Keeping Black East Indies Ducks

The Black East Indies is a decorative breed of domestic ducks. In spite of the breed’s name, it was never developed or breed in the East Indies (now Southeast Asia). It was first bred in the United States in the early 19th century. Some raisers started to call it the East Indies and this particular breed is distinguished by its attractive appearance: jet black color, iridescent green feather coverings and dark bills.

The females can sometimes grow white tinge feathers as they mature. A bantam breed weighing around 2 lbs, Black East Indies are widely raised by hobbyists for exhibition purposes. Being small, they are known as good fliers. This breed was formally recognized by the American Poultry Association’s Standard of Perfection in 1875. The Black East Indies duck is very popular among raisers, and the breed has a docile temperament, they are basically more passive and obedient than Call ducks.

This breed has been known as the Black East Indies as early as 1865, but has been widely raised with different names such as Buenos Aires Duck, Black Brazilian and Labrador.

The Black East Indies Ducks is a very remarkable duck breed and is very easy to differentiate from other breeds due to their plumage that is basically dark green. They have short black bills and their legs are either grey or black. Some female of this breed can have a white feather covering in the tail region, males can weigh about 5-7 lbs and the females can weigh about 4-5 lbs. As ducklings, they have a distinct black plumage, and gradually changes to green sheens as they mature.

This breed is very domineering and strong. They do not like to remain dormant for too long because they are very active. The striking feature about the Black East Indies Ducks is that their eggs are primarily heavy gray, but then changes to a brighter shade before they are hatched.

Most East Indies ducks are kept as pairs or trios, based on the drakes’ level of energy. They can lay at least 100 eggs every year, and will not sit and brood their eggs if they are touched by humans. As they are very good fliers, they tend to fly and escape the coop so you can clip their wings or pinion them. However, before pinioning, you should consult a veterinarian as they should be administered when only necessary.

Like the Cayuga breed’s solid plumage, the runners in the females will usually fade and white feathers appear as they age. However, they can still produce offspring. A white plumage in the Black East Indies Drakes can appear in the chest as they mature.

Like most duck breeds, the Black East Indies breed is very easy to keep. Most raisers keep this breed for domestic and ornamental purposes. They can also be raised in the suburbs because they are handy, but you should pinion them if you don’t want them to escape. If you have a baby pool, you can use it for their swimming area. Most hobbyists raise the breed because they provide relaxation when they glide effortlessly through a pond or any water surface.

How to Raise Ducks In Your Home

Perhaps the idea of keeping ducks in your suburban home is nearly impossible and would be quite a predicament. But, contrary to popular belief, this is very possible and can be very entertaining especially when you have kids. Your neighbors (and even your wife or husband) may find it a bit different, but soon enough they too will find it enjoying. Keeping duck is easy, if you have the patience. It is fun and can give you and your family an exciting and fresh activity to do together.

The first thing that you have to do is to acquire baby ducks. Basically, you have two choices, you can purchase from farms or you can search for an online store. The good thing about purchasing baby ducks from the internet is you will be guaranteed of their quality and get the kind of duck you want to raise. The disadvantage of online purchasing is you need to purchase a minimum number and you have to pay delivery charges. Three ducks is manageable, but the higher the number, the higher the mess they will produce. Ducks are naturally messy animals since they kind of play with their meals. It is suggested to convince a neighbor or a friend to raise ducks also and split the order.

Finding baby ducks locally is not an easy task. They can’t just be purchased at your local pet store. They are seasonal pets. You should find a farm or specialized pet stores in your area that market ducks for domestic purposes. Normally, most types of ducks are hatched during spring. For their food, a local feed store is the best place where you can buy food pellets and proper materials for feeding and raising baby ducks.

When you have purchased your baby ducks, place them in a high-fenced plastic container with paper or cloth sheets in the bottom. Place this container near a source of light that can run about 40 – 80 watts, suitable to keep the area warm. If you have a lamp, you can use it, but do not use lamps with bulb more than 40 watts, since too much warmth can be harmful. You can observe their behavior when they are not comfortable with the heat. If they keep away from the lamp and keep pushing their legs from under, they feel too much heat. If they huddle closely together very near the lamp, the heat is inadequate.

