Crazy the pekin will have a friend once again!

[FunnyfarmMidwest]

It might just take him awhile to get used to it. My ducks are always reluctant to try new things so I just leave them out on the ground outside and eventually they try it and decide if they like it or not.

I will give him some time. I think I’m just used to my ducks (they are piggies ) they eat everything and anything they find lol.! I’ll put some different kinds of treats/ food in there and hopefully he’ll try one. He is definitely skittish.

 

[FunnyfarmMidwest]

Well done on the rescue!! <3 I'm thrilled Crazy will have friends and that you were able to save someone. I adopted 3 pond rescues almost 6 years ago and I know how challenging and rewarding it can be. My rescues were terrified of me. They ran to the farthest corners of their aviary when they saw me coming. Now they run or, "fly," to my feet quacking with excitement when they see me coming.

I agree that mealworms are your friend. If he won't eat them dry, perhaps try floating them in his water. He may not recognize the dry hollow texture as food. He also may be too anxious to eat when you are watching. If he eats mealworms wet you might be able to get him to eat them dry and crunchy after a couple weeks. Then you can top other foods you want him to eat with mealworms. This might not work for your duck, but it did for mine.

I have also had to tube feed. It can be challenging, but not too bad after you become accustomed to doing it. After a couple weeks I could even do it myself.

You are doing a great job.

Thank you so much for the kind words of encouragement. I finally had success in getting him to eat some mealworms and some food. I put him outside for a while and he saw the grass and immediately started eating it. I don’t think he’s been on grass before. He is already beginning to trust me and even lets me pet him without running away. That is wonderful that you were able to take on some pond rescues. Somebody dumped a pekin drake at our local pond. I reached out to park management asking if I could take him home and rehabilitate him. They have yet to respond to me. I’m hoping they will as I worry about him out there.

 

[SolarDuck]

Thank you so much for the kind words of encouragement. I finally had success in getting him to eat some mealworms and some food. I put him outside for a while and he saw the grass and immediately started eating it. I don’t think he’s been on grass before. He is already beginning to trust me and even lets me pet him without running away. That is wonderful that you were able to take on some pond rescues. Somebody dumped a pekin drake at our local pond. I reached out to park management asking if I could take him home and rehabilitate him. They have yet to respond to me. I’m hoping they will as I worry about him out there.

In my experience most parks could not care less about their dumped domestic ducks. I'm sure if you wanted to you could just grab him and take him home.

 

[SolarDuck]

I was thinking about that but was worried there might be legal issues. I’m not sure if there would since the duck is domestic though. There is this guy that buys the ducks and “places them” on the park pond. He basically dumps them off then replaces them once they get killed or disappear. I was worried that he might try to claim the duck. I have been feeding the duck in hopes that I can catch it one of these days. I agree that park management probably could care less.

Pssh if that guy tried to claim the duck i would fight him. If he is leaving it at a public pond that is him giving it up period. Shouldn't be any legal issues the only thing that is actually illegal would be dumping him there in the first place.

 

[SolarDuck]

Honestly, if he got dumped pretty recently I would try to get him asap most of the ducks dumped at ponds around me end up disappearing pretty quickly.

 

[FunnyfarmMidwest]

I thought I’d update on my rescue drake. I decided to name him Pom-Pom. I got home from work and had to clean out his cage so I decided I’d put him in the dog pen right beside my deck since he liked it in there yesterday. He seems to like the outdoors. He was eating the grass and playing in the snow so I left him for a couple of minutes and went to get his cage all cleaned out. I came back upstairs just in time to see him making an escape! I got my coat on and went to go retrieve him. He somehow managed to FLY out of the pen and get lose in my backyard. He went over and tried to hang out with the call ducks. I scolded him, picked him up, and took him back inside the house to his clean cage. I absolutely cannot believe that he was able to fly. Yes it was only about 1” ft tall but I thought there was no way he could fly since his wing is so badly injured. I thought it wouldn’t be possible since half his wing is missing that he would be able to. I am not sure how he managed. I am baffled. He is a very naughty duck! Pictures are to come!

 

[FunnyfarmMidwest]

It was nice out today so with supervision Crazy got to venture outside today for the first time since the attack. Of course she went right for the mud puddle!
By the time she had to come back in she was completely covered in mud, most being inside her bill... I set her in my bathroom while I filled the tub with warm water. She decided it was a great time to shake all the mud out of her bill and it went everywhere! Lol the walls were splattered so along with cleaning her I now have to clean the walls. I wiped the mud off of her with a towel so another mishap could be avoided while the tub filled. She pretended she was innocent...
What a silly duck...

 

[FunnyfarmMidwest]

It is definitely time for an update! I am so amazed with Pom-Pom’s progress! His wing has improved so much and his eye problem has resolved! Here are some before and after photos of his progress! He is much calmer. I’m hoping to put him with Crazy this week! He has been quarantined for 12 days so far.

His wing injury before:

His wing injury currently ( the picture isn’t the best but you can see an obvious improvement) :


Him when I picked him up:

Him now:

His eyes before:


His eyes now:

 

[FunnyfarmMidwest]

Thant's great that you got her a friend! ❤ Wishing him a speedy recovery!

Thanks dearly for your well wishes! They are very much appreciated! I will post updates in this thread on his health. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that his recovery isn’t too long.

 

[FunnyfarmMidwest]

He was very scared yesterday as he is not used to being handled. I attempted to give him some scratch grains mixed with duck food but he showed little interest. He had never ate duck food prior. Only grains, so I’ll have to work on that. I might attempt to tube feed if he won’t eat. I have been given some good advice on the subject and there are some good articles on here if that is the case. I will see if he is more calmed down today and try again to get him to eat on his own.