Pekin Duck Club!

[samuelsonfarm]

OK Pekin lovers- I have a duckling question for you. I am a new duck owner, so everything is a learning process! I have 2 Pekin ducklings that are 11 days old (AND HUUUUGE!). They seem happy and healthy along with their 11 other brothers and sisters of all different breeds. I noticed this morning while toweling off one of the Pekins (his/her name is Pepper) that there is a soft squishy greenish bulge on the beak/bill right around the nostril. It almost looks like a bruise, but it's raised a little bit and very soft. Could she have injured it somehow? The ducks are currently brooding in a large rabbit hutch in our laundry room with heat lamp at one side (which they rarely use at this point) with water in a milk jug homemade waterer and DuMor chick/duck starter-grower crumbles in another milk jug homemade feeder. They also get fruit/veg pulp from our juicer once a day as a treat. I have never noticed any hostility going on at all, they are all pretty nice to each other. I hope someone can shed some light on this, I'm worried about our sweetie pie! Here's a picture of it:

 

[The Howards]

OK Pekin lovers- I have a duckling question for you. I am a new duck owner, so everything is a learning process! I have 2 Pekin ducklings that are 11 days old (AND HUUUUGE!). They seem happy and healthy along with their 11 other brothers and sisters of all different breeds. I noticed this morning while toweling off one of the Pekins (his/her name is Pepper) that there is a soft squishy greenish bulge on the beak/bill right around the nostril. It almost looks like a bruise, but it's raised a little bit and very soft. Could she have injured it somehow? The ducks are currently brooding in a large rabbit hutch in our laundry room with heat lamp at one side (which they rarely use at this point) with water in a milk jug homemade waterer and DuMor chick/duck starter-grower crumbles in another milk jug homemade feeder. They also get fruit/veg pulp from our juicer once a day as a treat. I have never noticed any hostility going on at all, they are all pretty nice to each other. I hope someone can shed some light on this, I'm worried about our sweetie pie! Here's a picture of it:

#1 Adorable!!
#2 Soft spot.... I am not sure about a soft spot on the bill. I suppose it could be a bruise as a blood spot under the yellowish bill would appear green. I wish I could give you some sound advice. The only thing I can suggest is to fortify her water with electrolytes and their food with niacin. What kind of fruit and veggies are you giving them? There are some that are harmful to ducks and could potentially cause issues.
Here is a list put together from info off BYC and duck books/web pages...

Good treats...
Romaine Lettuce (other dark lettuces, not iceberg) Iceburg will not harm them but because it is a light colored green there is no nutritional benefit to it
Tomatoes
Worms
Nigh Crawlers
Cucumber
Cracked Corn
Eggplant
Peas
Bell peppers
Carrots
Eggs (scrambled or hardboiled chopped with shells on)
Beans (overcooked)
Feeder goldfish/minows/guppies
Plain yogurt
Mealworms
Broccoli
Cabbage
Brussel sprouts
Cauliflower
Beets



Special Treats:
Floating Koi Food (they love this stuff in their bath or pond, good protein)
Cottage cheese
applesauce
Bananas (no peel)
Marigolds, pansies, clover (from a florist or homegrown, no pesticides!)
Pears
Peaches
Cherries
Grapes
Melons (cantaloupe, watermelon)
Squash
Pumpkin
Pomegranate
Turnips (cooked)
Raisins
Zucchini
Oatmeal (cooked)
Strawberries
rice (cooked, small amount)


These Treats are No-Nos!!!!
Bread
Crackers
Spinach
Onions
Potatoes
Avocados
Seeds of any kind
Chocolate
Sugar
Junk food of any kind
Nuts
Citrus (lemons, grapefruit, oranges, limes)
Popcorn

 

[samuelsonfarm]

Thanks for the response. Our juicer pulp is mainly cucumber, kale, apple and carrot, all shredded up into baby-food consistency. They love it, and it's free to me! I would otherwise toss it in the compost pile anyways. I'll just let them compost it for me and toss their poopies in there instead! LOL. Do I need to add niacin when I'm, using DuMor duck/chick starter? There is a niacin supplement in the ingredients, and the bag says "No other vitamin or mineral suppliements are needed" so I didn't want to overdo the niacin. I did buy some caplets, but they say "flush free" what does that mean?
Anyone have any input on squishy spot on bill? Thanks! We <3 our duckies so much already....I'm so excited to have them part of the family.

