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© Heartland News Newsletter of Heart of America Game Breeders’ Association Volume 35 Number 2 March-April, 2019 Editor Terry Smith Officers & Members of the Redhead Ducks Executive Board by Bob Young President John Smith Bartlesville, OK 14000 W. 215th St. Reprinted from the May, 2003 NL Bucyrus, KS 66013 Ph. 913-879-2587 [Editor’s note: At the time this article was written, Bob was actively raising waterfowl and brought many pairs of Red Head Ducks, Black East Indies, and bantam Mottled Secretary Ted Golka Cochins which were sold at the club auction.] 21665 Barrus Rd. Glenwood, IA 51534-5075 Ph. 712-366-3526 First of all, I am not an expert on raising waterfowl, but I have found some Treasurer things that work for me. The America Redhead, which requires a federal permit, is Terry Smith one of my favorite ducks. It is a diving duck, enjoys a lot of water, makes very little 14000 W. 215th St. noise, and is very gentle. They also mix well with other wild ducks and Call Ducks. The Bucyrus, KS 66013 Ph. 913-879-2587 Red Head lays a clutch of 6 to 9 blue-green eggs. I let the hens set on the eggs, but I take the babies on the first day. The hens will usually lay a second clutch of eggs. Directors Kansas I’ve had good luck putting baby Calls with my wild ducks to teach them to eat. LaDonna Lickteig I start feeding the ducklings 20% crumbles until I think they can handle 20% 996 E. 1900 Road Lawrence, KS 66046 pellets. I start by mixing the pellets with the crumbles 50-50. Once they start eat- Ph. 785-542-2279 ing more pellets than crumbles, I feed all pellets. John Smith Once they are feathered, they are moved outside where they have access to 14000 W. 215th St. grit. Later, I mix some grain with the pellets. After they get adjusted to the out- Bucyrus, KS 66013 Ph. 913-879-2587 side, they are moved to deeper water down by the lake. Missouri Pens - The Redhead spends approximately 90% of its time on the water. All my wild Myrna Tuley duck pens have running water which is pumped from a private lake. There is a water 12613 Harris Road Lees Summit, MO 64086 canal that is 2 feet to 4 feet deep and lined with rock which keeps the water clear. Ph. 816-289-2906 The size of the water areas is from 8 feet x 15 feet to 15 feet by 30 feet. There Iowa & states east of Miss. River are feeding and grazing areas. There are 12 pens; the perimeter fences are chain link Dennis Connolly with one inch poultry wire cemented into the ground. An electric fence also sur- 1010 Perry Street rounds the pens. The top of the pens is covered with two inch poultry wire. There Knoxville, IA 50138 Ph. 641-842-5850 are also plenty of shade trees. In all, I have 27 pens and 125 nesting boxes. Directors at Large Nesting Boxes - There are some nesting boxes at the water’s edge with a walkway Roger Graham 25786 Hillside Road over the water on a float. Other nesting boxes are on the ground away from the wa- Pueblo, CO 81006 ter. The Redheads use both types of boxes. The ground nest boxes are 14” x 21” x Ph. 719-320-3092 12” high with a pass through partition. The nesting area is 11” x 14”. The water nest- Cindy Hoffman ing boxes (Wood Duck boxes) are 12” x 12” x 17”. All box lids are covered with Hardy 21733 S-4 Rd. Plank (cement board). This makes the lids waterproof and gives them weight so the Holton, KS 66436 Ph. 785-851-0144 wind does not blow the lids up. Wood shaving are used for nesting material. I put golf balls in each nest. If a black snake gets a nest of eggs, he will also swallow the Newsletter editor, auction golf ball and it will be the last nest of eggs he will swallow. Last year I killed 6 black web site, & membership Terry Smith snakes and 4 of them had already swallowed a golf ball. Ph. 913-879-2587 [email protected] Feeders - The feeders I use are 4 gallon buckets that I get from the local donut shop. I cut a round hole about 3 inches in diameter and 5 inches from the bottom of Club Facebook administrator the bucket. I put a lid on the top that extends over the hole to keep the feed dry. Kristi Priddy Ph. 913-908-5908 It also works as a self feeder. If the bucket comes with a handle, be sure to remove [email protected] it. I put a weight on top of the lid to keep the wind from