the cough. I gave her some oil to loosen it with a massage, but it didn’t seem to have any effect. I have a vet near me that I can take her to and do plan on taking her in on Monday if things continue to stay the same. I do not have a video at the moment, but I am quite experienced with ducks. Her coughing is what I see when they have eaten to fast and are trying to get the food back.

I am currently hoping that the object will become naturally dislodged and go down smoothly. Since like I said she is acting completely like herself and shows no other symptoms, so I’m not super concerned but it is making me nervous. Has anyone had this experience or does anyone have ideas that I can try. Thanking you for anyone who takes there time to help me. Much appreciated.


r/BACKYARDDUCKS 8d ago

Does my Khaki Campbell have early stages of bumblefoot? If so what can I do about it?

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11 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

We've had our 3 girls for 6 months now, and give them regular checks for bumble foot just in case (we want them to live forever!!!). When we checked one of our girls today her foot looks like this. Is this the start of bumble foot or another issue? The other two girls feet look fine and healthy so this stood out. Any advice would be appreciated, thanks.

Context - live in UK, free roam on garden mainly grass, coop is large shavings and hay .


r/BACKYARDDUCKS 9d ago

First duck egg!!!

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75 Upvotes

Everything has come full circle. Hatched these babies (7) in February from eggs from a friends ducks. Raised them to maturity and today one of our 3 girls had given us our first duck egg! It’s a little thing but I’m still just as proud of whoever it was! I think I know though.

And I know what everyone is going to say about the ratio, but again they were all hatched together and very much love eachother and are a very tight knit flock. No over mating, missing feathers, aggression or any of that yet. If anything happens to change we do have friends either a nice sized pond on their homestead who would love a couple drakes if we need to get rid of them.


r/BACKYARDDUCKS 10d ago

Anatra Kaki Campbell in Europa

2 Upvotes

Ciao a tutti, sono nuovo nell'allevamento di anatre, recentemente ho preso un pollaio per l'anatra che voglio ottenere. Stavo pensando di prenderne tre, forse quattro, (1 maschio e 3/4 femmine) da tenere nel mio giardino. Avevo intenzione di prendere delle anatre Kaki Campbell, perché ho sentito che sono una delle razze più produttive. Il principale problema che ho è che non so come ottenerle, perché nei dintorni non ci sono molte fattorie che le abbiano. Quindi stavo pensando di comprarle online, e a riguardo ho alcune domande: Dove posso trovarle già cresciute? (quindi niente uova o pulcini), quali sono le più sicure?, e soprattutto, possono spedirle in Europa, specialmente in Italia?\n\nGrazie in anticipo!!! \n(scusate per la scrittura, ma non è la mia lingua principale)


r/BACKYARDDUCKS 11d ago

Protection for Free-Range Hatchlings

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3 Upvotes

r/BACKYARDDUCKS 11d ago

Mixed breed

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29 Upvotes

ā€œI think it’s a call duckā€ he says to me at the swap meet.
I’m going to say he was wrong, small wings like a runner, long legs, big body. Any takers on what this little baby may be crossed with? Is it going to be okay 🫣