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

[Kedreeva]

Quote:
Well, he didn't hatch late, but he IS way quieter than any duck I've ever had. I don't have a tractor supple 'near' me- the closest one is about 30 minutes away, but I bought a bottle of pedialyte (electrolyte water for human babies) and mix that with their water and their mash. The mash is basically pedialyte, eggs, medicated chick starter, yogurt, and oatmeal. He wanted NOTHING to do with it at first, but now he's over chowing it down when I bring it to them warmed up. I give the three about a teaspoon 3-4 times a day- All three rush over and take a few bites and then the peacocks switch to cleaning Ping's face while he eats because he gets it everywhere. I actually think he's started growing faster now that he's eating regularly instead of being picky about the dry food (50/50 game bird starter/non-medicated chick-duck starter). He's still tiny, but just... less so.

 

[chickensioux]

Yes, thank you for keeping us posted. He is beautiful. So glad he is doing well. Hugs to you and Ping from Microduck and I.

 

[Birdcrazy]

Awh he is special =]
soo cuute!
love to keep updated

 

[Kedreeva]

Week three and Ping is still doing well. He gobbles up the wet mash and won't let the peachicks near it anymore! He is kind of fat now, really! I just moved them to a new cage, a long rabbit cage in my room. He is still totally in down except for a couple really terrible looking tail feathers. I wish that I could get him to play in some water for a bit to clean off his chest, but he panics when he gets into water. I'm hoping after a day or two in the long cage, I can put a pan of water in and babysit to see if he will try getting in while the peachicks are there.

I don't have the other ducklings to check this against, but I noticed he's growing a tightly-packed group of feathers right above where his tail feathers are growing in, in a circle through a hole in the skin! It looks so weird. I think maybe it's the oil gland opening?

Anyway, just popping by to let you guys know what's going on!

 

[chickensioux]

 

[LizGled628]

He is SO STINKIN' CUTE!! I could just stare at those precious pictures all day!! So glad he is doing better

 

[Kedreeva]

Week 4 and he's doing well but I wish I could move him outside. The peachicks he is in with want it SO hot and he spends most of his time on the far end of the cage near the waterer. I took him out for some splashing around in the tub, but he doesn't quite seem to 'get' water. He spent the entire time sitting still in it, sticking his bill in, blowing some bubbles and then scratching at his face. I am wondering if he has trouble with getter the water out of his nose- he had membrane gunk glued over his nostrils in the egg that I had to wet and scrape away so he wouldn't die. I wonder now if some wasn't still gunked inside and did something bad.

He is starting to grow in feathers, and they are coming in white- but he still has the black arrow on his head that I am hoping stays black. He is growing a small red bump at the crest of his bill where it meets his face. And he's pretty darn chubby. I will have to start taking him outside to let him run around. I started giving him peas- he likes to play with them but not really eat them. I gave the peachicks a little bit of wet cat food, and he shoved his way to my hand to try some and then spat it out and blamed me for MAKING him. I gave him a little tuna fish, but he made faces at that too and wanted to know where the oatmeal was. So, Oatmeal for treats it is!

I'm curious about how much time he spends sitting or laying down. He doesn't get up when I come in the room. He still doesn't make noise (ok, on rare occasion he will make a little peep when he's sleeping!). I have seen him walk around but he doesn't seem to like to do it. When the peachicks decide to have seizures and run all over the cage, he gets up and runs in circles with them, wings up... so I know he CAN. I put the food bowl out of reach of him while he's laying down, so if he wants to eat he HAS to stand up- and he does. Granted, the cage is not the largest invention of mankind (40" Long X 18" Wide X 20" Tall to be exact), but he is not the largest invention of duckkind either (if he weighs a pound I'm a monkey's uncle) and I had 5 ducklings together in this cage for a couple weeks until they could go to their new homes, and none of them behaved like this.

I guess when I get home, I will take him and peachicks out for a romp in the sun and see what he thinks of walking around outside.

I will get some pictures of his chubby, white fanny for you guys.

 

[PrinceSandwich]

I'm glad hes doing good!

 

[Kedreeva]

Ok, I finally got a chance to get some pictures! He is getting in a couple tail feathers, but they are.... strange. The shaft extends far past the end of the feathery bits- and they grew in that way. There's also a weird little ball of yellow feathers on his butt- I thought they might turn into something, but so far it's like..... someone opened a portal on his butt and a tightly packed cluster of yellow feathers shoved through. It's so weird!

So here's the hole in his tail from 2 weeks ago.... you can see the little yellow feathers coming in- now they are BRIGHT yellow and there's tons more of them.

And here's his face- is that a little muscovy face forming on the bridge of his nose?

Here's a pic of his tail- it looks NOTHING like the tails on the other ducklings, and he fans it out really wide when he's playing in the bathtub with me. It's HUGE. Take a look at the feathers closely- the shaft extends past the feathery bits and are really brittle feeling. Is there something I can do to help fix this?

And here's a pic of his wings and legs- I went back and looked at his legs in early photos and they are really orange. The color has totally faded from them, they are white/pink now. Is there something that causes loss of pigment? Also, his wings have like..... no feathering on them at all. I don't know if he's preened them all off, or if the down fell off and real feathers aren't growing in yet or what, but they look very silly.

A video of Ping indoors in their rabbit cage today. He does not like the camera- he hisses at it!

And here's one from two weeks ago- we took a trip outside and he was behaving very strangely. All floppy and pressed onto my leg.

I was giving some wet cat food to the peachicks and he barreled over and grabbed a mouthful. He wasn't really sure what to do with it once he had it, he froze and I swear he made a face that said god, what are you fools eating? This is disgusting... but he swallowed it. Sigh.

 

[katharinad]

He is only 4 weeks old and the tail looks fine to me. My ducks had a tail just like it and now they have had their fist molt and they are gorgeous looking. The wings I'm not to sure, but again I would not worry until he is 8 weeks old. You could try vitamin e on the wing tips to help with its skin condition. I would also give him some outdoor time, because nothing promoted better grows then moving around in fresh air. Make sure the area is covered against flying predators, because of his size. Or simply sit outsite with him. I had a temporary covered aviary up for my birds while they were young. You can put up a dog pen and cover it with a shade cloth or poultry net.

The round hole is his oil gland and yes it does look funny on birds. It's normal, and nothing to worry about.