Need Duck Advice- We lost our beloved duck, Bruno. Need a companion for the girl.

[Miss Lydia]

Do you know there is a state forum on BYC go to " Where am I where are you" you may find someone close by that has some ducks they want to rehome.

 

[Chipmunk Chicks]

Hello,

We lost our beloved duck, Bruno(Buff Orpington), the other night to a Raccoon attack. We had a bonded pair of male/female ducks, and our beloved boy was unfortunately killed. The female survived. We have 10 hens and 1 rooster, and they all seemingly get along; however, she is extremely sad and depressed since she is the only one in her pen/coop(The duck and chickens free-range together during the day while we are home). I know that it's not good for the ducks to live solo, so we are going to get her more companions. There is someone nearby who has some young Cayuga ducks(Male and Female, together only) for sale nearby. Would 2 girls and 1 drake be okay? Or should I look at getting females only? We aren't looking to breed for additional ducks, if that would be a question that arises.


Our girl is an Indian Runner Duck(8 months old), she is very sweet, but shy.

Thank you for your time.

I'm very sorry for your loss. We just lost our beloved drake as well, on Jan 5th. I'm glad you're looking for companions for her. We still have three hens, but right now we are not even sure we will replace the drake. If you're not interested in breeding, I would agree that sticking with females is probably just setting yourself up for smoother sailing. We had our male hoping for ducklings, but his presence also made logistics a bit more complicated, bless his dear ducky heart. It may make your life easier if you don't have to worry about potentially isolating anyone. (I mean you still might for various other reasons, but ykwim). We got ours from Metzers. They have a lot of varieties including runners, they also have deals on layers of you're open to a mix. And they also offer duck insurance. J/s. Not that any other duck will ever replace Bruno in your heart, but not having to worry about a lonely duck could be worthwhile. GL and keep us updated!

 

[Scrubs32782]

I'm very sorry for your loss. We just lost our beloved drake as well, on Jan 5th. I'm glad you're looking for companions for her. We still have three hens, but right now we are not even sure we will replace the drake. If you're not interested in breeding, I would agree that sticking with females is probably just setting yourself up for smoother sailing. We had our male hoping for ducklings, but his presence also made logistics a bit more complicated, bless his dear ducky heart. It may make your life easier if you don't have to worry about potentially isolating anyone. (I mean you still might for various other reasons, but ykwim). We got ours from Metzers. They have a lot of varieties including runners, they also have deals on layers of you're open to a mix. And they also offer duck insurance. J/s. Not that any other duck will ever replace Bruno in your heart, but not having to worry about a lonely duck could be worthwhile. GL and keep us updated!

****Update****

We found Isabella some companions. Unfortunately, we had to re-home our rooster, Doc Brown, as he was WAY too aggressive with my wife and daughter (My daughter could not play outside anymore, as he would instantly attack her and my wife). Luckily, we found him a happy home! The lady also raises ducks, so she let us have two younger female Khaki Campbells. We currently have them isolated for the time being to monitor them.

The new girls, Mirabel and Luisa (My daughter loves Encanto), seem very sweet. They are about 3-4 months old. They were a stinky mess when we got them! We gave them a quick bath, but we noticed that they are still staying VERY damp. We are worried that they might have Wet Feather. If anyone can chime in on this, or ways to identify... Please let me know. I will try and provide photos shortly.

 

[Chipmunk Chicks]

****Update****

We found Isabella some companions. Unfortunately, we had to re-home our rooster, Doc Brown, as he was WAY too aggressive with my wife and daughter (My daughter could not play outside anymore, as he would instantly attack her and my wife). Luckily, we found him a happy home! The lady also raises ducks, so she let us have two younger female Khaki Campbells. We currently have them isolated for the time being to monitor them.

The new girls, Mirabel and Luisa (My daughter loves Encanto), seem very sweet. They are about 3-4 months old. They were a stinky mess when we got them! We gave them a quick bath, but we noticed that they are still staying VERY damp. We are worried that they might have Wet Feather. If anyone can chime in on this, or ways to identify... Please let me know. I will try and provide photos shortly.

Oh dear, I just read a brief article on wet feather, as I had never heard of it! Hopefully it's not too serious and can be managed easily enough.

I made the mistake of getting chickens from a neighbor - old as dirt sweet old farm lady with all the animals, what could possibly go wrong!? There were three black leghorns that were Very feather picked, possibly just over bred by the rooster and not really being monitored, I kept COMPLETELY out of the yard and fully isolated. The others didn't seem too bad, but there was really only one or two of the lot of seven that I thought had nice healthy feathers. In my defense, the barns were very dark and she had people grabbing them for her, so I didn't feel like I was able to get the best look at them all before agreeing to take them. Lessons learned. (The words of someone complimenting my chickens rang in my ears, from when a couple times people said mine looked very "healthy," I was like oh, okay this is why. Because sometimes birds actually do not always look that healthy. :/ ) I think it's probably hard when people have much larger properties and larger flocks and more animals to manage...

I ended up returning them all the next day and telling her to keep the money. I would have loved to keep the one GLW and maybe a Black Star that looked the best, but DH was not on board anyway so it was better just to walk away.

Hopefully in your case, these girls are a good fit for your family and your flock, and a little TLC is all it takes (or worst case waiting for a molt.) Either way, I just recommend maintaining as much isolation and biosecurity as you can for an extended period of time, just to be on the safe side. There will be plenty of time to introduce them to your baby girl once you have a clear handle on whatever may be going on with the new birds.

