help my pekin is grieving

[wemissquackers]

Last night one of my two pekins was killed. When we got up this morning the other one was just so sad, he wont eat and he just lays there. Should I replace her right away or will he be ok after a few days. Never had a pekin before so any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Amiga]

So sad to read of your loss. Thanks for joining the forum.

I don't think ducks get over losing a friend though they can come through to the other side of grief (I have seen it in our flock), and other duck company is very important to them.

If you can spend extra time with the lone duck, that would help, and yes I would start right away looking for company. It takes time to introduce them, but most ducks get along pretty well.

There is a rehoming forum on BYC, that might be a place to look.

If it was a predator attack, I hope you have been able to see how the predator got access and have fixed that so the remaining duck is safe. Whatever the reason, I hope it's been taken care of.

 

[myfinefeatheredfriends]

If it is your only duck then yes I would get it a buddy as quickly as possible. Mind you it may not bond as closely to another duck as the first but it is better than being lonely. With ducks it doesn't even have to be the same breed as long as it is opposite sex. My 6 year old Call duck lost her East Indies buddy about 2 years ago. She was miserable for a while until we got her a couple Mallards, then she came around. So sorry about your loss!

 

[Amiga]

If it is your only duck then yes I would get it a buddy as quickly as possible. Mind you it may not bond as closely to another duck as the first but it is better than being lonely. With ducks it doesn't even have to be the same breed as long as it is opposite sex. My 6 year old Call duck lost her East Indies buddy about 2 years ago. She was miserable for a while until we got her a couple Mallards, then she came around. So sorry about your loss!

That's an interesting observation, myfinefeatheredfriends, about breed and sex. When Romy lost Shelly (buffs), we found a trio of buffs, a drake and two girls. It has taken a while, but Romy is hot for Bean the drake, and has made friends with Carmellita, one of the buff girls. She also gets along fine with Hazel.

I have a flock of runners, and Romy and Shelly were part of that flock, but when Shelly died, the runners started excluding Romy. That's one reason I chose more buffs. And indeed, we have a subflock of buffs now, though they all get along reasonably well.