 

[ducklover87]

[COLOR=800080]OK Pekin lovers- I have a duckling question for you. I am a new duck owner, so everything is a learning process! I have 2 Pekin ducklings that are 11 days old (AND HUUUUGE!). They seem happy and healthy along with their 11 other brothers and sisters of all different breeds. I noticed this morning while toweling off one of the Pekins (his/her name is Pepper) that there is a soft squishy greenish bulge on the beak/bill right around the nostril. It almost looks like a bruise, but it's raised a little bit and very soft. Could she have injured it somehow? The ducks are currently brooding in a large rabbit hutch in our laundry room with heat lamp at one side (which they rarely use at this point) with water in a milk jug homemade waterer and DuMor chick/duck starter-grower crumbles in another milk jug homemade feeder. They also get fruit/veg pulp from our juicer once a day as a treat. I have never noticed any hostility going on at all, they are all pretty nice to each other. I hope someone can shed some light on this, I'm worried about our sweetie pie! Here's a picture of it:[/COLOR]

What a cutie. There was thread about this a little bit ago. Let me see if I can find it. Hmm I can't seem to find it. I can't remember what it looked like but I know people where saying its normal. I would just watch it and maybe put some apple cider vinegar in their water. Not like it will do any harm

 

[3acres]

What a beautiful flock!

Thank you! I think it is great what all you do for Soleil and with her! Neat she has her own facebook page also!

 

[Laci7210]

Can ducks have scratch grains? I feed scratch to my chickens all of the time and I was wondering if Pip and Squeak can have some too?

 

[3acres]

out free ranging around...

 

[chickery-do]

Can ducks have scratch grains? I feed scratch to my chickens all of the time and I was wondering if Pip and Squeak can have some too?

I used to give them to my guys but they would only eat it when they were really hungry! I was told to use peas to make them love me. Now they almost jump into my lap to get them. But god forbid I move to much. Flap flap flap and their gone! :They like there new home but don't go in on their own. I have to pick them up and put them in. But I will continue w/ the peascuz it really does get their attention! But save your scratch for the chickens, my opion that is.

 

[countrygirl74]

My pekins name is quacky. I think it's a he but I don't know yet because he only chirps and didn't start quacking. I heard once they quack you'll know if its male or female. In just about a month and a half he's gotten so big! He knows when I'm going to feed him too. He flips out and won't even let me put his bowl down he's so excited! I also think he's pigeon toed. He literally crosses his feet one over then other when he walks its so cute! Lol also question: are they supposed to have an extra nail or "toe" on the back of their leg that sticks out because I think mine does. Btw he loves his snacks: yogurt, wet baby food, carrots, and lettuce. Still introducing him to new things

Cute!! And yes, they do have a toe w/ nail out the back. If you want to see a close-up of feet, look on page 118 where I posted how I treated bumblefoot on my ducks.

OK Pekin lovers- I have a duckling question for you. I am a new duck owner, so everything is a learning process! I have 2 Pekin ducklings that are 11 days old (AND HUUUUGE!). They seem happy and healthy along with their 11 other brothers and sisters of all different breeds. I noticed this morning while toweling off one of the Pekins (his/her name is Pepper) that there is a soft squishy greenish bulge on the beak/bill right around the nostril. It almost looks like a bruise, but it's raised a little bit and very soft. Could she have injured it somehow? The ducks are currently brooding in a large rabbit hutch in our laundry room with heat lamp at one side (which they rarely use at this point) with water in a milk jug homemade waterer and DuMor chick/duck starter-grower crumbles in another milk jug homemade feeder. They also get fruit/veg pulp from our juicer once a day as a treat. I have never noticed any hostility going on at all, they are all pretty nice to each other. I hope someone can shed some light on this, I'm worried about our sweetie pie! Here's a picture of it:

I love babies!! I've never had that happen before so I don't know what it is, but I think a couple other people posted some good information... make sure they can dunk their entire heads into your waterer because they need to be able to clean their eyes and nares out daily. Like another poster stated, apple cider vinegar "with the Mother" won't hurt (1 T. per gallon) - also, as for the niacin, if it's chick starter, you definitely need to add some (100-125mg per gallon of water - it shouldn't be the kind that says "flush-free" or "time-release"), if the food is duck starter, it probably has enough niacin. Also, I wouldn't do the vinegar and the niacin at the same time, alternate jugs of water.
If you find out anything specific about the beak, please share so we can all learn - thanks!!

Can ducks have scratch grains? I feed scratch to my chickens all of the time and I was wondering if Pip and Squeak can have some too?

Yes, they can but mine never cared for it, so I stopped giving it to them and just save it for the chickens.

 

[kodster]

Okay everyone,
I wanted to go ahead and post how everything is going with the bumblefoot. I took pictures of my worst bumblefoot patient, "Ping", my Jumbo Pekin. After discovering hers, I inspected all the ducks and the other 3 had some in various degrees. The drake's is now completely gone, the female Rouen's is almost gone, and my other Pekin is slowly recovering as well. Since Ping's was the worst, I used her as the example as her bumblefoot still has a little ways to go. I was actually quite amazed that the others' disappeared so quickly.

The first photo was taken on May 25th, so it's been a little under 2 weeks. I ordered the koi meds but they took about a week to arrive. In the meantime, I soaked her feet in epsom salts about 4 times - during the first week. I applied NuStock to her feet daily for about a week, then switched to every other day. I did place "socks" on her feet for the first week to keep the NuStock on better. The next week, I just applied it and then placed her back into her run of clean shavings. I did limit her swimming and took out the shallow pan of water to keep her feet dry with the socks and meds on. I also increased her thiamine intake by letting her have dark leafy greens and peas more often. I also added niacin to their water for a few days. Because I ended up getting sick with a cold for a few days, I actually missed a couple days of treating her at all AND as a result, I hadn't started the koi meds as planned. So, the improvement has been NuStock and diet alone so far. At this point, I might not use the koi meds...we'll see...

BEFORE


AFTER



And here's the other foot...

BEFORE



AFTER

Out of my 10 ducks, my Jumbo Pekin drake, Buddy, developed bumblefoot, shortly after I put them out in their outside pen permanently. He got it on both feet, and it affected his walking, as a result. I caught it shortly after he started hobbling about. I brought him in, let him play in the bathtub to clean him up, and then dried him. After that, my DH got his tea tree oil that he uses for topical antiseptic treatment on us humans and his dogs (before they were re-homed, because he couldn't take care of them properly before I moved in), and we applied that to Buddy's lesions. Within a week, the lesions were completely gone. Buddy is still having problems maintaining his balance, and when he gets excited, he starts running, and ends up on his side, struggling to get upright. The last couple of days, he's been improving on that end, too.

Buddy was the first one to develop his drake feather, and he'll be 10 weeks old on Monday, along with two of his flock mates that are Jumbo Pekins, too. So I have 3 Jumbo Pekin hens, and 1 Jumbo Pekin drake. I have 4 Rouen hens, and 2 Rouen drakes out of my Rouens... they haven't developed their drake feathers, but I see the green feathers coming in on their heads, and they are 11 weeks and 10 weeks old on Monday. So, I have a perfect ratio of hens to drakes! Lucky me, since I got them as straight runs from the hatchery! I have 2 more Jumbo Pekin ducklings arriving by the end of the month, a hen and a drake, sexed, to be sure I got at least 1 drake... that makes for 4 hens and 2 drakes there, too.