flowing it off. The weight is (Continued on page 2) 2 made by cutting a 3/4 inch hole in the bottom of a Cool whitish colored feathers give the body and wings an over- Whip container. Use a 3/4 inch PVC tee with a 3 inch all medium grey appearance. The under body varies from length of PVD. Glue the PVD pipe into the tee and place white to pale buff even silver-gray with vermiculations* of it in the hole in the Cool Whip container. Drill a hole a slightly darker shade. The bill is dark with a broad band through the end of the pipe, place a nail in the PVC pipe, of slate grey. The iris is lemon-yellow; the legs and feet and fill the container with cement. The nail will hold the are yellowish grey with dusky grey webs. Their legs are tee in the cement. placed farther back on the body, which makes walking on land difficult. In eclipse the male is a browner and duller Feed - I have a grain elevator mix my grains - wheat, milo, version. The adult female has a dark tan to brown head cracked corn, soybean meal and vitamins. All is sprayed and neck. The breast is brown, the belly is white and the with molasses. I mix this mixture with 20% egg pellets. rest of the body is a grey to brown. The female bill is During the non-breeding season, I mix 2 parts grain with 1 slate colored with a dark tip that is separated by a blue part pellets. During the breeding season, around March 1, ring. Females remain the same color year round. I mix 50-50. *vertmiculations - fine, wavy pigmentation patterns on Duck Nursery - My duck nursery is a room 20 feet x 25 feathers that or wormlike in appearance feet. It is sheet rocked and has central heat and air. It Sub-species and Range: There are no recognized su- is also equipped with an underground fresh air system. A species. I have seen Silver Redheads in some collections. 14 inch plastic pipe is buried 5 feet for 250 feet. The They breed in North America from central Canada south room and system were once used as part of my chinchilla to southern California, New Mexico, Nebraska, and Minne- business. Fresh air is pulled in and stale air is exhausted sota. Winters from Washington east to the middlee At- out. There is another room the same size and also lantic states and south to the Gulf Coast of Mexico and equipped with the air system that I use for my incubator, Guatemala. hatcher, and baby chickens. I have 4 foot x 4 foot x 23 Habitat and Foods: The preferred breeding habitat of inches tall wooden boxes to brood the baby ducks. I also Redheads consists of pot holes and marshes with water use some cardboard boxes. Straw or hay is used as bed- that is deep enough to provide tall, standing vegetation ding, and the boxes are cleaned every day. I never use for nesting. These breeding grounds contain pondweeds papers for bedding. Papers are slick and will cause leg and small invertebrates such as insect larvae, mollusks, problems. and crustaceans which the ducks dive for and feed on. Outside Pens for Young Ducks - The outside pens for the Breeding: Although pair bonds are formed shortly after young ducks are same as the others, but they are the birds reach the breeding grounds, yearling females equipped with a 4 foot x 4 foot cement pond in each pen. are less inclined to nest and may breed later than mature Each pond as a 4 inch underground drain which carries the hens. The initial pair-forming behavior occurs on the wa- dirty water away from the pens. The water is changed ter; aerial chasing follows later in the spring. every day in the summer and every two days in the winter. Nesting: In late April and early May, a bulky but well- I add 1/2 cup Clorox to each pond in the summer to keep concealed nest is built among reeds or rushes usually in out the algae. On cold nights an electric stock tank shallow water. heater is used. There are 15 of these pens, and they are used for breeder Call Ducks until the young wild ducks are Clutch size: 6 to 9 greyish-green eggs which vary in tone ready to go outside. All pens have a small shed to shelter from hen to hen. The exact clutch size is difficult to de- and protect the ducks. termine because of two ducks laying in the same nest. In addition to the Redheads, I have 16 other dif- Many eggs and ducklings are lost to predators - mainly Crows and Raccoons.