Houswarming Party!!

[Miss Ducky]

I was on vacation all last week, and my aunt was taking care of my ducks at her farm while I was gone. I picked up my ducks from her last night, and when I went to check on them this afternoon, they had a friend over!! I think the duck with them was a young female mallard, but I'm not sure. It is brown, and slightly smaller than my khaki campbells. I don't know what I'll do when I put my ducks to bed tonight if that duck is still there! I'll feel so bad about leaving it out all alone, knowing how social ducks are. Perhaps I'll put it to bed with mine

 

[desertdarlene]

Quote:

But, if you do, make sure you check for mites and lice if it's a wild duck.

 

[Sir Birdaholic]

DUCKS LOVE

SLEEPOVERS!

 

[Miss Ducky]

Haha!! I just put them to bed, and while the visiting duck didn't go to bed with them, she did follow them all the way to the beach before bolting! (We still herd them to bed) She was with them all day. Mom said that there were 2 ducks on the pond when she let them out mine this morning. I wonder what happened to the other. For future reference, how to I check for mites and lice? I'll see if she continues to hang out with them and keep you posted! If she starts going to bed with them, I'll probably go ahead and unofficially adopt her, (I can't just leave her alone with no flock!) though I'll be looser about getting her in the duck house at night, and for sure won't get her a diaper like I'm going to with mine! I'll probably not try to tame her down to much, in hope that she'll join some wild mallards. Just curious, does anyone have info on domesticated ducks befriending wild ducks? Thanks!

 

[desertdarlene]

The parasites are really tiny and hard to see unless there's a lot of them. I'm not an expert at this, but I think you can see some kind of specks in the down under their feathers. I know that one time, I felt one crawling on me after petting a goose that's outdoors all the time. Also, it could show up in the bedding. There are things you can do to get rid of them, but other people have a lot more information and experience with this and could help you with that.