One sadly didn't survive so now we have six balls of feathers left. It was looking a lot weaker than the other ducklings yesterday (you'll notice it wasn't even in yesterday's photo because it wasn't keeping up with the others). I went back down to the large chicken enclosure where we'd put the ducks and ducklings last night. I'd decided that it would be best to bring the little duckling in overnight, instead of leaving it outside in the cold. Unfortunately it had already passed away. The other ducklings all seemed happy and were trying to go under mum so I left them with her. At 2 am I couldn't sleep because the rain was so heavy and again I thought about going down the paddock to bring them all inside.
The next morning as soon as it was light we collected them up (including the mother duck) and put them in a large plastic storage box with a blanket. They were put in the bathroom until they dried out and warmed up. Around lunch time I set up our old rabbit hutch with fresh hay, shallow bowls of water and food for them. I then put them into the hutch in the backyard. We have a resident hawk so this will be the safest place for them for now. It also means that I can keep a closer eye on them.
Today they're a week old and are all doing well. The love splashing in the shallow dish of water and have happily taken to eating chick crumble mixed with water. Over the next few days I plan to move them onto a proper meat bird crumble. We also have a few clucky hens sitting on fertile duck eggs so hopefully there will be some more ducklings arriving over the next couple of weeks.
No comments