Well, some jerk decided to dump two ducklings at a river park with an 8:2 male to female ratio of grown ducks. After confirming I was allowed to take them, when I went back to retrieve the babies a day later, the smaller of the two (A buff duckling) was gone and Im assuming one of the drakes drowned it trying to mate with it, or a predator snatched it since I looked all over and it was nowhere to be found. This pekin duckling has missing feathers on its head from said drakes messing with it, and many of the grown female ducks are visibly mangled with tons of missing feathers.
I'm assuming it's maybe a month old and a half to two months old, but a more accurate guess would be awesome haha. It still only cheeps and makes no adult noises. I'm not sure of the age because if my other pekin is anything to look at, they shoot up in size much quicker than other ducks that I'm used to looking at. It has a lot of its feathers, but its tail area is still mostly down and as is its neck. Its wings are also still very small and is mostly consisting of pin feathers.
Sorry for the cruddy shots, the duck wasn't feeling like cooperating lol. But in the first picture you can see where its feathers were ripped off its head on the side.
I want to assume the two ducklings were the same age, as they had similar feather development, but the buff duckling that I wasn't able to find was about half the pekin's size.
Any tips for keeping a rescued duck? I don't intend on letting it associate with my other ducks until I'm sure that it doesn't have any noticeable issues/diseases. I'd really appreciate any advise I could get on how to treat this ducky.
It's also making a whistling noise when it breathes, and it has access to clean water to dunk its head and has been doing so, so I'm doubting that anything is lodged in its nares.
I'm assuming it's maybe a month old and a half to two months old, but a more accurate guess would be awesome haha. It still only cheeps and makes no adult noises. I'm not sure of the age because if my other pekin is anything to look at, they shoot up in size much quicker than other ducks that I'm used to looking at. It has a lot of its feathers, but its tail area is still mostly down and as is its neck. Its wings are also still very small and is mostly consisting of pin feathers.
Sorry for the cruddy shots, the duck wasn't feeling like cooperating lol. But in the first picture you can see where its feathers were ripped off its head on the side.
I want to assume the two ducklings were the same age, as they had similar feather development, but the buff duckling that I wasn't able to find was about half the pekin's size.
Any tips for keeping a rescued duck? I don't intend on letting it associate with my other ducks until I'm sure that it doesn't have any noticeable issues/diseases. I'd really appreciate any advise I could get on how to treat this ducky.
It's also making a whistling noise when it breathes, and it has access to clean water to dunk its head and has been doing so, so I'm doubting that anything is lodged in its nares.
