TLDR: I went for six ducks, and came home with fourteen that are in not so great shape.
Hello everyone. I guess I'm posting to get some opinions and advice on some new ducks I just acquired today.
Background: A semi-local gentleman posted his entire flock as needing rehomed due to his own medical issues. He had photos of his birds, but I think they must have been outdated due to the difference between the photos and the actual birds. I believe this gentleman still has 30-50 ducks still on his property.
We met in a public location, which I very much understand for biosecurity and personal safety reasons. As such, I did not see the full picture of their living conditions. Fourteen ducks later and I can only assume they were not provided with access to adequate water: A few of them had blocked nostrils, all of them were filthy, and I believe all of them are suffering from wet feather.
Once home, we trimmed one wing's flight feathers on each before providing them with food and a bathtub.
They're all much cleaner now, though still fairly dirty. I still have to hand bathe them with Dawn to finish up the cleaning process.
The original plan was to put them in a modified dog run outdoors for their quarantine period. In light of the wet feather issue and the current temperatures, they're all currently drying and preening in our bathroom.
I will make a second post with some photos to see if you guys think anything else may be going on.
One photo shows a small male with some eye issues. Good reason to believe it is from poor hygiene, or something more sinister?
How do I tell whether or not they have mites in addition to wet feather?
Outside of improving their diet and hygiene, anything else I should be doing?
I have to locate an avian veterinarian, as so far the closest one is four hours away
Thank you in advance for anyone that has made it this far into my epic saga of a post.
Hello everyone. I guess I'm posting to get some opinions and advice on some new ducks I just acquired today.
Background: A semi-local gentleman posted his entire flock as needing rehomed due to his own medical issues. He had photos of his birds, but I think they must have been outdated due to the difference between the photos and the actual birds. I believe this gentleman still has 30-50 ducks still on his property.
We met in a public location, which I very much understand for biosecurity and personal safety reasons. As such, I did not see the full picture of their living conditions. Fourteen ducks later and I can only assume they were not provided with access to adequate water: A few of them had blocked nostrils, all of them were filthy, and I believe all of them are suffering from wet feather.
Once home, we trimmed one wing's flight feathers on each before providing them with food and a bathtub.
They're all much cleaner now, though still fairly dirty. I still have to hand bathe them with Dawn to finish up the cleaning process.
The original plan was to put them in a modified dog run outdoors for their quarantine period. In light of the wet feather issue and the current temperatures, they're all currently drying and preening in our bathroom.
I will make a second post with some photos to see if you guys think anything else may be going on.
One photo shows a small male with some eye issues. Good reason to believe it is from poor hygiene, or something more sinister?
How do I tell whether or not they have mites in addition to wet feather?
Outside of improving their diet and hygiene, anything else I should be doing?
I have to locate an avian veterinarian, as so far the closest one is four hours away
Thank you in advance for anyone that has made it this far into my epic saga of a post.
