Ducklife 'Newbies, A disabled in the flock & Typical morning duck antics' Winters Samhuinn 2024 Aus

Day before for our vet visit to assess the new girls Catherine the Greats lameness/bumbles. Her flippers and Flint were full of plugs when I got them and she was limping. Recorded in the tide of Winters Samhuinn Aus, 2024.
Duckies -
Tiggy Winkle (Younger Cayuga female)
Fenr (Oder Cayuga female)
Bella (Silver Appleyard)
Leuka (Peking female)
Sigrid (Rouen female)
Freya (Rouen x Peking female)
Frigg (Rouen x Peking male)
Fawn (Rouen x Peking male)
Sunna (Peking)
Catherine the Great (Young Silver Appleyard)
Flint Fireforge (Young Silver Appleyard Drake)
Hens
Brigid (Isa Brown Cross)
Buffy (German Volwerk)
For those who just like ducks I have made a playlist which includes my feathered Brood here - • 💚 Duck life (My Quacke...
By Ravenmor Fox
Level 4 Horticulturist
Druir and Wic of the old ways
Priestess to the Morgan of old.
Currently a student in App Animal Science ad Ornithology

[@Eric.1I37]

Do ducks establish a “pecking” order, like chickens do?

[@TheEnchantedDuat]

Absolutely but not as brutal. The Peking order also changes with the seasons, illness etc... Always in flux/interesting to observe that's for sure. Sometimes 'surfing' is used as a display of dominance and it is nothing todo with procreation which is why you'll get female or male ducks on an occasion jumping each other - Asserting dominance. With domestic species such as these regardless of dynamics they must see you as the overall big bird which they usually do. This helps to manage and ensure they are healthy or tended to when needed to be. That said the girls can go a bit crazy with no drake around including excessive surfing of each other in frustration.

[@Eric.1I37]

@@TheEnchantedDuat Thank you for the info. One other question about ducks, if I may. Is there a best region in Australia to raise ducks in? I was thinking Tasmania with its yearly rain fall and all the lakes and ponds there.

[@TheEnchantedDuat]

Anywhere with a good secure yard to be honest. That said Silver Apppleyards tolerate the cold best. The Domestic species are reliant on human care/protection/interaction. Being heavier & or having the wilds bred out of them over time. Most heavy breeds cannot even fly. In a farm setting they will get attacked maimed or eaten... Tis why even when I move further out, my pet ducks sleep in the house at night and by day Im still weary and on look out, locking them in the run if aerial predators are hanging about. Farm settings will need with electric fencing, protectors so forth but even then youd have to be vigilant in protecting them. Otherwise one could have a wild pond and attract wildlife/wild ducks but for obvious reasons one cant have them as pets. Ive had2 neighbors down here from Tas and overall I got from them was 'rough' so do research/I wouldnt move there now seeing what Ive seen coming from there/but thats me. If you find a spot without the unsavory then Id say go for it, I would and anywhere at that that is regional with limited to non unsavory.

[@Eric.1I37]

@@TheEnchantedDuat Thank you.