Well, I recently bought 6 ducklings. As of Monday they are a week old. Two of my ducklings are having issues. The first is my Cayuga, and her issue is slightly more pressing. When she stands still, she seems to put one leg out to the side a bit more, and then lean on her closer leg. I've only had three other ducks, but none of them did this. I couldn't fInd anything like it anywhere else either. When I have her walk, she pulls it back underneath her and walks properly, and she's the fastest when she's running. So far, it doesn't seem to be causing a problem, but I'm just concerned it may be symptoms of something bigger. They are eating Metzer farms waterfowl starter. The second issue is my Indian runner. This isn't a problem with her physically, I don't think, but she doesn't stop peeping unless I come and stay with her. She's very loud, and for a while I was concerned she was sick or something, but she hasn't been exposed to the outdoors or other birds, and she isn't showing any symptoms other than being loud. She just peeps until I show up, then she'll stare at me. If I turn around and walk away, she starts peeping again. If I stare at her too long without doing anything, she'll peep at me. The only way to make her consistently stop is if I pick her up and let her sit with me somewhere. Every time she peeps I go through and check all of the equipment and make sure they have food, but that's never what she wants. Other people have tried holding her too, but she is only satisfied if it's me. If i sit somewhere and a friend holds her, she'll find ways to climb away from them and come running towards me. I've read about imprinted ducks before, and if that's what she is, then what else can I do for her? I have six ducks her age, and they seem to get along fine, but she seems to enjoy being with me more than them. I'd like to be able to sleep, but I hate hearing her cry. It makes me feel horrible. Thanks for any advice you can give!
Trust me on this............Do not go to her every time she cries...She is being conditioned to cry and you come running.....lol....Silly little Duck.....She needs tough love to learn not to cry.... Best of luck! Cheers!
The first duckling may have a slight splay. You can make a hobble for it using scotch tape: https://sites.google.com/a/poultrypedia.com/poultrypedia/poultry-podiatry
Well good news! For the Cayuga, she seems to have slipped and hurt her leg, and because of this, she hadn't used it properly, and the muscles hadn't been building up. After 2 days of excercising, there is massive improvement. I hadn't seen a post with this particular cure before, but she went to a vet, and he recommended we just let her excercise, and it worked!! As for Pippi, I've still been spending time with her, but on my terms, not hers, and she seems to be slightly less attached to me. She still tries to peep at me, but I don't reward her for it anymore. She seems to be getting the message. It makes me both happy and sad. I'm happy that she's not so dependent on me, and that she's letting me sleep, but there is something really sweet about having a duck who loves you more than anything. That's why I can't bring myself to not give her loads of love. Thank you for the help with these two!
