Thanks for your replies.
I believe I got the answer I was looking for - pekins are or can be more difficult than chickens, but no more difficult than other duck breeds. That's all I was looking for.
But seeing as I've appalled some people by providing some information and leaving out others, maybe I should clarify so I'm not immediately pegged as inane or barbarous, of which I am neither.
My bf's mother lives at our house while we are gone. She is there in the morning and returns at night and is there all day on weekends, a lot like TLWR's husband. Every other Sunday she goes to her own house to check on things and have a family lunch. It is as if I were there, except I work from home so have the ability to run out there a couple times during the day.
I said his leg healed incorrectly, not funny. Big difference. His ankle was either dislocated or slightly broken and when the bones fused back together they didn't heal the way they should have. It was not a compound fracture. As soon as I got home I started wrapping his leg to protect the joint from the ground and to give him a little more stability.
Also, you are bringing up a huge debate when you mention vet visits. How many posts are made to this site of people looking for help when they don't have vet bills in their budget? Or don't have a local vet who would even think about working with a pekin duck? Dozens. Hundreds. Does that mean those people - including myself - are cruel? No. Cruelty is allowing an animal to suffer needlessly when there is no sign the animal wants to go on living, or just plain intentionally causing harm.
It was about a month after Susan noticed the drake's injury that we got back home. That was when I assessed the situation and considered whether or not he was capable of living or needed to be culled. My drake had been through pain and was possibly still feeling some, but he still ate and drank and though he had trouble getting around normally he still seemed inquisitive and enjoyed his swim time. I took that to mean there was a chance he still wanted to live, and though I struggled with the idea of having him put down, I ultimately decided against it. If you could only communicate through behavior and body language that you wanted to continue living, would you want someone to assume you should just be put out of your misery?
Are vet bills in my budget? Not really. Do I have a vet who will even deal with chickens or ducks? One, and he is both expensive and continuously tries to get you to pay for tests that aren't really necessary.
Would I have immediately noticed if my duck had been injured? I would like to think so. Do I blame Susan for not noticing? No. Did I grill her for how she could have missed such an injury? No, because S*t happens and in the end the 'how' is meaningless compared to what happens in the future. She loves those birds as much as I do, and I know for a fact she is not so uninformed or incapable as to not be able to care for my birds. She has fed one of my injured chickens for two weeks with a pipette and baby bird food, for Christ's sake.
Was I broken up about the fact that my actions caused my poor drake pain? Absolutely. I cried. I beat myself up about it. And then, I fixed the problem so it would never happen again.
Don't build contempt based on your extrapolations from a couple of my posts. It's insulting.
Also, we gave them non-medicated chick/duckling starter feed (sorry I don't have the receipt so I don't know what brand) until the 5th or 6th week and then switched to adult food. They got vitamins in their water regularly to prevent against niacin deficiency.
I got the ducks because I fully expected to be home consistently - not being away for several months at a time again. Unfortunately three months later we had to go away for three months. Did I try to find them a new home, permanent or temporary? Yes. Successful? No. Could I have tried harder? Maybe, but at that point I thought they were all set. Did I expect to go away the summer after that? No. But again, I was leaving my birds in the care of (for all intents and purposes) a relative who knew almost as much as I did about them.
I mentioned the rain because it was the only recent change I could think of. Excess water breeds mosquitoes which spreads disease; this shouldn't directly affect my birds but there is an empty muddy lot next door which I can't control. I apologize for bringing it up.
Yes, I am looking for someone to take on my lame drake; I am aware they are social birds and need company or they'll die of depression, and it would be a lot easier on Susan as well. As for those of you who think I should be condemned from ever owning more ducks, or even keeping the healthy chickens I do have, don't you worry, I won't be getting any more any time soon.
