Lame duck

[trailhound]

I noticed yesterday that my Cayuga hen seemed a little extra waddley, but wasn't sure if I was seeing things or not since I am new to ducks. Today as I was trying to herd my ducks in for the night she was significantly worse. After just the one lap around the coop, during which she would take a few off steps then lay down until I got closer, she could barely walk and was crawling and using her wings to move forward. Once in the coop, both of my drakes came after her, almost like they were trying to mate, but really more aggressively. I have two hens and two drakes, and they mostly seem to be interested in this one hen and not the other. Have they injured her by being too aggressive or persistent during mating? She has been laying almost every day, even today and I can't see anything wrong with her, no wounds, swelling or heat in her legs.

Any thoughts? Do I need to get rid of one of the boys? I was thinking about selling one pair, but would she be okay even with the one drake, or should he go too until I can have a higher hen to drake ratio?

For now, I have her in a separate cage in the garage since the drakes were harassing her and she couldn't do anything about it.

Of course, she is my favorite out of the bunch, I hope she will be okay!

Thanks for your help!
Andrea

 

[DuckLady]

You need to separate her. The drakes can and will injure a duck in their "zeal". Let her rest and heal away from the drakes. She sounds stressed.

Or just put the drakes in their own area and let the 2 ducks keep each other company while the one heals.

You might want to consider adding a few more girls to your flock.

We separate our drakes every spring.

The little mashers.

 

[trailhound]

Thanks for the advice. She is standing and complaining this morning, so I think I will separate the girls and boys for awhile and see if that helps. Duck jail for those boys!

 

[BlueLagoonRabbitry]

Hope she gets better post pics so i can see her plz thanks

 

[Wifezilla]

I have Janet in a big storage tub recooping from her injury. I only have one drake, but Janet is his favorite. I am putting vitamins in her water and extra b vitamins in her food (brewer's yeast) to help her heal. She gets some time in the bath tub to swim every day.

It has been a week and she can just now stand up without pitching over. If she doesn't heal by next week, I might have to cull.

 

[trailhound]

Shew! This episode helped make up my mind about my duck situation for now. I sold the pair of runners to my neighbor and bought the pekin hen that started my whole duck obsession 2 months ago. I went to buy some chickens from some folks around Christmas and as I was leaving they offered me a duck. At the time, I hadn't really considered ducks and didn't have the cash with me. Oddly, I haven't stopped thinking about that duck since, so today I rallied the guts to go knock on their door (I didn't keep the phone number after I got the chickens). She was still there and for sale, so she must be meant to be mine.

So now I have the two girls in the goat shed and my drake is on his own with the chickens until I feel like the Cayuga is recovered. I am hoping that by adding a female, and getting rid of the other drake, he will settle down. I hope... I really like him for some reason and don't want to get rid of him- I like having him around.

I hope Janet is feeling better soon! I bet the swimming is good therapy for her. I might have to go out pool hunting today- it is just so nice outside it might have to wait.

 

[Wifezilla]

1 drake to 3 girls seems to work pretty well...well...except for this little incident.

Our buff is totally in love with jack and shamelessly throws herself at him. The runner and him don't get along so well...she is lowest on the totem poll. Janet likes Jack too, but some boys just don't know when to quit!