I'm so sorry, I had my dh buy me a long handle magnet so I can go out once in a while and check for metal that actually washes up out of the ground after it rains. and under the wood shed I have also found screws and old nails and even staples.. I am so sorry about Charlie but at least Charlies death has made your dh and the rest of us even more aware of the dangers out there for our flock.I was on pinterest today and stumbled onto a site I've never been on. Long story short, I honestly believe I finally found out what happened to charlie, my recent duck who passed. Anyway, hardware disease, aka heavy metal poisoning, lead, zinc, copper, etc. Eating nails, metal, etc and it slowly poisons them and eventually death. My hubby works on houses, carpenter, roofing, etc so there's always stuff lying around. Charlie was a nebshit and always snooping on his tool shelf and through this work stuff. My hubby also shoots guns constantly, its his hobby, she always would wonder over by his targets so shells, pellets, etc. All causes. She had almost every symptom listed. I know that's it. And now my husband feels responsible for her death but he's being a lot more careful!
My buddy would catch little frogs and feed them to his WH and Pekin and they LOVED them. Up until then I never knew ducks were carnivorous. Now I know they are actually omnivores. But live animals? Amazing.
I remember you from a while ago. I am so sorry you and Piotr lost the little girl. So sad. And best of luck finding him a new mate. You certainly have a lot to offer and provide a new duck and Piotr would appreciate it as well.
I found a mouse nest in the storage building we keep ladders etc and when I picked it up these tiny mice fell out on the ground the ducks had them eaten before I could even blink. This was shortly after I started keeping ducks I was pretty surprised.
Wow, that still amazes me. How they eat live prey. I think what surprised me at first about it was the fact that these ducks are cute, roly poly, soft webbed cuties and they are eating little animals. Not that it is a mean thing to eat animals but normally I associate meat eating birds as hawks and eagles.
They are amazing and protein is a big part of their diet so I guess we shouldn't be surprised that they would go for live protein.Opie loves dog food dry and canned. I think he would eat it only if I would let him. But I don't he only gets little tastes. Yesterday dh had cut some gristle and fat off his steak and cut it up for the dogs I said what about Opie he was inside so he cut a small smudge off and yep you guessed it Opie ate it. lol
