By herself a lot

[crj]

I have 5 Indian Runner ducks. Their are 2 girls and 3 boys. One of my girls seems to want to go off by herself for some reason. I notice her beak isn't as yellow as the rest of the ducks. They are all happy together but this one little girl just seems to sit back to see of the others notice if she is there. Kind of odd. She doesn't seem sick. I find her by herself a lot though. Any ideas?? BTW, they were born in April so they are 7 months old. Out of the two girls I think only 1 lays an egg. I get an egg everyday but never had 2 eggs. I feed them flock raiser and they get some scratch and some BOSS. I do let them free range most days.

 

[easttxchick]

I have a little Call hen that does this same thing. Her bill isn't QUITE as orange as I think it should be.
I'll be curious to see what others say to see if it might relate to my baby.

 

[katharinad]

The bill color in girls gets darker from the food when they are not laying. These birds accumulate xanthophylls in their bills and legs. This will go away once they start to lay, because it will be leached back out to go into the eggs they produce. The longer they lay the paler they get. So it is quite normal to see very brown bills before they start to lay.

Forgot to say, some of my girls get a little bit withdrawn for about a week before they started to lay eggs. I guess the hormone change is to blame for it. I get it is not fun to produce an egg for the first time in their lives. It will ease as they get used to it.

 

[crj]

One of my girls has been laying for at almost 2 months now. Would she be the duck that has the pale beak? The other girl has a bright yellow beak like the boys.

 

[katharinad]

It varies slightly by breed. I think the bright yellow one may either not be laying yet or may be a drake. The one laying is most likely the one with the pale beak. Another way to tell is check how wide apart their pubic bones are. Don't worry you don't have to insert your fingers anywhere. Just touch their bone area and see how wide the bones are apart. They are further apart in laying hens. Metzer Farms has a nice blog about it with even some images.
http://blog.metzerfarms.com/blog/bid/28150/How-Do-I-Know-Which-of-My-Ducks-Are-Laying-Eggs
It's quite educating. The did the check to reduce non laying hens and to further breed hens that are good producers. Selective breeding for quantity.

 

[crj]

Thank you. That is helpful. I will try that tomorrow. They are not easy to catch. Mine don't want to be handled for some reason. They like to be left alone. I will also take a picture of my girls just so you can see the difference. I am sure she is a female because she does have that QUACK! and only 2 do that. At the same time she does have a tail that almost curls. I don't know. I have a batch in the incubator so I'm hoping for some girls. I definitely need more then 2. Then I have to learn how to sex them when they hatch...... this will be interesting...... lol.

 

[crj]

Hello. Here is the duck that has the pale beak and is a lone sometimes and sleeps a lot. She seems healthy, good attitude. She came right to my hand today for peas so she must be feeling good.

Nice fresh water, good stuff...... lol.


I noticed this one shaking the other day and she is still shaking. I was looking at her to see if she looked a little thin. I couldn't tell. She hasn't quacked much lately either. She is very standoffish. She wouldn't come over and eat any peas from my hand. I tossed her some and she didn't go after them until a bit later.

I'm hoping she is ok. I have no idea why she is shaking, still.

 

[crj]

Anyone???

 

[Wifezilla]

Ok, first of all you have too many drakes. She just may be TIRED!!!

Second, she may be trying to go broody.

Third possibility is she is just an independent duck. I have one of those. She doesn't clump up with the other ducks and just likes to do her own thing.

Now, as for your shaking duck, does she only do that when you are around? Or does she do it all the time?

 

[crj]

Ok, first of all you have too many drakes. She just may be TIRED!!!

You would think. She seems to be the boss and has a thing for one of the ducks. The others really don't bother her. they make passses at her but that's about it. They all get a long better then I thought they would. They are definitely not aggressive towards each other at all. That was my main concern when I found out I had to many drakes. The female with the pale beak is kind of funny. Everyone will up and go and leave her behind. When they all realize something is amiss they look around to make sure everyone is accounted for and if not they go running back to look for the missing bird. Too funny to watch.

As for the girl that shakes. She may shake when I am around. I was trying to figure that one out yesterday. It was hard to tell. She had turned her back and seemed to stop shaking but then as soon as she started to move again she started. Not sure if she saw me again. I will have to keep an eye on that. Kind of hard to hide from a duck let alone 5 of them.​