My duck just died, Why?

[mikesno]

I had 2 Peking ducks, not sure of the sex and 4 rhode island red hens. all living together in a very large coop, a well ventilated 10'x12' converted garden shed, with a large fenced in run. I got the ducks at what im told was 2 weeks old and one died today at about 8 weeks old. ill call her a she because she had flipped up tail feathers so i assumed she was a girl but was not positive. anyway from about the 4th day i had her i noticed she was much less active than anyone else but she still grew and ate and moved around, just not as quickly. she always walked a bit more "squatty" then my other duck and last night my guess was that she weighed probably twice what my other duck weighed but they were close to the same size. she seemed very dense. and the small feathers around her eyes always seemed a bit more ragidy. twice when i got home from work she was missing a good chunk of feathers on 1 wing but i assumed this was from chickens in close quarters. from there original coop, a kitty pool. but both times the feathers grew back quickly. anyways sorry for the long letter, just trying to give a decent description, this is my first time raising birds. she just never seemed right from the get go, my whole flock has always been well fed, still on chick starter feed the ducks got lettuce every couple days and they were watered 2-3 times daily. the rest of the flock seems very healthy and happy. i left for work this morning, checked on them, all seemed fine got home today and she was stiff. now that shes buried and before the little lady gets home any education would be appreciated. Thanks everyone. Ive googled but was hard to guess from all the possible reasons

 

[ZetaPet]

I'm very sorry for your loss. I don't think it was anything you had done. If she was kind of sickly from the time you got her, there was probably something wrong with her from the get go. I would watch the other birds to make sure nothing was infectious.

 

[mikesno]

bullet points would be mainly
-very "heavy" compared to other duck
-ragid looking small feathers around her eyes
-always more slow moving and less active than my other duck
-like this from when i got her @ 2 weeks, she died @ 8 weeks
-but still ate and drank and swam plenty

 

[mikesno]

well thank you, will do.

 

[Miss Lydia]

bullet points would be mainly
-very "heavy" compared to other duck
-ragid looking small feathers around her eyes
-always more slow moving and less active than my other duck
-like this from when i got her @ 2 weeks, she died @ 8 weeks
-but still ate and drank and swam plenty

Could have been her heart and since she was heavier may have had fluid build up. just a guess but seems maybe from all you have described it could have been a heart defect.. Very sorry for your loss.

 

[mikesno]

Also any suggestions on how to ease my newly single ducks loneliness? or will the chickens be enough company for her? or will she get depressed and die too? should i try to get her another duck for a companion or is that an even worse idea introducing a new bird at this point? sorry folks im brand new at this, just trying to do whats best and have some answers for what will be a very sad little woman when she gets home.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Also any suggestions on how to ease my newly single ducks loneliness? or will the chickens be enough company for her? or will she get depressed and die too? should i try to get her another duck for a companion or is that an even worse idea introducing a new bird at this point? sorry folks im brand new at this, just trying to do whats best and have some answers for what will be a very sad little woman when she gets home.

She really does need on of her own kind for company, she will be very lonely, Hopefully she won't get depressed and die but I'd try hard to find her a friend and when you do introduce the new duck slowly to the existing flock over a period of days or week so they can get use to each other. Temp fencing works well with this,.There are probably alot of ducks in need of homes now that the newness of Easter has worn off. Please let us know how it goes. Also we have on BYC a buy sell trade thread and a rehoming thread and also you can go to "where am i where are you" and find your state and maybe find a duckling this way. Hope so.

 

[tdd2]

Very sorry to hear

We lost one of our 8 week old Pekins last week, very similar description, minus the larger weight.

He seemed to be a bit off when we got him as a 5 day old chick - leg issues, and always panting (regardless of the temperature).

Over the last month, Chunk seemed to be improving - though still less active than our other two (another Pekin and a KC), still panting often and his feathers always a bit out of sorts.

I had been out in the yard with them for a few hours on the morning it happened (I spend several hours everyday out supervising their foraging). I put the three back in their predator secure pen and went inside for an hour or so. When I went back outside to check in on them before heading off to work, Chunk was laying still on the floor, he had passed.

Our ducks are our pets, and are extremely well cared for, they are fed waterfowl specific feed, get several hours of daily supervised foraging time in our yard and such...we just chalked it up to it being 'his time'.

Our other two are healthy and well, but you can tell they are missing their 3rd... and we were heartbroken - I've become quite attached to the little quackers.


Dan

 

[Miss Lydia]

Very sorry to hear

We lost one of our 8 week old Pekins last week, very similar description, minus the larger weight.

He seemed to be a bit off when we got him as a 5 day old chick - leg issues, and always panting (regardless of the temperature).

Over the last month, Chunk seemed to be improving - though still less active than our other two (another Pekin and a KC), still panting often and his feathers always a bit out of sorts.

I had been out in the yard with them for a few hours on the morning it happened (I spend several hours everyday out supervising their foraging). I put the three back in their predator secure pen and went inside for an hour or so. When I went back outside to check in on them before heading off to work, Chunk was laying still on the floor, he had passed.

Our ducks are our pets, and are extremely well cared for, they are fed waterfowl specific feed, get several hours of daily supervised foraging time in our yard and such...we just chalked it up to it being 'his time'.

Our other two are healthy and well, but you can tell they are missing their 3rd... and we were heartbroken - I've become quite attached to the little quackers.


Dan

Very sorry about Chuck.

 

[ZetaPet]

I would try to get another duck, they dont do well on their own.