PhantomAmber
Hatching
- Mar 25, 2020
- 1
- 2
- 3
Hello!
I'm new to ducks because my boyfriend and I moved into our first apartment together and there's a huge lake/community center across the street that we visit all the time. We like to feed peas (or a small amount of rice when we're out of peas) to the geese and ducks there. Our favorite duck is who we've named "Goth GF" I think she's a Peking crossbred because she's really small with a black beak but she still has orange feet with some dark speckles on them.
She's super sweet but also pretty shy; we discovered her on a whim and fell in love with her and her current mate who's this beautiful faded brown duck. No idea what kind. My boyfriend and I have been slowly building their trust by being really quiet and gentle and offering her peas whenever we visit (which she never actually eats, but she appreciates the gesture). Recently, maybe the last three times I've seen her in the span of a month or so, she's been getting crushed up unshelled peanuts. I read that they can have them on occasion as they're fatty.
Anywho, she's a sweet girl who eats out of my hand and her mate likes us too and they run-up to my boyfriend and me whenever we approach them now. About a month or two ago, we noticed that she had been mated. She's had some back luck of this one duck that harrases her a lot and tries to mate with her which makes her actual mate chase him off. She's been missing her neck feather for a very long time, they'll start to grow back then a week later when we visit again, they seem freshly plucked.
We visited her about two weeks ago to discover she was hiding in a new area near a small pond from all of the heavy rain we've been getting in LA and a big bush. We noticed that her bum area was pretty swollen. We hadn't seen her in a week so we thought she could be ready to lay eggs? She was eating and moving fine, she drank some water and swam just fine as we started to leave.
We visited her again today and they came over to us as usual, she took a little longer to come over because they were sleeping in the bush, she ate and even ate out of my hand and got really close to me. Her bum seemed a lot smaller today but still swollen but her crop seemed swollen. I wasn't able to get any photos because I didn't want to spook her. But it's not very swollen, just a bit bigger than normal and her neck was really bare again.
So I'm wondering if she could be getting ready to lay eggs as about three weeks ago she was completely normal and in a new spot eating bugs from the water and now she seems different physically? She's eating and drinking normally, she swims just fine and has the same energy levels she just looks weird and is clearly still being mated.
Is she sick or getting ready to lay eggs?
If she does lay eggs, is there anything I can do to help her and her mate out during the process? I've basically adopted these two and want only the best for them hah
I'm new to ducks because my boyfriend and I moved into our first apartment together and there's a huge lake/community center across the street that we visit all the time. We like to feed peas (or a small amount of rice when we're out of peas) to the geese and ducks there. Our favorite duck is who we've named "Goth GF" I think she's a Peking crossbred because she's really small with a black beak but she still has orange feet with some dark speckles on them.
She's super sweet but also pretty shy; we discovered her on a whim and fell in love with her and her current mate who's this beautiful faded brown duck. No idea what kind. My boyfriend and I have been slowly building their trust by being really quiet and gentle and offering her peas whenever we visit (which she never actually eats, but she appreciates the gesture). Recently, maybe the last three times I've seen her in the span of a month or so, she's been getting crushed up unshelled peanuts. I read that they can have them on occasion as they're fatty.
Anywho, she's a sweet girl who eats out of my hand and her mate likes us too and they run-up to my boyfriend and me whenever we approach them now. About a month or two ago, we noticed that she had been mated. She's had some back luck of this one duck that harrases her a lot and tries to mate with her which makes her actual mate chase him off. She's been missing her neck feather for a very long time, they'll start to grow back then a week later when we visit again, they seem freshly plucked.
We visited her about two weeks ago to discover she was hiding in a new area near a small pond from all of the heavy rain we've been getting in LA and a big bush. We noticed that her bum area was pretty swollen. We hadn't seen her in a week so we thought she could be ready to lay eggs? She was eating and moving fine, she drank some water and swam just fine as we started to leave.
We visited her again today and they came over to us as usual, she took a little longer to come over because they were sleeping in the bush, she ate and even ate out of my hand and got really close to me. Her bum seemed a lot smaller today but still swollen but her crop seemed swollen. I wasn't able to get any photos because I didn't want to spook her. But it's not very swollen, just a bit bigger than normal and her neck was really bare again.
So I'm wondering if she could be getting ready to lay eggs as about three weeks ago she was completely normal and in a new spot eating bugs from the water and now she seems different physically? She's eating and drinking normally, she swims just fine and has the same energy levels she just looks weird and is clearly still being mated.
Is she sick or getting ready to lay eggs?
If she does lay eggs, is there anything I can do to help her and her mate out during the process? I've basically adopted these two and want only the best for them hah
It's very sweet ya'll befriending this duck couple. It sounds like she is being over mated and being she isn't yours there isn't much you can do. Drakes this time of year have way too much testosterone and boy can they wreck a female. If you think she is sick and needs medical attention look for rescues in your area. If you can catch her they might be able to help.
