My Love Affair With Ducks...

[WannaBeHillBilly]

I only wish it had helped her. She passed away the Saturday after i received her in the mail.

Don't be hard on yourself! You did what you could and sometimes the little ones are just too weak to survive.

 

[Mother-Hen-Michele]

don't discourage the kisses, they will not hurt as they get bigger, they are trying to clean you, as they clean everyone they love. I raised ducks with chicks and the ducks would clean the chick's bums ! just like a mommy cat washes the butts of their kittens (no worries, the chicks got used to it).

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

She has been better today, but I really think at this point it's her molting. She's been beachy in the past during a molt (which is normal as far as I know) but this time it was just SO much worse. she wanted nothing to do with me. She's been treated for bumblefoot, but that hadn't bothered her so I really think it WAS just her molt. She just turns from this wonderful, beautiful creature to that of a demonic entity that wants nothing but blood from her enemies. She's been through a lot since she had to live with my friends for a while and I think she might just still be adapting to be back (because she was the only duck and my chickens attacked her I had to get her safe while we waiting for a chance to raise her some duck sisters which has since happened).

Thank you ALL for your support and kindness. My wife and I appreciate very much. it's really awesome to meet others that have the same love and affections as we do for our feathered children

Her sisters, Anka and Jessica. Sorry. I'm a proud dad who has NO shame showing off his children!!!

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What breed of duck was the father of Anka and Jessica?

 

[Enten4life]

My love for my Norbie is literally unexplainable. I can't put into words the emotional connection I have to her. Perhaps it's due to her being the only egg that was viable. And I knew the moment she peeped for the first time from a small hole she had made in her egg. . . early on November 11, 2018. Hours later, my heart lept to see a wet, tiny ball of feathers with no idea what she had gotten her self into. At that moment I knew that she would need to be with us as much as we possibly could. And I feel like this about ALL of my babies. I've had a Conure for 16 years, and a Ball Python that is 21 years old and is our oldest living pet we've had the longest. Hell, I had a 14 year old fish that died recently and I was so heart broken. And of course... Dogs. Dogs are amazing as well. And we also adopt rats. They're all our babies to say the least.

 

[Enten4life]

Anka is a Blue Swedish, and Jessica is a Blue Runner (the full "blue" is Jessica).

What breed of duck was the father of Anka and Jessica?

 

[Enten4life]

I only wish it had helped her. She passed away the Saturday after i received her in the mail.

You DID help her. You tried. That's all you could have done. But I'm still so very very sorry you had to lose her. It's a hard thing to witness.

 

[Mimi13]

My love for my Norbie is literally unexplainable. I can't put into words the emotional connection I have to her. Perhaps it's due to her being the only egg that was viable. And I knew the moment she peeped for the first time from a small hole she had made in her egg. . . early on November 11, 2018. Hours later, my heart lept to see a wet, tiny ball of feathers with no idea what she had gotten her self into. At that moment I knew that she would need to be with us as much as we possibly could. And I feel like this about ALL of my babies. I've had a Conure for 16 years, and a Ball Python that is 21 years old and is our oldest living pet we've had the longest. Hell, I had a 14 year old fish that died recently and I was so heart broken. And of course... Dogs. Dogs are amazing as well. And we also adopt rats. They're all our babies to say the least.
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I LOVE the pic of your dog laying with the two ducklings. The rat ones...uh, not so much!

 

[Mimi13]

She has been better today, but I really think at this point it's her molting. She's been beachy in the past during a molt (which is normal as far as I know) but this time it was just SO much worse. she wanted nothing to do with me. She's been treated for bumblefoot, but that hadn't bothered her so I really think it WAS just her molt. She just turns from this wonderful, beautiful creature to that of a demonic entity that wants nothing but blood from her enemies. She's been through a lot since she had to live with my friends for a while and I think she might just still be adapting to be back (because she was the only duck and my chickens attacked her I had to get her safe while we waiting for a chance to raise her some duck sisters which has since happened).

Thank you ALL for your support and kindness. My wife and I appreciate very much. it's really awesome to meet others that have the same love and affections as we do for our feathered children

Her sisters, Anka and Jessica. Sorry. I'm a proud dad who has NO shame showing off his children!!!

View attachment 2438867

These two are gorgeous.

 

[Mimi13]

I have a question for all you experienced Duck parents.

Hershey, my Chocolate Runner, is in full molt, I suppose. She has hardly any wing feathers in. They are all pin feathers, which is good. At least they’re growing back in. But is it normal for a 9 month old duck to molt? My other four babies all look fine, no missing feathers. I didn’t get a picture of her today when I was refilling their pools because my phone was inside charging. She was preening after bathing and her poor little wings were just long pin cushions. When she would stretch and flap her wings there was no sound coming from them at all. Another thing I noticed was it seemed as though she was shivering after getting out of the water. Should I suspend water time while she is molting in this chilly weather? Oh, and she has not laid an egg since November 2nd. The other three crank the huge things out every day.

I’m just curious!

 

[Enten4life]

I only have experience raising about 4 clutches of babies, but every single one of them molts at least twice a year. My parrot about three times a year. And My dear sweet Norbie (duck) loses all her wing feathers every time she molts where my chickens don't.

As for shivering, I'm not sure because I live where the lows always stay in the 35+ range at worst.