Duck lost his partner

[SFBobzilla]

We had two Splashed White Swedish ducks, Darlene and Reginald along with several chickens. This morning Darlene passed away. About two weeks ago we noticed all our birds were around her and she was sitting under one of our lawn chairs. She was having trouble standing. We took her to the vet who gave us anti-inflamatory for her. She seemed to get a little better but then her crop swelled up. The vet said to get her lots of water and high moisture foods. She looked like she was making a come back but did not make it.

Reginald and Darlene were glued to the hip and for the last few days of her life Reginald sat patiently next to the crate we had her recovering in, in our living room. He is outside now tapping at the door waiting for us to let him in so he can go sit next to her. It's really heartbreaking.

How can we reduce his stress? We do have two ducklings that are now about 4 weeks old and we are not sure when we can introduce them to the flock. We suspect that they will not make up for the loss of Darlene. We are thinking of getting another adult female Swedish for him to hang with but we have no idea where to find adult ducks in the Bay Area.

Suggestions?

Thanks!

Bobzilla
Oakland

 

[scratch'n'peck]

I'm so sorry about Darlene. Poor Reginald. You can try your luck with these links to see if anyone has a duck in your area.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/34/other-poultry-birds-hatching-eggs

https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/16182/animals-in-need-of-free-re-homing

Lots of people find poultry on Craig's list.

You might try introducing Reginald to the ducklings with a barrier in between at first (so that he can see but not touch) and see what his reaction is. I have read that some draks can be paternal towards ducklings.

 

[SFBobzilla]

Thanks. My wife got the ducks via Craigslist when she got some chickens but she no longer remembers who she got them from. We have been really loving our ducks. I will check the forums you suggested. Unfortunately I can't post an ad yet since I'm a newbie here and you need 20 posts to post a buy, want or sell.

 

[Deleted member 94844]

I'm so sorry for your loss... we have been through this same situation and it is heartbreaking. Our drake walked around the house calling for his mate for two weeks after she died. We ended up hatching her last egg and the son is now his constant companion. Until the duckling was grown we just spent a lot of time with the drake, keeping him company. Finding another adult female to replace her would be ideal, tho.