duck depression

[hfchristy]

Do ducks grieve?
Something bad went down while we were on vacation two weeks ago and we now have only 4 of our former 9 ducks.
The remaining drake is from our very first set of ducks and all of his hatch mates were killed including our other drake. The 3 younger hens seem oblivious, but the drake keeps going back to the scene of the crime and hanging out. Seems like he's waiting for the others to come back. Yesterday when we moved the ducks from their day pen to the secure overnight cage he just sat there and we had to threaten to pick him up before he would move.
He also seems arthritic and has been voted "most likely not to make it through the winter" the last three years, so it's hard to tell whether he's depressed (if that's even a thing) or just old and lame.

We're also looking at picking up some new ducks. I think they'll want a little more body heat to stay warm in the winter. But I'm wondering whether having a larger flock would perk him up right now or just seem threatening, especially if he has to get used to a new drake. Ducks in question would be around 8 weeks.

 

[sourland]

I would guess that he is suffering the aches and pains of old age along with the loss of his long term companions. I fully understand.

Adjusting to a new drake/drakes might very well be difficult for him at this point in his life.

 

[hfchristy]

I'd prefer not to get another drake, but it's tough to find people willing to give/sell females without taking a male, too.

 

[DuckyBabies]

I believe it is a thing! My drake lost his mate in January of this year and he would just wonder around the yard all day looking for her in her usual spots and quacking for her. It was super sad to watch. I don’t know that he ever laid down and relaxed until we brought another duck in for him.

 

[Muscovy-palooza]

Do ducks grieve?
Something bad went down while we were on vacation two weeks ago and we now have only 4 of our former 9 ducks.
The remaining drake is from our very first set of ducks and all of his hatch mates were killed including our other drake. The 3 younger hens seem oblivious, but the drake keeps going back to the scene of the crime and hanging out. Seems like he's waiting for the others to come back. Yesterday when we moved the ducks from their day pen to the secure overnight cage he just sat there and we had to threaten to pick him up before he would move.
He also seems arthritic and has been voted "most likely not to make it through the winter" the last three years, so it's hard to tell whether he's depressed (if that's even a thing) or just old and lame.

We're also looking at picking up some new ducks. I think they'll want a little more body heat to stay warm in the winter. But I'm wondering whether having a larger flock would perk him up right now or just seem threatening, especially if he has to get used to a new drake. Ducks in question would be around 8 weeks.

I feel your pain about going on vacation and coming back to fewer ducks. How old is your drake?

 

[Kawkawkaye]

Birds definately grieve!
One of my chooks in particular, Iris, feels too many emotions. A few months ago, her best friend chookie died (the one that she seemed to hang out with more than the others) and literally from the moment this chook died, Iris refused to eat. She became lethargic and rarely walked anywhere, other than to and from the coop and the garden. She was like this for a month, only eating and drinking enough to sustain herself. Luckily, she came good. It got to the point where she weighed nothing, and we were scared we were gonna lose her too. I was the happiest person when I did my daily pick-up and found that she was putting on weight.

Then two weeks ago another chook became sick– an egg burst in her abdomen and we think she was fighting a resulting infection. The moment it happened, this chook of course, in pain, stopped eating and became sickly looking. Simultaneously, Iris stopped eating too, and exhibited the exact same symptoms as before. The only difference this time was that she was worried for a chook that had only just become ill, whereas the first time she became depressed after the chook died. Perhaps she was traumatised from the first time.

The uncanniness of these two events has convinced us that Iris feels too much, given the split-second timing and the fact that neither event was a flock disease that couldv’e been passed to Iris.

Luckily, after a little TLC and several bathes, the sick chook is completely recovered, and coincidently, Iris recovered at the same time (before becoming sick again due to a sour crop. We are working on that).

 

[DuckyDonna]

Do ducks grieve?
Something bad went down while we were on vacation two weeks ago and we now have only 4 of our former 9 ducks.
The remaining drake is from our very first set of ducks and all of his hatch mates were killed including our other drake. The 3 younger hens seem oblivious, but the drake keeps going back to the scene of the crime and hanging out. Seems like he's waiting for the others to come back. Yesterday when we moved the ducks from their day pen to the secure overnight cage he just sat there and we had to threaten to pick him up before he would move.
He also seems arthritic and has been voted "most likely not to make it through the winter" the last three years, so it's hard to tell whether he's depressed (if that's even a thing) or just old and lame.

We're also looking at picking up some new ducks. I think they'll want a little more body heat to stay warm in the winter. But I'm wondering whether having a larger flock would perk him up right now or just seem threatening, especially if he has to get used to a new drake. Ducks in question would be around 8 weeks.

I hope all works out well for you but I'd be wanting to know what the "bad thing" was that happened and looking into making sure it didn't happen again! Hopefully, you've considered that and have taken the steps to fix it before bringing new ducks into the flock. What did happen?