If they are ready for outdoor fun, allow them to roam around your yard, that is if you have one. However, you should keep them in at night to protect them from predators such as cats, raccoons and dogs. You should note that it will be difficult to raise ducks when your cat is not trained not to harm them.

Probably the most enjoyable experience with having pet ducks is swimming with them or at least watching them swimming your pool, even in an inflatable one. Duck have natural oil coating in their feathers that keeps them dry. You should take note that baby ducks acquire oil from their mother, so it is unwise to let them play in water when they are too young. They can get colds, or even get drowned.

Feeding Ducklings

When a duckling is at the stage where they would now be living under a brooder or a hen, you should ensure that they have quick access to food and clean drinking water, to do this, you will need special feeders and a water basin. Keep the containers clean, also make it a daily habit to clean and replenish their food and water dishes. You should find these items with a special design to avoid the ducklings from toppling over. If this happens, your ducklings can drown inside the basin as they are not yet accustomed to swimming.

Adult ducks use special oils when they swim in water. However, they can only do this skill when they are already about six months old. This special oil can be transmitted to the duckling from their mother, thus, if they are being brooded, they don’t have the means of getting this oil. Their feathers can easily get wet, and they can die because of pneumonia. Water containers with wire guards are also a great choice. Place the water containers over low, wire-guarded frames to keep them from getting inside. Also, this can decrease the mess they would make. Make sure to change the water containers with the suitable size as the ducklings grow.

In some farms, commercial producers have food pellets especially formulated for baby ducks. You should check with a supplier in your area for this. If the duck pellets are not available, serve your baby ducks with some chick starter first for at least 2 – 3 weeks. Place the food on egg container flats or any other dish with coarse materials: smooth surfaced materials can cause leg injury, as baby ducks are very active and they can always slip on the material when the surface is wet. After the starting period, you can give them duck pellets or chicken grower. You can also mix cracked corn and chopped vegetables. Always have food available to your ducks and give them grits as they grow.

Basically, ducks are easy to grow because they are durable and are not vulnerable to most typical bird diseases. The use of drug-enervated duck pellets is not necessary to boost their immune system. Very rare are additives that have been permitted for nutritional or medical purposes in duck pellets. Waterfowls such as ducks can be more sensitive to medications than other poultry. Improper use of specific medicated pellets designed for chickens can cause harm to ducks.

Most breed of ducks that are raised in the late spring and have access to green weeds in your yard basically are healthier. Although ducks are not as good foragers as geese are, they can eat some vegetables you may give and also, farm ducks are commonly permitted to roam the yard where they can find food. You can chop green feeds and give them to your ducks when they should be inside when there is a bad weather. Contrary to common beliefs, a water pond is not very important to raise ducks successfully.

Under marketing factors, Peking ducklings can be sold in the market when they reach 7 weeks. They can weigh 6-8 pound and have eaten 25-30 pounds of feeds. Rouen ducks kept under farm conditions can take at least 5 months to keep up with Peking duck weight. Muscovy ducks take rather longer.

Keeping Muscovy Ducks

More or less, duck farmers have stated that Muscovy ducks are very easy to raise and keep as compared to other breeds. They are good for domestic purposes, such as pets or for ornaments or for farm production for their eggs and meat. Muscovy ducks can exercise insect control in the yard, farm or ranch. However, this breed is not popular for domestication, but they are still capable of serving domestic purposes making them worthwhile and rewarding to raise them.

This breed, similar to the Mallard, does not form single mate partnership. They will mate either in water or in land, which is very unusual for ducks, that typically mate on the water only. Domesticated Muscovy ducks can mate up to three times every year.

The female Muscovy can lay a clutch of 9-17 white eggs, normally in a tree burrow or tunnel, which are incubated for 35 days, and is seven days longer than most eggs of the duck. The sitting duck hen will leave the nest once daily from 25 minutes to 1½ hours, and will then eliminate waste, drink water, eat and sometimes groom their feathers. Once the eggs start to hatch it may take a day for all the chicks to break through the egg shells. When wild ducklings are hatched, they normally stay with the mother duck for around 10-12 weeks. Their bodies cannot generate the heat they need, particularly in dry regions, so they will stay close to the mother duck particularly at night.

