Lost Flipper to Unknown Predator

[Duckworth]

I got some more kitten food and some dried mealworms to try to tempt Nipper into eating. I think part of the issue may be that her sense of smell is affected by her bill injury and animals rely heavily on their sense of smell to tell them what to eat. I am hoping that the kitten food will be more aromatic than the duck feed and will stimulate her appetite. I think she may have eaten at least a little from the food dish in the bathtub, but she shares it with FG, so it’s a little hard to tell. I did see her grab a morsel from the dish, then follow that with a lot of head dunking in her water bucket.

Nipper has probably gotten close to 10cc of liquified food today. I added some kitten food and mealworms to the liquified food and blended it into a thin gruel-like liquid. She definitely does not like being syringe fed.

Flipper and Feisty Girl are looking pretty good. Flipper looks fully recovered. FG’s left eye is still partially closed, but it may still recover.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Great update. These little ones wouldn’t have had a chance with out all you’ve done. Hopefully soon Nipper will be eating on her own. Maybe consider letting the vet do one tube feeding just to get some nourishment into her sometimes that will stimulate them into eating again? Just a thought. Although if her bill injury is bad that may be too painful. I am sure the vet would know.

 

[Duckworth]

Nipper has started eating!

I cleaned out the bathtub this afternoon and put the ducks into crates while I got the tub sparkling again (no cleaning products used, just a brush). I scrubbed off the rubber bath mat and put it back in the tub, then filled it with tepid water and put Flipper in. She flapped and bathed and scooted around in the water for a few minutes before I added Feisty Girl. The two of them carried on their baths for another few minutes. Then I added Nipper and took Flipper out, since it looked like Flipper was starting to pick at Nipper again.

Nipper and FG flapped and preened and had a great time. I don’t think Nipper sees very well and FG kept presenting herself to her. Nipper eventually mounted FG and grabbed her by the back of the neck. I let them go for a few seconds, but FG still has stitches in the top of her head and I didn’t want them to stress those, so I lifted Nipper off and they resumed bathing. Lots of rubbing their oil glands and distributing it onto feathers. Lots of head and face rubbing, which I hope will help Nipper loosen up the rest of the dried blood and help her eyes recover. I think a lot of the trouble with her eyes is a function of her eyelids being impaired by the stiffness of the healing facial skin around them.

When I drained the water out and put down new newspapers and added food and water containers, Nipper suddenly started gobbling down the food. I added mealworms and peas and she ate them, too. I have Flipper in a crate in the bathtub with the other two so that she can’t go after Nipper. A look, don’t touch setup.

 

[DuckyDonna]

You are an awesome duck momma!

 

[Miss Lydia]

That’s awesome,so happy for you!!!

 

[Duckworth]

All of the ducks continue to recover. The duck pen has thawed out enough for us to get in there and clean out all of the straw/compost in the house and some of it from the pen. Much of the pen straw is still frozen, but we get more out each day and spread it out around our backyard. We had an old, unused concrete driveway removed and an old, brick, underground cistern filled in with a bobcat last fall, so our topsoil was pretty compacted and scraped. I’m hoping that the straw will serve the dual purpose of covering the mud and adding organic material to the soil. I will plant grass when the weather gets warmer.

We added more HWC to the roof of the pen, but now, having done that, my husband has decided that we should put a wood roof with shingles on top of the pen instead. That probably means I will be getting up on the roof of the pen, since I am the smallest and lightest among us. I think we will roof the straw storage area On the back of the pen and next to the duck house. My husband wants everything to look nicer and be more secure. I love that idea. Pretty soon, we will have a $1,000 duck enclosure with some very expensive (think vet bills) and well-loved ducks.

Tomorrow, I plan to take the ducks out to their fortified pen and give them some outdoor time before bringing them back indoors to the bathtub for the night. My son is going to help me put wire over the gap between the top of the back wall and the roof HWC that was covered by the tarp before. That will be the last possible place that any critter could get in. I will also sand the trim on the door so that it can close completely despite the wood being a bit swollen by dampness.

When you build a pen/house in the summer and fall, it is hard to anticipate all the effects that a long, unusually snowy and icy winter will have on your design. Last winter, we didn’t have the same issues we have had this year.

I hope our girls will soon be back in their home. We will think about whether to add to our flock to replace our lost Duchess after that.

 

[Duckworth]

Picture time! I moved the ducks back outside into their pen for some late afternoon enjoyment. They are still out there with the dogs guarding the pen. As soon as the sun starts to go down, I will shut them in their house, which had always been very secure. It is currently about ten degrees cooler outside than it was inside, though it will get to about freezing overnight outside. I turned off their space heater in the bathroom this morning to let the temperature fall slowly all day. Daytime temperatures were in the 20’s and 30’s when the ducks were last outside and had been as low as -8F this winter. The duck house is unheated.

One duck layed the first egg of the spring this morning, but it’s been only a week since the antibiotics were stopped, so I had to trash it.

First up is Flipper with the darker top of her head.

Then Feisty Girl in the left, who had a 1-1/2” gash running lengthwise on the top of her head. It’s invisible, now, hidden by her feathers. Her left eye is still a little narrowed.

Then, Nipper, whose left eye is still a little narrowed.

I’m so glad they have come this far!

 

[Magnolia Ducks]

They look very much better. Poor Nipper, can be see out of that eye?

 

[Miss Lydia]

It’s amazing actually after what you found that night. They look great! If you have deep bedding in their house they should be fine sleeping out tonight.

 

[DuckyDonna]

They are such pretty ducks despite their injuries. I am so glad that they all made it!