Adopting a duck?

[Duck mommy 2019]

can you keep her indoors your own house?

 

[JulieBeth07]

can you keep her indoors your own house?

I probably could figure something out. I also have a dog that doesn't particularly care for the birds he doesn't seem to bother them as much anymore but he used to droll a pool at the sight of them. So that would make me a little uneasy.

I think I'm going to put her in a playpen on my back porch for now.

 

[Duck mommy 2019]

I probably could figure something out. I also have a dog that doesn't particularly care for the birds he doesn't seem to bother them as much anymore but he used to droll a pool at the sight of them. So that would make me a little uneasy.

I think I'm going to put her in a playpen on my back porch for now.

is your porch closed in or predator proof?

 

[JulieBeth07]

is your porch closed in or predator proof?

Yes it is

 

[Duck mommy 2019]

Yes it is

ok then that’ll work!

 

[CoriM]

Seems like she will be completely miserable if she's kept totally isolate for a month! Maybe you can at least find a way for her to be outside where she can see the other ducks so she doesn't feel so alone.

 

[CoriM]

Are there things you're supposed to do with your duck while quarantining, to assure they don't carry disease? If they do have something, just keeping them separate for four weeks might not do the trick, and likewise if they're healthy it might be trouble for nothing. Is there an exam you can give the duck? Take her to the vet for certain tests? @KaleIAm might have an idea of what you need to do to determine whether you have a healthy duck on your hands.

 

[KaleIAm]

Are there things you're supposed to do with your duck while quarantining, to assure they don't carry disease? If they do have something, just keeping them separate for four weeks might not do the trick, and likewise if they're healthy it might be trouble for nothing. Is there an exam you can give the duck? Take her to the vet for certain tests? @KaleIAm might have an idea of what you need to do to determine whether you have a healthy duck on your hands.

You are right, sometimes they can have a disease, like infectious bronchitis, and it can be dormant. Only to come out later in times of stress. Or they could be perfectly healthy and you put them through 4 weeks of isolation - which we know is torture for a very social flock animal. I think the 4 week guideline is a happy medium. We are assuming that during that time you will notice any diarrhea, lethargy, coughing, ECT.

Of course, the only real way to tell is to take the bird to an avian vet who is familiar with ducks. Even that isn't absolute, because viral testing can have false negatives. Unfortunately there is not one panel for all bird viruses, so you have to do individual tests for each virus and they are about $100 each. I am unaware exactly how many viruses ducks can be tested for, I've only tested my flock for 2. My vet offered me 3 other viral tests, but if they came back positive she would have to report me to the department of agriculture, and they would seize and incinerate my precious pets. Since there was no treatment available for those viruses I decided not to test.

So, if we take an adopted bird to the vet an exam is going to be 70, 2 types of fecal floats 60, blood work 250, and viral testing at least 500. This is a minimum. They may recommend x-rays and other viral or other testing I'm not aware of. Personally, I would absolutely do it, knowing what I now know. I've spent far more recovering from introducing a healthy looking sick duck into my flock. But I'm a bit crazy about my ducks.

I hope this doesn't discourage anyone from adopting. The quarantine method is probably good enough in most cases. My adopted ducks had been swimming with wild mallards and that is likely where they got sick.

 

[CoriM]

@KaleIAm That was very informative! And so expensive at the vet, but I understand what you're saying for your circumstances where the ducks had been exposed to the wild mallards. It sounds like if the duck came from a healthy flock, maybe quarantining for a time and observing closely for any visible signs of illness will often be good enough, but nothing is 100%. Thanks for your input!

 

[KaleIAm]

@KaleIAm That was very informative! And so expensive at the vet, but I understand what you're saying for your circumstances where the ducks had been exposed to the wild mallards. It sounds like if the duck came from a healthy flock, maybe quarantining for a time and observing closely for any visible signs of illness will often be good enough, but nothing is 100%. Thanks for your input!

Exactly. My pleasure!