Ping the Duck: From Micro Duckling to Mega Muscovy (Page 6 Update!)

[chickensioux]

OMG he is so precious. He looks very healthy. One of my favorite stories as a child was called "Ping-story of a duck". Ping is a cute name.

 

[Kedreeva]

Ping, I like it. I actually have read that story, we found a VERY old copy of it at my grandpa's house when we were cleaning things out after my Grandma passed. Fits well with the two I am keeping, Yin and Yang.

 

[lavandula girl]

We have a runner named 'Ping'. Of course, she has a counterpart named 'Pong', but 'Ping' was inspired by the story by Marjorie Flack. It's a great name.

 

[Kedreeva]

So I finally had time to go get supplies and make that mash. I made it with a mix of hard boiled egg, yogurt (plain, greek-style because there was no other kind at the store that was just plain), ground oatmeal (I crushed up the whole oats by hand), medicated chick starter (Yes I know you are not supposed to feed this to ducks, but I also know that this is because they eat way more of it than chickens and that can poison them... and he's by far not eating this as the majority of his diet), and plain pedialyte. He seems to hate it

I offer up about a half teaspoon to the occupants of his brooder (him, Darkwing, and the two peachicks) three times a day.

The peachicks go NUTS they absolutely love it- they are pecking at my hands while I'm setting the food down, trying to get it to faster. Darkwing will come over and take a few nibbles and then go rinse his mouth out with water as if to say Bleh, and won't come back to it. Ping just gives me the stink eye. So, I pick him out before I give the mix to the others, and shove a taste into his mouth, which he doesn't really appreciate.... but awesomely, despite that he won't come over to the mash, this seems to instigate a visit to the regular crumbles, which he eats while everyone else is chomping down the mash. I think part of the problem he was seeing before is that if he went near the food everyone was busy trying to cuddle him and he stopped being able to reach.

So, in a round about way.... it works >.>

I also was able to get a fluffy stuffed animal to put in there, and they've all deemed it acceptable to snuggle with.

So in all, despite that he still hasn't grown pretty much at all.... he's doing well!

The real reason for posting is that I'm going to have to get more pedialyte (it's just an electrolyte solution for babies).... does anyone know if the flavors are bad for them? I am wondering if I used a flavored one if he'd like the mash better, but I don't want to get it if it's just going to kill him.

 

[Birdcrazy]

Awwwwh he's adorable

and i am going to look up the thread Microduck, although think i've briefly seen it before, would be nice reading

In a clutch of ducklings i had a little runt who hatched very late... he was tiny, very weak... couldnt even lift his own head up. i tried to dry him off but his teeny yellow wet feathers would come out... so i left him with the mum hoping she'd do a better job

Didnt want to do anything wrong. He died but i think he was far too weak to survive.

I wish i had discovered BYC back then

 

[Kedreeva]

So Ping is still going fairly strongly... he doesn't want to get up and move much but he can get up and walk when he wants. When I put the wet food in, he now comes over and mows it down with the peachicks. He spends most of his day sleeping next to the water dish.... but I have a concern.

I was handling him today (which I don't normally do, he starts shivering after a minute or two out of the heat lamp) and I noticed the skin on his legs was peeling. It wasn't bloody or scabby or anything, but he was shedding large chunks of skin. They were dry, and his feet were dry. Is it possible that this is caused by not having open water to get into in the brooder? Or since his feet skin is (in reality) like lizard skin, does he need to shed it for them to grow? I suspect I wouldn't notice this on the big birds, as they are constantly grooming and they have open water.

I have not had an open water container in there (like a bowl he could actually get into) because I was afraid of him getting in and not being able to get out or that the water would get cold and he would catch cold or something. A couple days ago, I put in a cleaned tuna fish can (we open our tin cans with a 'safe' can opener that leaves no sharp edges, you could give it to a child as a toy) full of water for the peacocks because they can't get into the waterer as easily as Ping. It has a tall lip (it's a big can of tuna not a little one). I don't think he can get in or out of it, but aside from the first five minutes I put it in there, I haven't seen him show any interest in it. He blew some bubbles in it when I first put it in and has ignored it since. I got a shallow pan and filled it about an inch with warm water and put him in.... but he just climbed out again and shivered. I put him back in and he sat down in the water and sulked. I think he was upset there was no one there with him, but I don't think the peacocks would like water games and the big ducks are... well, a TON bigger than him, even the one born after him, and they are NOT nice. Since they could fit his whole head in their beaks, I don't want to put them together to play, even for a few minutes, and he wouldn't do it by hisself.

So the question is- did I cause the skin shedding with no open water, and what do I do about offering him open water if this is the case? I have never seen a duck not immediately fall in love with water, especially warm water!

 

[heatherindeskies]

awww, your miniduck is soooooo cute!

 

[L0rraine]

Hope someone's got an answer for you -- I've been watching the progress of your little guy hoping all would eventually be okay.

 

[Kedreeva]

Quote:
Thanks

He's growing..... ever so slowly. He's even getting stiff feathers for his tail in, I think- he can make quite the big fan with it when he wants. I hope that's a good sign of development. I'm just worried if there's something I should do for his legs! Neosporin or lotion or if I should just let him sort it out because it's normal.

 

[Wifezilla]

My ducks legs peeled a little when they were growing really rapidly. If it doesn't look red and chaffed I wouldn't worry.