Lonely Pekin?

[wantbroodychix]

She's doing this odd head bob thing today, is that normal behavior? I've never seen her do it before now. At least not with me

 

[Miss Lydia]

Head bobbing is normal for females, it's kinda like flirting.

I hope you have secured what ever breach this predator took to get your drake so your female will be safe and feel safe.

Have you decided about getting another duck for her? shouldn't be too hard to find a drake or maybe even a female and if you have a water fowl rescue they would most likely have water fowl for adoption.

 

[wantbroodychix]

I haven't been able to find any ducks in my area yet :-( I thought it wouldn't be too hard but it is proving to be more difficult than I had expected. I thought about bringing her in the house but am not too sure how hard it will be to get her used to living inside. There was no breach in our security, they were roaming the yard that night as we hadn't seen any evidence of predators in the area before. She was locked in the coop with the chickens last night to keep her safe as I was worried that her cries would call the predator back

 

[Miss Lydia]

I haven't been able to find any ducks in my area yet :-( I thought it wouldn't be too hard but it is proving to be more difficult than I had expected. I thought about bringing her in the house but am not too sure how hard it will be to get her used to living inside. There was no breach in our security, they were roaming the yard that night as we hadn't seen any evidence of predators in the area before. She was locked in the coop with the chickens last night to keep her safe as I was worried that her cries would call the predator back

They'll come back anyway since your drake was an easy meal, don't ever let your guard down that just because you don't see any preds they aren't there, they dif are. As you found out sadly. Have you asked at your feed store if anyone in the area has ducks. Please keep her in the coop and if you do find another duck either keep both with the chickens or build another coop so your ducks will have all the protection the chickens have.

 

[wantbroodychix]

Daphne has been locked in the coop the last two nights with the chickens to keep her safe too. She has warmed up to me a lot these last two days, it's bittersweet. I wanted her to be more lovey but not at this cost

she is still eating, drinking, swimming and grooming herself so I am hopeful that she will be ok. Do you mind me asking how long Romy and Michelle were together before Michelle passed on? And How long did Romy grieve?

 

[Amiga]

Romy and Shelly were raised together - as far as I know, they were together Michele's entire life, about 2, 2 and a half years.

Romy grieved intensely for a few weeks. It took months for her to get her pep back noticeably.

Now, almost three years after losing Shelly, Romy is mostly back to her old self. But sometimes she stares at the other Buffs in a funny sort of way, and it's almost like she's missing Michele.

 

[wantbroodychix]

That's terribly sad

I'm glad she's mostly bad to normal again. I am very hopeful that Daphne won't be too bad, as I said she's still doing all the normal stuff with the exception of calling out for someone to come keep her company all the time now

 

[wantbroodychix]

We found an appleyard male that is within two weeks of her age! We are driving the 3+ hour round trip to get him as I type this I just hope they get along

 

[Miss Lydia]

We found an appleyard male that is within two weeks of her age! We are driving the 3+ hour round trip to get him as I type this I just hope they get along

Awesome news.. If I was you I'd give him and her their own separate living quarters mainly because housing a drake with hens is not a good idea, some drakes will want to mate with chickens and they are not anatomically made to do that. which means the hens will suffer and most likely will die. Might not be a problem free ranging but locking them all up together is where the problems come. If there are plenty of ducks for the drake there may not be a problem but having just one female to a drake he may look at the chickens as potential mates. What ever you decide please don't leave them outside un protected.

 

[wantbroodychix]

They will be locked in the pen that I have that is connected to the coop with a pop door. It also has a duck house that my hubby built so they have shelter suited to their needs they will be locked up at night.