New duck update

[Zolamarie]

Hi guys... sorry I have been quiet since my last post. If y’all saw my last post, then you know about my new duck, Jack.

I never took him to the vet(which I feel terrible about) because the vet was on vacation, and then my vet switched work days to day that I’m always super busy. I had an appointment for today, but a family emergency came up so I had to cancel.

I’m pretty sure jack has wet feather, so I haven let him swim because he just won’t dry out! Other than that, he seems fine. He’s eating, drinking, and his eyes look clear and bright. It’s been a month since I got him, and he has been separated from Peggy. I can’t keep them apart forever, so I let him into the fenced in yard today. Peggy was extremely happy, and jack just kinda wandered around for a bit while Peggy bounced all around him. Then they promptly started eating the grass that just started to come up at the end of the yard.

I feel like I should’ve gotten him checked out before sticking him with Peggy, but if he had snythig dreadful, id know by now, right?

Well, he is still skittish, but he is basically a wild duck. He doesn’t hide when I come out anymore. He actually stands up straight and quacks till I put his food down. He usually stays a few feet away from me, but today he and Peggy were together. Peggy always runs up and eats out of the bowl for a second before I put it down. After hesitating for a second, Jack came up and to a couple mouthfuls also! I feel like that is a huge step forward.

I am a bit troubled about having one male and one female duck... I can’t get any more ducks right now.. but I don’t want to get rid of Peggy and jack obviously because I have put so much time and money into caring for them.( and they're my pets) jack is the male and he is half the size of Peggy so It might be easier for her to defend herself against jack than it was with with Gus. But they have already started showing mating behavior... or maybe it’s just them settling who is boss? I don’t know.

 

[thumper650]

I'm glad Jack is a warming up. I bet he'll get more friendly with time. How does he look, he was pretty rough in your other thread if I remember correctly.

 

[DuckyLovin2]

Hey there
Just curious why are you troubled about having a girl and a boy ?
Is it just because of the mating ?
I'm asking because I have a pair and they love each other
But I'm so nervous about them mating
He is so much bigger that she is
But from what I have read they know what they are doing and if you can provide water for them to mate in it's easier on her .....

Hi guys... sorry I have been quiet since my last post. If y’all saw my last post, then you know about my new duck, Jack.

I never took him to the vet(which I feel terrible about) because the vet was on vacation, and then my vet switched work days to day that I’m always super busy. I had an appointment for today, but a family emergency came up so I had to cancel.

I’m pretty sure jack has wet feather, so I haven let him swim because he just won’t dry out! Other than that, he seems fine. He’s eating, drinking, and his eyes look clear and bright. It’s been a month since I got him, and he has been separated from Peggy. I can’t keep them apart forever, so I let him into the fenced in yard today. Peggy was extremely happy, and jack just kinda wandered around for a bit while Peggy bounced all around him. Then they promptly started eating the grass that just started to come up at the end of the yard.

I feel like I should’ve gotten him checked out before sticking him with Peggy, but if he had snythig dreadful, id know by now, right?

Well, he is still skittish, but he is basically a wild duck. He doesn’t hide when I come out anymore. He actually stands up straight and quacks till I put his food down. He usually stays a few feet away from me, but today he and Peggy were together. Peggy always runs up and eats out of the bowl for a second before I put it down. After hesitating for a second, Jack came up and to a couple mouthfuls also! I feel like that is a huge step forward.

I am a bit troubled about having one male and one female duck... I can’t get any more ducks right now.. but I don’t want to get rid of Peggy and jack obviously because I have put so much time and money into caring for them.( and they're my pets) jack is the male and he is half the size of Peggy so It might be easier for her to defend herself against jack than it was with with Gus. But they have already started showing mating behavior... or maybe it’s just them settling who is boss? I don’t know.

 

[Zolamarie]

Hey there
Just curious why are you troubled about having a girl and a boy ?
Is it just because of the mating ?
I'm asking because I have a pair and they love each other
But I'm so nervous about them mating
He is so much bigger that she is
But from what I have read they know what they are doing and if you can provide water for them to mate in it's easier on her .....

Yeah it’s because of mating. The duck I lost was a male and I had them separated before the fox got him because they were tearing each others neck feathers out. They both had bald patches, but Peggy’s neck was bloody and raw.
I have a pool for them, but I don’t want to leave it in their yard full time because I had trouble with mud.

 

[Zolamarie]

I'm glad Jack is a warming up. I bet he'll get more friendly with time. How does he look, he was pretty rough in your other thread if I remember correctly.

He still looks pretty scraggly, but I think he got some new feathers in around his neck. I think he has wet feather and that’s why his feathers looked so nasty. I haven’t let him in the pool since I got him( I had to hold him in there to get the mid off) and he has been careful about not slashing water on himself when he drinks. Yesterday he did start splashing and preening a bit though, so I think his new feathers might be coming in.
I will post a pic of him

 

[Zolamarie]

Well I can’t post a photo of him right now, right now im out, but I will post as soon as possible. I don’t have any new pics of home because he is scared of my camera.

 

[Zolamarie]

He is still scraggly, but I’m sure that’s because of the Wet Feather ( I’d love to hear from anyone who has dealt with that) he is also kinda dirty, but he took a bath today and he still looks like he’s covered in dirt!

Peggy was trying to steal all the glory( she’s in front)

And she just stood there demanding that I give her treats while jack looked on not sure what was happening.

I had just gotten a tiny bit of grass to grow because Peggy did nothing but stare at jack for a month, but today they promptly ate every scrap of grass.

Also, I was giving them dandelion greens and jack tried to grab one from my hand! He was too late, poor thing, because Peggy had already darted in and grabbed it.

I think he looks a little better than he did when I first got him but not as much as I hoped he would by now.

 

[thumper650]

Thanks for sharing those pics. He's making progress!