Female duck obsessed with getting laid, injuring herself

[Neko's Yard]

My 3 month old pekin has injured herself twice now trying to get the attention of her boyfriend, my other pekin, same age. He pays no attention as he bathes and plays in their pool and she flattens herself as much as possible, squacks at him, and pushes at him, all but crawling underneath him. She is currently spending the night in my (empty) bathtub keeping quiet with vitamin water as she has, for the second time, injured her back enough to impact her walking. This is my assumtion, as she was fine both times before getting into the pool and something seemed to change during her display. She is completely off balance, like she can't hold her chest up properly, and is very tippy when trying to walk or preen, she has even rolled on to her side a couple times this time. She gradually improved over the course of about two weeks last time, gradually getting steadier and more confident, standing taller. Poor thing was just back to normal and it happened again. Is there anything I can do to calm her down about this?

 

[Ravynscroft]

Haven't seen or heard of a female injuring herself just from presenting... Pekins are notorious for needing more extra Niacin than the usual extra Niacin all ducks need... what is and has been her feed?

 

[Neko's Yard]

They were raised with my chickens on organic, non-medicated chick starter, and now grower, with brewers yeast mixed in. They have access to the backyard and a kiddie pool every other day or so, and get fruit or veggies or sprouted grains and some mealworms every day. When this first happened, I wasn't sure what happened and they had been foraging around the backyard for awhile, so I syringe fed her as much charcoal water as she would take (not much) and added sav-a-chick and brewers yeast to the water, switched after a few days to nutri-drench and brewers yeast.

 

[Miss Lydia]

How about getting in an out of the pool does she have an easy way? are you using 1 Tab per cup of feed for the brewers yeast?

 

[Neko's Yard]

The pool is about at chest height and I haven't seen them have any problems getting in and out. The brewers yeast is a loose powder - their feeder is made out of a 5 gallon bucket (ends up holding about 4 gallons) and I layer/mix in 1 1/2 cups or so when I fill it up.

 

[chickens really]

Possibly she needs less protein in her diet....

 

[Ravynscroft]

Lessening protein does not fix leg issues...

Pekins are notorious, especially this year for some reason, about needing a bit extra Niacin than the usual for ducks... I would get some Vitamin B complex tablets to crush and dissolve into her water... and I would add shallow steps for her to get in and out of the pool, just to be safe... with larger breeds even a small hop down can cause sprains...

You can also give her warm epsom salt water soak, that helps with leg issues a lot... just try not to let her drink the water since it is a laxative...

 

[chickens really]

Lessening protein does not fix leg issues...

Pekins are notorious, especially this year for some reason, about needing a bit extra Niacin than the usual for ducks... I would get some Vitamin B complex tablets to crush and dissolve into her water... and I would add shallow steps for her to get in and out of the pool, just to be safe... with larger breeds even a small hop down can cause sprains...

You can also give her warm epsom salt water soak, that helps with leg issues a lot... just try not to let her drink the water since it is a laxative...

You very well might be correct?....I ended up with a Pekn and this was advised to me from breeder...sorry...

 

[chickens really]

Is your Duck getting fat?...

 

[casportpony]

Haven't seen or heard of a female injuring herself just from presenting... Pekins are notorious for needing more extra Niacin than the usual extra Niacin all ducks need... what is and has been her feed?

Quite right, I've read that young ones need as much as 70 ppm, whereas other ducks only need 55 ppm.