So, back at the beginning of April, we got 4 ducks. 2 Pekin, and 2 Mallard. I loved my little mallard ducks. They were so beautiful with their just turning green heads. But alas, I knew that if I kept 1 girl with 3 boys, that I would soon have a very big problem.
I am part of a local "barnyard animals" group on facebook, and several people told me about a local hatchery that might swap me some females for my males. The people that told me about them had all had good experiences with them, so I called. They were willing to trade my 2 males for females, but I also had to pay for them. (Which I thought was kinda odd.... but whatever)
So, we round up our 2 mallard boys, and put them in a crate for transport. We get there, and everything looks pretty good. There are lots of runs with chickens, and turkeys. he takes my 2 boys and puts them in a rabbit hutch. he grabs a large net and we walk towards the back of his property. We get to their duck enclosure. It's a large enclosure full of sticks and branches. There are probably about 20 ducks and 1 very small pool. All the ducks were pretty dirty. He corners a couple of them and picks up 2 of them by the wings and carries them to my car. My daughter hands him this cute little note that she wrote for Phineas and Ferb (our mallards) and he kinda chuckled and told her that he would read it to them.
So, I get them home, put them in a clean enclosure with a large pool, and I notice that the one isn't really walking all that well. She's really really dirty, looks like she's been attacked by one too many males because there are feathers missing from the back of her head and neck, and she does try to run when I get closer to her, but, I picked her right up. I look at her feet and there are lumps on them. I bring her inside to put her in the tub and let her clean herself up in some nice clean, cool water. I let her stay in there for 10 minutes or so. She did clean herself up some and swam around a little bit. I then wrapped her in a towel and had my daughter take pictures of her feet. (So please excuse the bit of blurriness.)
I've thought about maybe taking her back and getting a different duck, but, I just can't take her back there.
I'm actually thinking about asking if I could have my mallards back as well. What do I do?!?! I've felt the knobs and they don't feel like they're puss filled, but, since I don't have any experience with anything like this, I have NO IDEA what I should do!!
I am part of a local "barnyard animals" group on facebook, and several people told me about a local hatchery that might swap me some females for my males. The people that told me about them had all had good experiences with them, so I called. They were willing to trade my 2 males for females, but I also had to pay for them. (Which I thought was kinda odd.... but whatever)
So, we round up our 2 mallard boys, and put them in a crate for transport. We get there, and everything looks pretty good. There are lots of runs with chickens, and turkeys. he takes my 2 boys and puts them in a rabbit hutch. he grabs a large net and we walk towards the back of his property. We get to their duck enclosure. It's a large enclosure full of sticks and branches. There are probably about 20 ducks and 1 very small pool. All the ducks were pretty dirty. He corners a couple of them and picks up 2 of them by the wings and carries them to my car. My daughter hands him this cute little note that she wrote for Phineas and Ferb (our mallards) and he kinda chuckled and told her that he would read it to them.
So, I get them home, put them in a clean enclosure with a large pool, and I notice that the one isn't really walking all that well. She's really really dirty, looks like she's been attacked by one too many males because there are feathers missing from the back of her head and neck, and she does try to run when I get closer to her, but, I picked her right up. I look at her feet and there are lumps on them. I bring her inside to put her in the tub and let her clean herself up in some nice clean, cool water. I let her stay in there for 10 minutes or so. She did clean herself up some and swam around a little bit. I then wrapped her in a towel and had my daughter take pictures of her feet. (So please excuse the bit of blurriness.)
I've thought about maybe taking her back and getting a different duck, but, I just can't take her back there.
