i think this is the female brown chinese.....
new ducklings and goslings arrived yesterday :-)
i think this is the male brown chinese
these are a snowy mallard and a magpie ducklings
these are the pair of runner ducklings (they are fawn colored)
have to get a group shot that doesn't focus on the top i put on their container
all together we received 1 female white chinese gosling, 1 pair of brown chinese goslings, 1 pair of roman tufted goslings, 2 pairs of snowy mallards (they are tiny!), 1 pair of magpie ducklings & 1 pair of fawn runner ducklings
they arrived yesterday from ideal which mailed them on wednesday....i thought that was impressive for delivery
there were not any extras, however the ones sent were active and happy and lively and healthy so i really can't imagine anything else that could be better than that
our next order is from sand creek....we are "on-call" beginning on the 8th....we will be getting 2 sebastopol geese (st run), 4 golden crested ducks, 4 buff ducks and 3 crested ducks....don't remember for sure, but i think all are st run
our chicks will be mailed on 14 may from ideal and i'm looking forward to seeing those babies....26 in all of various breeds including 2 females and 1 roo cream brabanter which look so cute
awww, so pretty. We had ducks when I was a kid.
Great looking babies! You are going to have your hands full! I wish we had a pond, does a stream with a swampy area count LOL. It is so hard to talk the State into letting you do anything with wetlands.
Good luck with all your new ones! I cannot wait till the April 9 when my order from Ideal too.
Congrats on the new babies. I just love the sebastopol, you'll have to get us some pics when they get here. They are the neatest looking birds. Good luck with all.
thanks :-)
they are a really fun bunch to watch....the cats have been taking turns watching too :-)
here are some more pictures
group shot
roman tufted gosling....i think it's the girl
white chinese girl
You have some very pretty birds. Baby waterfowl is my weakness. I could watch these little guys for hours.
they are funny....a fly got in with them last night & they had a ton of fun jumping around trying to catch it
so far everything has been a game
i can't wait to see the sebastopols get here....i just think they are adorable
the roman tufteds look like little coneheads :-)
How do you tell the baby girl geese from the baby boy geese?
MollyD
they didn't mark them, but for both the brown chinese and the roman tufted (named dan & jane for the coneheads on saturday night live way back when :-) ) the boys are a bit larger
my toulouse goslings last year were marked, but the boy was also larger
the white chinese gosling is suppose to be a girl & i got her to go with some other white chinese geese i have, so hopefully she is a she :-)
They are so adorable!! Especially the roman tufted gosling! Gotta love that face.
thanks!
i'll have to get more pictures....i'm so thrilled with the way they are thriving....i had to nurse several with my first orders last year and we lost several, so this is new to me to just enjoy the little ones :-)
They are precious, larienda. I love the pic of them
sleeping. They all look so soft, and sweet. Glad they
are healthy, and you can enjoy them more this go around.
I haven't owned ducks, so had a couple of questions.
Do you have a pond, or one nearby? And, when they are
grown, do they stay around, or do you clip the wings?
They're beautiful larlienda. I want a pair of White Chinese Geese. Ideal says they sell a pair but when I emailed to ask if the guaranteed they would be male and female they never answered back. I don't want to buy a straight run and then not know who is the pair and who can go in the freezer!
MollyD
i ordered a male from ideal & a female vs straight run....they didn't have them listed as a pair if that makes sense
one of the older ones i have, buddy, is a lap goose....he gets really upset if he can't be wherever i am when i'm working outside
it's pretty funny & cute
we have a creek that my husband widened a bit in one place and we are going to do a pond
they love swimming pools & we have a large trough they used to go in a lot
we haven't clipped any wings...the toulouse geese can fly and some of the ducks can fly a little bit, but not far
the white chinese can just flap & sometimes it looks like they wish they could fly :-)
We have a creek but it's too far from the house. If we left any birds down there predators would get them before we even knew there was a problem :-( I'll have to put in wading pools for those who want them. I want a pond but Paul isn't interested...yet ^_^
MollyD
I like the 'yet' part.LOL
It's amazing how that man has broaden his outlook on many things over the last few years ;-)
MollyD
Same here for my DH. I am so proud of him. He said
he led a sheltered life, after moving to Tx and marrying
me. He had no idea there was so much fun stuff to do
in the world!
LOL today we were heading out to lunch and I was talking about the pond. He asked me why I wanted it. I said not only is it beautiful but it's also a way to store water for drought times. Then I could water the beds from it. I asked him what it would cost to have one dug and he said he wasn't sure but there use to be one here. The previous owner had young children and had it filled up. So the clay etc at the base is still there. Would just need to have the fill removed! Anyway I went into a store to look at some bulbs and when I came out he was on the phone leaving a message for a farmer buddy of his. He was asking what it would cost to have the pond dug out!
Send strong positive thoughts my way ^_^ I think I'm winning this one! My geese may just have a real nice place to dunk their heads. btw will they eat fish if we stock it?
MollyD
the babies' first day outside....it got up to 80
molly.....here's the baby female chinese goose cinderella
she's a big girl now...10 days old!
larlienda she's beautiful! Are there ducks and geese in the group photo? Some look way bigger than the others. I'm considering Rouen ducks in my future ^_^
MollyD
there are both ducks and geese in the photo....i have two magpie ducks (yellow with large black spots), two fawn runner ducks & four snowy mallards (the smallest ones)
i have three rouen ducks.....2 females & 1 male....i don't recall if i had to order straight run, but i've since learned male ducks are very randy to put it politely & i think i would have a much greater female to male ratio if i knew that from the start
i have three cayugas & 2 are male and then two blue swedish both being male and the girls are just fed up to their little chinny chin chins!
mating season wasn't in full force when i made my orders for this year, so i ordered all pairs vs more females
they are all so fun to watch....bath time is the greatest!
Do you think I'll need more White Chinese females? I only ordered the one pair.
Do you have trouble with your ducks flying off? I've read that some breeds do this. So for the Rouen I should buy a pair plus maybe 3 or 4 more females?
Those Snowy Mallards look really cute! Where did you buy all your ducks from?
MollyD
everything last year was cackle hatchery
this year is split w/first order from ideal & then i'm expecting an order any time from sand creek
the pair of geese should be fine....i just ended up with more boy ducks than girl ducks and the girls are always running
the rouens can fly, but not very far....the others i have seem to take flying hops but nothing like my toulouse geese......they are my only flyers and they haven't gone off
w/the rouens i would stack the odds for the girls :-)
I'll keep in mind to get lots of girls and one male rouen! A sultan and his harem :-)
MollyD
they'll thank you :-)
LOL