Now that the dust has begun to settle, the reality of what the team has achieved has started to sink in. We have successfully hatched the first Madagascar Pochards in captivity since the early 20th century. Martin and Owen are, naturally, very proud dads!
Although the dramas of the trips to the lake to collect eggs are behind us, there has still been a huge amount of work to do over the last few weeks. Martin has returned to the UK, leaving Owen to oversee the rearing of the birds, ably assisted by Felix from Durrell.
Unfortunately, we have some sad news to report. One of the ducklings has died – a male from the second brood. This group were old enough to be put outside in the larger tanks by day, and brought in again at night. Although all the birds looked healthy in the morning, just a few hours later one of the ducklings had died.
Our initial investigations suggest it may be been due to a bacterial infection. Owen and Felix have thoroughly disinfected the chalet and tanks, and are taking special precautions to avoid cross-contamination between the broods. Antibiotics are being added to the water supply for the second brood.
Whilst this is an obvious set-back, it would have been very unusual for all 24 birds to make it through their first year – a few losses are to be expected. Thankfully, the other broods appear to be progressing well – they are lively and growing steadily.
The above photos by Martin show the outdoor rearing tanks in the aviary – plenty of room for the older ducklings to move about and to learn to dive. The shot below, by Felix, shows Martin looking every part the proud dad!
We’ll continue to provide updates on a roughly weekly basis from now on. To make sure you stay up-to-date with the latest news, you can subscribe to the RSS feed (click on the square orange symbol near the top of the ‘WWT team pochard blog’ page). We also have some video footage and hope to post a brief compilation of highlights in the near future, so keep visiting over the coming weeks.
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