I have been a "lurker" on these boards for weeks, and was compelled to join to thank you all for the help in nursing my lame duck back to health that you didn't know you were giving. See, when one of my Pekin ducks, Rue, went from a little lame to extreme limp that was obviously very painful, I searched the web for help. And BYC had much to offer!
I was raised a small family farm - cows, geese, chickens - but that was, ahem, a long time ago. I'm retired now and have 2 hilarious grandkids that I knew would love ducks, so I got 5 Pekins in April. Sadly, even after reading a lot and spending a few hours making a secure pen (or so I thought), at about 3 weeks old, one became predator food. But, I'm happy to say that the remaining 4 are thriving. And I love just sitting and watching them in the back yard.
Poor Rue started off with the sligtest of limps and I really thought was so minor it would go away in short order. After just 2 days she couldn't make it up the hill from the pen to the yard. A couple days after that she had to push herself up with her bill and cried out doing so. I read MANY thread here on BYC and in the end, it was quite simple - isolated her in another pen, gave her infant ibuprofen, got her a kiddie pool for "swim therapy" away from the others, and for 3 days I even iced her leg. And then, just like so many of the thread posts said would happen, in 3 weeks the limp was all but gone. She was so happy to join the rest of her crew. She has a slightly more pronounced waddle that the others, and when I hand feed them, Rue keeps her distance - she obviously remembers me scooping her up and wants to avoid that! Funny thing about these ducks - they hate being picked up but seem to love being held.
I look forward to reading about all the adventures of fellow chicken and duck families. And hope that in the future I'm able to help like so many of you helped me!
The first picture is Rue "graduating" from the kiddy pool to the river about 4 days before I decided she was mended enough to join the other 3. (For anyone gasping right now, yes they go in the river, and are sufficiently imprinted that they never leave our stretch of waterfront.) The full picture is the same day, all 4. Rue is the "diver."
I was raised a small family farm - cows, geese, chickens - but that was, ahem, a long time ago. I'm retired now and have 2 hilarious grandkids that I knew would love ducks, so I got 5 Pekins in April. Sadly, even after reading a lot and spending a few hours making a secure pen (or so I thought), at about 3 weeks old, one became predator food. But, I'm happy to say that the remaining 4 are thriving. And I love just sitting and watching them in the back yard.
Poor Rue started off with the sligtest of limps and I really thought was so minor it would go away in short order. After just 2 days she couldn't make it up the hill from the pen to the yard. A couple days after that she had to push herself up with her bill and cried out doing so. I read MANY thread here on BYC and in the end, it was quite simple - isolated her in another pen, gave her infant ibuprofen, got her a kiddie pool for "swim therapy" away from the others, and for 3 days I even iced her leg. And then, just like so many of the thread posts said would happen, in 3 weeks the limp was all but gone. She was so happy to join the rest of her crew. She has a slightly more pronounced waddle that the others, and when I hand feed them, Rue keeps her distance - she obviously remembers me scooping her up and wants to avoid that! Funny thing about these ducks - they hate being picked up but seem to love being held.
I look forward to reading about all the adventures of fellow chicken and duck families. And hope that in the future I'm able to help like so many of you helped me!
The first picture is Rue "graduating" from the kiddy pool to the river about 4 days before I decided she was mended enough to join the other 3. (For anyone gasping right now, yes they go in the river, and are sufficiently imprinted that they never leave our stretch of waterfront.) The full picture is the same day, all 4. Rue is the "diver."
Glad you joined.
