TheDaringDucks
Songster
- Aug 4, 2024
- 77
- 128
- 106
This is probably going to be an odd post but it's not specifically an emergency or anything, just a curiosity I wanted to share and maybe get some thoughts on it.
Anyways I have one duck in my flock who I've been observing who has displayed a number of strange behaviors ever since he was hatched.
Firstly he had a tough time hatching, almost getting shrink-wrapped by his egg, to the point that I did eventually have to intervene. (Perhaps this was where his issues began, or maybe earlier because there was a good chance his egg was one that got punted around by one of my broody females in a tizzy). In any case. His entry into this world was not kind to him.
From there, he was slower to develop than his siblings in the same clutch of eggs and he wasn't the best at following his mom around, getting lost more frequently, but also not vocalizing to locate her. During his first molt he took an inordinate amount of time to drop his downy feathers and get his first set of feathers, but that's when his behavior really started being noticably concerning.
Socialization did not come easily to him. He did not seem to understand the behavior of the other ducks around him and did not reciprocate or respond to them correctly or eventually started to overreact to others' body language. Like if they mildly touched their bills to him to ask him to move, he would go full panic mode like he had been attacked by a predator. That let to him choosing to isolate himself as well as becoming extremely anxious to the point that he was over plucking his chest feathers. I checked him for anything that might cause the plucking and there was no external health reason, no bugs, no skin irritation, nothing. It seemed to be an entirely stress induced mental condition.
When he started going through his nuptial molt, I was luckily able to get him to stop plucking long enough for his chest feather to come in (basically by giving him his own isolation tent for most of the day where he could see the flock but not be bothered by them) and extra space by rehoming a lot of other ducks. He was doing better by that point. I think getting his feathers in made him a bit more comfortable with the other ducks and he began following the group on the fringes. Huge improvement. But then came the flirting season with the rest of my ducks, and I realized, when he tried to dip and whistle, he literally could not even make a sound. I don't believe I've ever heard him make a sound at all, from when he was a duckling up til now (9ish months old). Now it's got me wondering if maybe he is deaf and doesn't know how to vocalize or if he has something wrong with his vocal cords that is impeding him.
Since realizing that, I've observed him even more closely and his anxiety has has only increased as everyone is starting to pick mates for next breeding season. He has become hyper skittish of any other ducks, still overreacting to their body language, but now it makes him a target for their bullying when they are trying to warn him off their mates. He would rather run to his isolation tent now and just lay low and out of everyone's way. I feel so bad for him and I'm not sure how to help being that they are such social creatures for their own well being but he doesn't want to socialize.
I should note here, he wasn't the only one with these symptoms, isolative, highly skittish, anxious, over plucking, no vocalizations, slow molting. I did have another duck like him, but that one unfortunately had to be put down, so I cannot say if that one would have continued having issues too. It has me speculating on whether or not this behavior may have been genetic, but the other babies in that clutch turned out just fine.
Thoughts?
Anyways I have one duck in my flock who I've been observing who has displayed a number of strange behaviors ever since he was hatched.
Firstly he had a tough time hatching, almost getting shrink-wrapped by his egg, to the point that I did eventually have to intervene. (Perhaps this was where his issues began, or maybe earlier because there was a good chance his egg was one that got punted around by one of my broody females in a tizzy). In any case. His entry into this world was not kind to him.
From there, he was slower to develop than his siblings in the same clutch of eggs and he wasn't the best at following his mom around, getting lost more frequently, but also not vocalizing to locate her. During his first molt he took an inordinate amount of time to drop his downy feathers and get his first set of feathers, but that's when his behavior really started being noticably concerning.
Socialization did not come easily to him. He did not seem to understand the behavior of the other ducks around him and did not reciprocate or respond to them correctly or eventually started to overreact to others' body language. Like if they mildly touched their bills to him to ask him to move, he would go full panic mode like he had been attacked by a predator. That let to him choosing to isolate himself as well as becoming extremely anxious to the point that he was over plucking his chest feathers. I checked him for anything that might cause the plucking and there was no external health reason, no bugs, no skin irritation, nothing. It seemed to be an entirely stress induced mental condition.
When he started going through his nuptial molt, I was luckily able to get him to stop plucking long enough for his chest feather to come in (basically by giving him his own isolation tent for most of the day where he could see the flock but not be bothered by them) and extra space by rehoming a lot of other ducks. He was doing better by that point. I think getting his feathers in made him a bit more comfortable with the other ducks and he began following the group on the fringes. Huge improvement. But then came the flirting season with the rest of my ducks, and I realized, when he tried to dip and whistle, he literally could not even make a sound. I don't believe I've ever heard him make a sound at all, from when he was a duckling up til now (9ish months old). Now it's got me wondering if maybe he is deaf and doesn't know how to vocalize or if he has something wrong with his vocal cords that is impeding him.
Since realizing that, I've observed him even more closely and his anxiety has has only increased as everyone is starting to pick mates for next breeding season. He has become hyper skittish of any other ducks, still overreacting to their body language, but now it makes him a target for their bullying when they are trying to warn him off their mates. He would rather run to his isolation tent now and just lay low and out of everyone's way. I feel so bad for him and I'm not sure how to help being that they are such social creatures for their own well being but he doesn't want to socialize.
I should note here, he wasn't the only one with these symptoms, isolative, highly skittish, anxious, over plucking, no vocalizations, slow molting. I did have another duck like him, but that one unfortunately had to be put down, so I cannot say if that one would have continued having issues too. It has me speculating on whether or not this behavior may have been genetic, but the other babies in that clutch turned out just fine.
Thoughts?