Normally, the drake will stay close with the brood for several weeks. The drake will walk with the ducklings during their regular migration in search for habitation, food, and protection.

During their first weeks, Muscovy ducks feed on grains, corn grits, weeds, insects and almost anything that moves. The mother duck will initially teach them on how to scavenge for food.

If you are keeping Muscovy duck, you should first keep them in a small confinement if they are below three weeks old, allowing them a provision for a heat source. They are still not capable enough of generating their own body heat during this early age. The baby ducks should not be allowed to swim, except in a shallow basin primarily used for drinking water. The main diet at this point should be composed of the recommended protein content according to the age of the duck.

Transfer the baby ducks into a larger pen at the age of three to six weeks. You can introduce swimming using a baby pool at this time as long as the bottom of the baby ducks is entirely plumaged. At this early age, baby ducks should be granted a certain period of time in a yard to learn how to hunt their own food. Also, they will scratch for grains that can be added to their normal diet.

You can house the Muscovy ducklings in the open when they are about 6 to 12 weeks. You should make sure that they are kept in a safe and enclosed pen to keep them away from predators. A small wire fence should be used, but not chicken wire. A wide access to a baby pool should be provided at this time. Ducklings should continue their food nutrition, including egg mixes, grains and green feeds as they grow stronger and more mature.

Raising Pekin duck

Pekin ducks, also known as Long Island ducks, is a duck breed of domesticated ducks used largely for meat production. They can also be raised for their eggs but they are often raised by farmers for meat because they are capable of growing in a short period of time. The Pekin duck was bred from the Mallard duck in Peking, China (hence the name). The ancestors of these ducks originated from the water vessels which linked water canals in Nanjing, and originally had petite bodies and a jet black plumage.

With the relocation of the Chinese Capital to Peking (now Beijing), the supply barge traffic increased going to the new capital that would often spill grain, crops and other feeds during the barge trips, providing a great source of feeds to the ducks. As a result of this, the ducks gradually increased in size and grew white feathers. In five dynasties in China, the evolved species of Mallard ducks had been raised by Chinese farmers.

In 1873, nine ducks were exported from Peking to Long Island, New York, thus it is also called Long Island ducks. It is the most widely known duck meat in the United States, even though some farmers had relocated to Indiana from New York. Today, about 90% of duck meat consumed in North America is the Pekin Duck.

Hatching

Pekin duck eggs take around 28 days to hatch at an incubator with an environment of 99.5 degrees Fahrenheit and 60 per cent moisture. A heartbeat can normally be observed in the third day of incubation during candling. The duck eggs should be regularly turned during incubation. This is to imitate the natural turning of duck hens, as she shifts the position of the eggs while sitting on it for hatching. For artificial incubation, there are machines that can turn the eggs instantly.

When incubated artificially, the eggs are transferred to a hatcher at least three days before they are expected to hatch. This has a slightly decreased temperature and the percentage of moisture is increased, to add the level of survivability for the newly-hatched ducklings while their protective egg sheaths develop.

Compared to other poultries, duck eggs are quite easy to hatch as they are very adaptable in variations in warmth and moisture.

Fully matured adult Pekin ducks can weight about 8 to 11 lbs in confinement. The average lifespan is about 9 to 12 years. Their outer feathers are white, sometimes with a tinge of yellow or orange. This is clearer with ducks that have been brooded inside pens and not exposed constantly to sunlight. The ducks have increased upright posture than dabbling ducks, and have overturned remains.

A mature Pekin will produce an average of 150-200 eggs every year. They will normally lay an egg every day. They will lay eggs in what they think is a safe place and sometimes, where another duck has already laid their own. Ducks can be tricked into laying eggs when desired by placing a lure such as a golf ball or alike objects in a place where you want them to lay their eggs.