Rouen Duck thread

[abwolf]

I just noticed it this morning

 

[abwolf]

I'm going out right now to check and put additional feed. Thanks for responding

 

[ducklover87]

I just noticed it this morning

Hmm.. Did you check it's feet over really well? Is it still doing it? What kind of feed are you giving?

 

[Feedingfour]

How soon can you tell the sex of Rouen babies? I have three, almost four week old ducklings. I had them outside the other day I can see the startings of one of their heads turning green. Males have green heads, females do not, correct?

 

[tinann03]

Hi first time duck owner here I have 3 Rouen & 3 Pekin they are just a couple weeks old . Our land is sort of an island type with a decent size river around us my question is once the get older if we let them out on the river will they come home?

 

[ducklover87]

How soon can you tell the sex of Rouen babies? I have three, almost four week old ducklings. I had them outside the other day I can see the startings of one of their heads turning green. Males have green heads, females do not, correct?

At only four weeks old there really sure answer by color. Any green that you see on the ducklings heads doesn't mean it is a male. I know when my Rouens were babies I thought for sure that's what it meant but it turned out that even my girls had green on there heads until they were older. In another week or maybe even now you should start to hear some changes in their voices. They females will start to quack while the males will be harder to tell and might not start to make noise for a little bit longer. They have a raspy quack almost like a wack instead. Males do have green heads but that won't be until about 10 weeks or so that you will be able to tell the males from females by coloring.

 

[ducklover87]

Hi first time duck owner here I have 3 Rouen & 3 Pekin they are just a couple weeks old . Our land is sort of an island type with a decent size river around us my question is once the get older if we let them out on the river will they come home?

That's hard to say. I'm gonna go with they might but eventually one day they won't and then you will start to lose them to predators. You can train them to come in at night and all that but usually what happens is one night they won't come back and then they are out on the water all night and since they can't fly the chances of predators getting them is very high. If there is a way you could fence off only a small bit of the river that might be a bit better but I'd suggest keeping them away from it or only allow supervised visits.

 

[abwolf]

Hi...hoping somebody can help. One of my 3 Rouens has been sitting excessively. When it walks, it is perpendicular to the ground (straight up and tall, like a person) and looks like it is struggling to move feet forward. Still eating and drinking but looks really thin compared to the others so evidently not getting enough. I moved them(7) from the coop to outside with the 2 month old chicks a few days ago. The other six ducks seem to be doing fine. It has been raining excessively here, as an added note.

Is there any cuts or bruises on it's feet? Make sure to check the bottom of it's feet too for any signs of bruising or raised areas as it could be bumble foot. How long has it been doing this? Since you moved them outside or before?

Ok....I have checked and watched. The conclusion I've come to is the duck is not bending legs when walking. Bending to lay down and does a lot of that, but when walking....very stiff legged.
Do I need to do something?

 

[abwolf]

Hmm.. Did you check it's feet over really well? Is it still doing it? What kind of feed are you giving?

The feet look fine.....maybe a little folding under on the sides. They are being fed chick egg laying pellets. Should I change? Saw something about adding brewers yeast. Was planning to get some. I used to have brewers yeast in tablets. Does it also come in powder?

 

[abwolf]

Ok....I have checked and watched. The conclusion I've come to is the duck is not bending legs when walking. Bending to lay down and does a lot of that, but when walking....very stiff legged.
Do I need to do something?

I really think the problem is where the leg meets at the it's back. Something painful that it can't support it's weight in a normal position so hence the upright position with little movement, if any, at it's hips. Is there anything that would cause that?