CritieCats
In the Brooder
- Jun 7, 2022
- 7
- 10
- 18
Hello,
Fairly new duck owner here. I acquired 5 adult females about 6 weeks ago. They did not come from the best conditions, it was overcrowded with a tiny/muddy swimming hole. They are all much thinner than the 3 drakes and 1 hen I raised, but over the past month the 2 black swedish and the 1 welsh harlequin look like they have put on weight, they are cleaner and seem happy yet terrified of me still, lol. I have 2 more females that are questionable from this group of 5.
I don't know what kind they are. They are white but much smaller than my pekin & stand a bit more upright. One has a gray bill and the other a very pale bill with spots. The one with the gray bill has prolapsed twice, but after we put the drakes in drake jail she has been ok. Over the past couple of days I have noticed the other white duck looking "dirty" and I didn't know if this is wet feather or she is molting or a combo of the two. The smelled awful when they arrived here but quickly cleaned themselves up. They have access to a pond and free range everyday from around 7am to 7pm. They go into a pen at night with the other females and the drakes separated on the other side. They have a dog house in the pen if it rains (it is not covered) but pretty much they get to be out and about all day long. They spend their days swimming, grazing and preening. But they just don't look as healthy as the other ducks. I also wonder if I need to worm the whole crew and see if that would help. I have no idea how old they are, the lady told me a year, but there were so many ducks in her pen I don't know how she'd possibly know that. And only recently did some of them start laying.
PS I am not squishing the duck in the photo, it's just really hard to take a picture and hold a duck a the same time. No ducks were harmed in the taking of these photos.
Fairly new duck owner here. I acquired 5 adult females about 6 weeks ago. They did not come from the best conditions, it was overcrowded with a tiny/muddy swimming hole. They are all much thinner than the 3 drakes and 1 hen I raised, but over the past month the 2 black swedish and the 1 welsh harlequin look like they have put on weight, they are cleaner and seem happy yet terrified of me still, lol. I have 2 more females that are questionable from this group of 5.
I don't know what kind they are. They are white but much smaller than my pekin & stand a bit more upright. One has a gray bill and the other a very pale bill with spots. The one with the gray bill has prolapsed twice, but after we put the drakes in drake jail she has been ok. Over the past couple of days I have noticed the other white duck looking "dirty" and I didn't know if this is wet feather or she is molting or a combo of the two. The smelled awful when they arrived here but quickly cleaned themselves up. They have access to a pond and free range everyday from around 7am to 7pm. They go into a pen at night with the other females and the drakes separated on the other side. They have a dog house in the pen if it rains (it is not covered) but pretty much they get to be out and about all day long. They spend their days swimming, grazing and preening. But they just don't look as healthy as the other ducks. I also wonder if I need to worm the whole crew and see if that would help. I have no idea how old they are, the lady told me a year, but there were so many ducks in her pen I don't know how she'd possibly know that. And only recently did some of them start laying.
PS I am not squishing the duck in the photo, it's just really hard to take a picture and hold a duck a the same time. No ducks were harmed in the taking of these photos.
