Hi all! Want to start off by saying thank you so much - my husband and I got our first group of ducks last spring and these forums have helped us many times!
I created an account finally because I need some help and I'm not finding anything.
We got our second batch of birds in May - 3 ducks and a chicken. We lost one duckling early on to some sort of sickness, and one duck and the chicken got killed by a raccoon once they were moved outside. That leaves us with one new duck (an Ancana) and 3 from the group we got last spring.
At first there were some issues integrating the Ancana - they ran her off from food, generally wouldn't let her hang out with them, etc. but that's slowly changed and there's generally peace (once the drake mated with her all of a sudden she was cool, whatever lol). She's usually very loud and active.
We have a large pond that they spend a lot of time in. Yesterday I noticed the Ancana just floating at the edge of the pond, very subdued (not like her). If I walked around the pond to that side, she'd swim along the edge away from me to another corner. We've watched her swim, she doesn't seem to be favoring one side, her feet seem fine from what we can see and she has no visible injuries. Her eyes look fine and I've seen her drink water. I threw some mealworms near her today and she definitely ate them. My husband checked on them last night - they spend their nights in the water - he said she was swimming around the others and acting normal for nighttime. But I haven't seen her out of the water in now close to 24 hours and she's just not acting "herself." The other ducks are acting totally normal.
I don't know what could be causing this and was wondering if anyone else had any experience. She is reaching the point where we can reasonably expect eggs (she's about 3 months old now), so I don't know if that could cause the behavior change, or if this rings of some sickness we aren't aware of.
Thank you all again!
I created an account finally because I need some help and I'm not finding anything.
We got our second batch of birds in May - 3 ducks and a chicken. We lost one duckling early on to some sort of sickness, and one duck and the chicken got killed by a raccoon once they were moved outside. That leaves us with one new duck (an Ancana) and 3 from the group we got last spring.
At first there were some issues integrating the Ancana - they ran her off from food, generally wouldn't let her hang out with them, etc. but that's slowly changed and there's generally peace (once the drake mated with her all of a sudden she was cool, whatever lol). She's usually very loud and active.
We have a large pond that they spend a lot of time in. Yesterday I noticed the Ancana just floating at the edge of the pond, very subdued (not like her). If I walked around the pond to that side, she'd swim along the edge away from me to another corner. We've watched her swim, she doesn't seem to be favoring one side, her feet seem fine from what we can see and she has no visible injuries. Her eyes look fine and I've seen her drink water. I threw some mealworms near her today and she definitely ate them. My husband checked on them last night - they spend their nights in the water - he said she was swimming around the others and acting normal for nighttime. But I haven't seen her out of the water in now close to 24 hours and she's just not acting "herself." The other ducks are acting totally normal.
I don't know what could be causing this and was wondering if anyone else had any experience. She is reaching the point where we can reasonably expect eggs (she's about 3 months old now), so I don't know if that could cause the behavior change, or if this rings of some sickness we aren't aware of.
Thank you all again!
I’d def bring her home and keep her where you can monitor her. Examine her all over to make sure she isn’t wounded. Making sure she is eating. Post pics once you get her home.
