The pochards continue to grow well. All three broods are in the outdoor tanks day and night.
They are no longer ducklings – the first two broods are fully grown, their eyes have turned pale and their first proper plumage is appearing. This means Owen is now able to tell males from females: Brood 1 has three males and five females, while Brood 2 contains two boys and six girls.
Whilst this sex ratio seems rather unbalanced, it’s good news for the breeding programme. When down to very low numbers, many endangered birds have a strong bias in favour of males. Indeed, this is the case with the remaining pochards in the wild – in July, we counted thirteen males but just six females. Having plenty of females improves our chances of breeding a large captive population to allow releases into the wild.
We are pleased to report that there have been no further deaths. The second clutch has finished their course of antibiotics and, fingers crossed, we seem to be passed whatever caused the death of the duckling.
Merry Christmas!
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16/01/10 Brenton: Looking forward to hearing the latest from Madagascar. Hope all is well there and the pochards are continuing in good health.
25/12/09 Brenton: Seasons Greetings to all in Madagascar. Thankyou for all of your efforts. Wonderful to see the photos and the ducklings growing up so quickly.