 

[Miss Lydia]

They may just need some really good bathes and preening to get their feathers in tip top shape. No soap unless after a week of good bath time they are still damp after bathing and preening.

 

[Scrubs32782]

Oh dear, I just read a brief article on wet feather, as I had never heard of it! Hopefully it's not too serious and can be managed easily enough.

I made the mistake of getting chickens from a neighbor - old as dirt sweet old farm lady with all the animals, what could possibly go wrong!? There were three black leghorns that were Very feather picked, possibly just over bred by the rooster and not really being monitored, I kept COMPLETELY out of the yard and fully isolated. The others didn't seem too bad, but there was really only one or two of the lot of seven that I thought had nice healthy feathers. In my defense, the barns were very dark and she had people grabbing them for her, so I didn't feel like I was able to get the best look at them all before agreeing to take them. Lessons learned. (The words of someone complimenting my chickens rang in my ears, from when a couple times people said mine looked very "healthy," I was like oh, okay this is why. Because sometimes birds actually do not always look that healthy. :/ ) I think it's probably hard when people have much larger properties and larger flocks and more animals to manage...

I ended up returning them all the next day and telling her to keep the money. I would have loved to keep the one GLW and maybe a Black Star that looked the best, but DH was not on board anyway so it was better just to walk away.

Hopefully in your case, these girls are a good fit for your family and your flock, and a little TLC is all it takes (or worst case waiting for a molt.) Either way, I just recommend maintaining as much isolation and biosecurity as you can for an extended period of time, just to be on the safe side. There will be plenty of time to introduce them to your baby girl once you have a clear handle on whatever may be going on with the new birds.

Thank you!
Yes, my wife was contacted through a group she belongs to about re-homing our rooster. I will really miss him, but he was just too harsh on anyone but me. The lady said she has 20 acres and raises chicken and ducks. I wanted to re-home him and give him a second chance versus euthanizing. When we got the ducks(swapped for the rooster), they had some SMELLY poop.... But I do know that they were probably just scared being transported and went all over their carrier. They seem very timid and sweet, but I did notice they were going through some new feathering. One of them did have a small bald spot on her back where one of the other ducks could have been picking at her. We gave them a bath and blow dried their feathers. My wife gave them an additional bath this AM with some dawn soap to see if she could remove any additional dirt or other particles from their feathers and skin. We currently have them drying out in our large walk-in shower so they aren't getting themselves super damp. I'm giving them extra peas and greens as snacks for added Niacin in the meantime. I think they must have been given a high protein diet if their poop is that smelly?

It was a tough situation... I did not want to turn down the ducks because I'm hoping I can give them a super happy little life over here.

 

[Chipmunk Chicks]

Thank you!
Yes, my wife was contacted through a group she belongs to about re-homing our rooster. I will really miss him, but he was just too harsh on anyone but me. The lady said she has 20 acres and raises chicken and ducks. I wanted to re-home him and give him a second chance versus euthanizing. When we got the ducks(swapped for the rooster), they had some SMELLY poop.... But I do know that they were probably just scared being transported and went all over their carrier. They seem very timid and sweet, but I did notice they were going through some new feathering. One of them did have a small bald spot on her back where one of the other ducks could have been picking at her. We gave them a bath and blow dried their feathers. My wife gave them an additional bath this AM with some dawn soap to see if she could remove any additional dirt or other particles from their feathers and skin. We currently have them drying out in our large walk-in shower so they aren't getting themselves super damp. I'm giving them extra peas and greens as snacks for added Niacin in the meantime. I think they must have been given a high protein diet if their poop is that smelly?

It was a tough situation... I did not want to turn down the ducks because I'm hoping I can give them a super happy little life over here.

I totally feel ya. I felt the same way about the leghorns, I was kind of shocked and really hoping I could nurse them back to health. But DH was not on board, so I wasn't going to push it. I'm so glad your wife is helping care for them, I'm sure it may be a lot of work before all's said and done, even just keeping them isolated makes for double work basically.

 

[Scrubs32782]

I totally feel ya. I felt the same way about the leghorns, I was kind of shocked and really hoping I could nurse them back to health. But DH was not on board, so I wasn't going to push it. I'm so glad your wife is helping care for them, I'm sure it may be a lot of work before all's said and done, even just keeping them isolated makes for double work basically.

We are expecting our second child in three weeks. We DEFINITELY have our hands full!!

 

[Chipmunk Chicks]

Congratulations!!! Oh my gosh that does just add another layer to your wife's duck mothering. On the one hand, I'm super pregnant and I don't really want to deal with more work, on the other hand I'm super pregnant and there are *animals* in my house which must be CLEAN before my own baby arrives!

 

[Scrubs32782]

Congratulations!!! Oh my gosh that does just add another layer to your wife's duck mothering. On the one hand, I'm super pregnant and I don't really want to deal with more work, on the other hand I'm super pregnant and there are *animals* in my house which must be CLEAN before my own baby arrives!

Thank you! I try to do as much as I can with the tasks given!

She is one tough cookie. I usually have to tell her to slow down! And yes, we are trying to get everything cleaned up for the upcoming baby boy.. Yet we get two more of the MESSIEST pets on this planet..lol