Accidental new duck owner

[KansasKid]

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[KansasKid]

Quote:
Not all their birds are that dark. I have one that looks mch more standard, but yeah...obvious coloring flaws. Strangely, my worst looking welsh harlequin is my best layer.

http://img243.imageshack.us/img243/9031/34869155329775790113988.jpg
Same dad (A holderread's drake) and different moms...both from Metzer.

what she doesn't have in color she makes up for in production.

Still gets to me that they can send birds like that though and claim there WH Because in the end you truly don't know if they just flawed or crossed you know. i really want to order some WH from holderread but i found 6 spelling and grammar errors on metzer and got a $100 gift certificate that i need to use....


and are your females from metzer Gold or silver?

 

[JosieR]

If the chickens have a fenced in area that's secure you could just put a dog igloo in there for her. Otherise something that closes securely. . I only clean my duck house once a week, tops. I stir the bedding so it will dry, remove any really wet spots and toss a little fresh building on top.

If you toss peas into her house she will quickly connect that house to good things. It was the only place I gave my ducks peas when I was training them to go in.

If you don't want to get her another duck for company or go through getting her a house you could probably find a rescue group (or someone on here that's near you) to take her.

Good luck!!

 

[wonderpup]

I don't have a problem getting her a house, she deserves it. I wouldn't even mind getting her a duck friend so long as they could behave themselves and not bother anyone. I snuggled her up and brought her inside tonight and put her in a large dog kennel with some towels. Could have done without the towels I'm sure but it's a wire kennel and so the shavings we have been using for the chickens would have been a real mess. I figure the towels will be easier to clean, they are "dog towels" anyway so nasty stuff is what they are for. Also put some food/water in there for her. We've been really really sick the last two days, stomach bug or food poisoning, not sure which. If the baby get sick we'll know it was a virus since he doesn't eat the same food right now. Anywho, she didn't get fed as often so she was real happy to see me today. Poor ducky, I feel bad but I honestly could barely crawl out of bed except to curl up on the bathroom floor (Thankgod for grandma who came and got the baby!!! She didn't know about the duck though and I was to busy being sick to tell her) So for the evening she is safe and sound and sleeping comfortably out of the rain in my grooming area.

Somewhat bummed out though, I've gotten kind of attached to her and yesterday my nextdoor neighbor informed me that she's been trying to luring the duck out of our pond and send it back down to it's original house. Apparently when the old renters moved out and abandoned the Daisy (yeah, I know real original name lol) somebody made the new renters who are moving in agree to take care of the duck. The new people are supposed to move in this weekend she thinks. So the way my nextdoor neighbor see's it the duck belongs down the street.

Who am I to argue I guess? Not sure if I can do anything about it except hope that they are more informed than the last owners who pretty much let the duck free range the neighborhood, never had a real house for her, and only brought her in when the temps dipped below freezing. *sigh* Like I said I'm kind of bummed. I'm tempted to toss her in the backyard with a kiddie pool and keep her. Would that be stealing? She'd have to be penned up a fair amount though like when we let the dog's out to potty b/c our poodles are definitely going to be interested in a free duck - they are bird dogs after all. Ah what to do, what to do.....

 

[mommyofthreewithchicks]

Maybe it is me but when you abandon a duck I call fair game to adopt

I guess I would talk to the next door neighbor and let them know you are now trying to take care of the duck and if the new renters want to they can get their own duck....

I don't think the duck looks like a WH in the least. More of a mallard crossed with something else. I would get her at least a dog house to sleep in and possibly an enclosed fence in the backyard to keep her away from luring neighbors

I would also see about a friend.

 

[aduckstolemyheart]

You know, I found that when my duck was alone he wandered a lot more. I walked outside one day and found him ACROSS a busy street in the neighbors yard!! I about had a stroke.

Once I got him duck friends, he didn't wander anymore. He sticks very close to the house now, and I actually have my neighbors asking why he never comes to visit them anymore.

I think they wander more when they're lonely.

edited to say: The duck was abandoned. I agree, fair game.

 

[Wifezilla]

and are your females from metzer Gold or silver?

2 turned out to be gold (one got eaten by a hawk though) and the other is silver.

Since you got the coupon, go ahead and get the WH. They are very healthy, very productive ducks. Also very entertaining.

I also have a Holderread's WH hen (gold) and her and my silver WH are smart little goobers. They are constantly trying to find ways to get out of the pen and get in my pond. I even made them their own pond out of a huge stock tank, but they know the minnows and the duck weed are in my pond. Stinkers!

 

[KansasKid]

Actually i think i'm going to order blue runner and sebastopol from metzer and go ahead and get "show quality" from holderread by splitting an order with my neighbor.

BTW. Cute picture.

 

[wonderpup]

hummm, I just remember that a friend of mine who lives in the farm type area behind our home has a whole BUNCH of ducks. She would probably give me a duck friend for her and that way I wouldn't have to worry about raising a chick. She uses hers for dog training so she has a ton and b/c it's not the friendliest activity for a duck it would feel downright pampered at our house. I am going to wait and see what the neighbors try and do though, I don't want to cause problems and make anyone mad enough to complain about our chickens. Hahaha, I guess I can be naughty and tell them that we got a new duck from the friend behind us and look, wow it looks just like the old one

LoL Then keep her in the backyard.

She laid an egg overnight and now she doesn't want to come out of the kennel I put her in. Great... It's a really large kennel but still. Now I wish I had put her in the smaller one that I could at least reach into and get her out. I moved her food and stuff outside and no go. It's been all morning and she hasn't budged. She's not sitting on the egg or anything so I dont know if that's what the hold up is or if she's just comfortable. I wasn't even aware she was laying eggs, I haven't found any and I've looked. There aren't to many places she can hide them in the nearby area. I just figured she didn't really lay.