One of our female ducks has been plucked raw by overzealous drakes. With chickens, I've never worried much about separating an injured hen for a bit while she heals but I've never had this issue with ducks. Our chicken hens don't seem to care if they're away from the flock but I know ducks are different and don't like to be alone. This poor girl looks like she could use at least a day or two away from the flock but I don't want to her to be lonesome and get more stressed because she's alone. She's pretty raw from the top of her head all the way down her neck. Letting her back in the yard to swim and everything doesn't seem like a great idea right now.
Anyway, the title is basically my question. Is she okay by herself inside for a day or two by herself or should I grab another female to come keep her company? Or maybe option b - let her rest alone tonight and maybe (depending on weather and how she looks) grab another female to visit with her in a separate yard tomorrow? She's not at all happy with us getting near her right now. I can't say that I blame her. I'm sure she's scared and in pain. I'm hoping that being in a clean bed (the bathtub with blankets so she doesn't slip around) overnight will give her time to get some energy back. She doesn't look as bad as our bantam chicken hen that got torn up by roosters last year. At least this girl has skin left!! She's a little bloody but it's more like a scrape...the chicken last year had raw muscle exposed on her back. Her skin and feathers all grew back and she looks amazing.
Also, to answer the other obvious suggestion, the drakes will be dealt with. We apparently have too many. I had hoped they would behave since they're at about a 2:1 female:male ratio. We've had them at a 1:1 ratio before and everyone got along great. I don't understand why these boys are so agressive. Makes me sad. I told my husband and brother that I understand some boys need to go "up the road", I just don't need to know anything about it. Don't want to know who's going, where they're going, nothing. I'm a sap about that stuff. I acknowledge that they're about as bad as any predator we've dealt with, but they used to be my cute little babies so...I don't want to know.
Anyway, the title is basically my question. Is she okay by herself inside for a day or two by herself or should I grab another female to come keep her company? Or maybe option b - let her rest alone tonight and maybe (depending on weather and how she looks) grab another female to visit with her in a separate yard tomorrow? She's not at all happy with us getting near her right now. I can't say that I blame her. I'm sure she's scared and in pain. I'm hoping that being in a clean bed (the bathtub with blankets so she doesn't slip around) overnight will give her time to get some energy back. She doesn't look as bad as our bantam chicken hen that got torn up by roosters last year. At least this girl has skin left!! She's a little bloody but it's more like a scrape...the chicken last year had raw muscle exposed on her back. Her skin and feathers all grew back and she looks amazing.
Also, to answer the other obvious suggestion, the drakes will be dealt with. We apparently have too many. I had hoped they would behave since they're at about a 2:1 female:male ratio. We've had them at a 1:1 ratio before and everyone got along great. I don't understand why these boys are so agressive. Makes me sad. I told my husband and brother that I understand some boys need to go "up the road", I just don't need to know anything about it. Don't want to know who's going, where they're going, nothing. I'm a sap about that stuff. I acknowledge that they're about as bad as any predator we've dealt with, but they used to be my cute little babies so...I don't want to know.