NO clue on breed but voice should be totally evident by now as far as gender goes. Raspy, froggy quack for boy....”Aflac” duck loud, sharp quack female
She absolutely could have flown. My Cayuga flies daily, but is in a secure pen so losing her is not an issue. I'm certain my Cayuga could fly over fences. Not sure how far she would fly distance-wise but, yes, flying out of your yard is a very distinct possibility.
I'm going to be the one person to say it I guess....it really depends on the dog. If the dog gets over excited about the ducks and that doesn't fade, it's going to stress out the ducks. It's one thing for ducks to get acclimated to the background noise of neighbor animals or animals they share...
I have a nippy Welsh Harlequin who I pick up and hold her on her back while gently pressing her bill to her chest anytime she's being a pest. It's cut down on the behavior considerably.
If it helps at all, my super predictable layer WH went broody and right after that did a hard molt......since that I've yet to get an egg out of her. It's been about 3 months if you count the over 30 day broody debacle.
I collect daily. If they aren't fertile, and/or you don't want ducklings, no need to leave them and risk one of them going broody for no reason. Going broody is pretty hard on their body, no need to have them go through that if you can avoid it.
Yes, looks like a scrape. My WH shaved a decent sized bit off of her bill drilling for worms under a stone paver. She actually had a flap of "skin" still attached. It healed fine with no intervention.
Not likely the feed, itself. How long are you leaving the feed out? I ask because mold grows in wet duck feed fairly rapidly and is seriously dangerous to ducks. Are they in an outdoor area where they could've gotten ahold of something toxic and/or rotten? Niacin deficiency generally shows...
She's absolutely stunning and, yes, I think your spirit animal has found you! I wouldn't get too complacent with your birds....but what a neat thing! Enjoy!
Edit to add: If you're in an area that a lot of flooding it wouldn't hurt to call any wildlife rehabs, rescues, etc to see if any lost...
Yeah, you're going to remove the feed at sundown. The girls will get used to the new drill. I head out to drain the pool about 30 min before it's dark and my girls have learned that's the cue to eat up because when I come back to refill the pool in 20 min, the feed is leaving the pen. They...