Winter Chicks Moved To New Quarters

The weather gave us an opportunity to move the "Winter Chicks" to their new home outdoors this weekend, so we took the opportunity to put them in the transition pen. This is the pen where the ducks spend the night, along with several of our younger roosters and hens. The rest of the flock can spend the day, today, looking at them and talking to them through the fence. Then tonight, the ducks will waddle in and hopefully spend a peaceful night with them. In the morning, the gate will be opened and the young ones will be free to roam if they wish.

This is always a scary time for the flock owner, as you won't know until the evening if they all come home, or if some are out under a bush, frightened. So far, every group we have put out in 16 years, has come in that night...... but it is still scary until they are all in!

Not only was the weather right, but new hatches forced us to make room! Right on schedule, Muscovy duck eggs have started to hatch. There have been three new ducklings since last evening. So we needed to play "musical brooders" and kick everyone up one room, so that the ducklings had the warmest brooder. These ducklings are our first successful Muscovy Duck hatches so far. All the others died in the egg, or shortly after coming out.

I have been watching, when I have time, some of the videos from "50 Ducks In A Hot Tub" on YOUTUBE. It is very interesting and while he has less experience time-wise with ducks, he has HUNDREDS more ducks than we have ever had, so I trust his information. He says that many ducklings run into trouble as the try to pip out and need help. Chickens are just the opposite, so we would let the ducklings struggle until it was too late. Two of these three needed help and got it, so now there are three little fluff-muffins sitting in the warm corner all cozy!

Over the next five weeks, some 50 more will be hatching, or at least trying to develop and hatch, so we need to keep the brooders ready!

Anyway, enjoy the video! The last 9-10 minutes are just the chicks scratching around!