Blind Duck

[TinaBeana]

So I picked up my 5 new ducks last night (yay) but one than has milkey eyes (boo)
I have done the flat hand test (as I have seen suggested on here) One eye seems to have some vision and the other eye seems to have almost none (you have to practically poke her in the eye to get a reaction) :-( Will this affect her ability to "be a duck" if I let them out of the pen is she likely to get lost? Will she lay like a normal Duck? Is it best I take her back, but if I do what will they do with her?

Also how long should it be before I get some eggs?

 

[Ravynscroft]

Where did you get them from? What kind of ducks and how old are they?

If you are willing to keep her, she should do just fine... she'll adapt and use a buddy to help her locate food, water and forage...

 

[TinaBeana]

A local farm. They are cross breeds and about 3 months old.
She already hides behind the other 4. I just don't want her to drown cos she can't see the step out of the pool :-(

 

[Ravynscroft]

She'll find it, they're a lot more resilient and resourceful than we think... shouldn't be too much of risk of her drowning at that age but maybe just allow pool time when you can supervise until she gets to know where it all is...

 

[Ravynscroft]

Oh, and I think they should start laying anywhere from 5-7 months old is average, I believe...

 

[TinaBeana]

Thank you
I have already fallen in love with her. Just don't want to hurt her through my ignorance.
One more question. At what age do they lose there fluff?

 

[Orca5094]

I agree, she should be fine with her friends around. I'd just make sure you always keep an eye out for her in case she does get lost or stuck somewhere (behind a fence for example) that she isn't able to figure out on her own. I took care of a completely blind duck when I was a Bird Keeper and he did just fine. I just made sure to keep his food bowl in the same place so he could find it. They learn their surroundings pretty quickly and adapt very well.

Can you post a pic of your little ones? At 3 months old they should be fully feathered, so maybe they are younger than that if they still have baby fluff.

 

[TinaBeana]

Here are my little ones.

I wouldn't normally put water in the hutch, but we found a weakness in the run and are patching that up now.
The blind one is the white one on the left, she also seems a lot more disheveled than the others. Not sure what would cause this tho.

 

[Orca5094]

Aww, they're beautiful! Yes, they do look to be around 3 months old. They are fully feathered, I don't see any fluff left. Did you mean the fluff on that one's wing in the pic? They are probably still growing in their flight feathers, so all of that should be covered very soon.

Your blind girl just might not be preening as well as the others, or maybe she is a little farther behind in getting her feathers in. Ducks look very disheveled and "rough" when moulting or getting their first feathers in. I wouldn't worry too much yet. See how she looks in a couple weeks.

 

[TinaBeana]

There is a little fluff on the neck of the brown one on the left and her flight feathers are still growing.
Is there anything I can do to help her preen?