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

[Kedreeva]

Yeah, I am thinking I may try to move him out to the farm this week. The peachicks want the air a ton hotter than he is comfortable and I think he's big enough that he could chill in the barn. His siblings are a lot bigger than him still, but I think with some observation and intervention I can probably get them behaving together.

 

[LuckyDuck411]

Quote:
the group of yellow feather above his tail is where his oil gland is located. Its how he can waterproof himself. You should see him rub his head/beak over that spot and then the rest of his body. Also if you rub your finger over it you should get oil on your finger if he's producing any yet. Which he should be by now.

 

[Kedreeva]

Barring his death, this will probably be the last update for Ping! I took him out to join his brothers (or sisters) at the farm two days ago, and he's doing great there with them. Thank you for the help along the way.

After some more research and seeing Ping in with the other ducks, I'm pretty sure he is either leucistic or a partial albino. I'm also fairly certain he is deaf. The day we left, one of the fans in my room came crashing off the windowsill behind him (where he could not see it) and while the peachicks about killed themselves in panick over it, he didn't even flinch. Until that point, I thought he was just stubborn about not responding to 'duck duck duck', which is what I use for the mom call for all the ducklings I've had (and every single one of them reacted to it). But the fan coupled with this, as well as how quiet he is and the fact that he stares at everything far more than any other bird I've seen... I'm pretty sure.

We'll keep a careful eye on him and make sure he does all right with the others.

Here he is with his two 'siblings' Yin and Yang- they are 3 days older than him!

And a lil video- Don't mind Yang taking a nip, they get along well. Ping's still pretty bad at getting into the pool. He can't seem to find the brick steps.

Thanks again to everyone who gave me help and advice! Ping thanks you too. Once he is fully feathered, I will make a new post

 

[katharinad]

With the lack of pigmentation I would worry about sun burns on him. You may need a place for him where he does not get direct sunshine on him. I had an albino hummingbird last year coming by. He was actually one part albino, since he was only missing one pigment and had normal colored eyes. On research I found out that their feathers are prone to sunshine issue. They tent to get brittle feathers from the UV and die of young age due to the fact that they don't molt as good as others do. Resulting that they cannot fly and predators basically get them or they starve due to lack of getting food when they cannot fly. Hearing issues have also been reported.

 

[LizGled628]

I love the Ping updates! What a unique baby you have. I'm so glad he thrived

 

[Kedreeva]

@ Kath: Yes, the hearing is what makes me lean toward albino, but he had very bright orange in his feet when he was young, which speaks of leucism. Add in the blue eyes, a trait found in albinos (the blue eyes are often mistaken for 'red' eyes but you can clearly see blue if you get close enough. I work with albinos a lot). He is indoors for most of the day and is only let out when we are outside around the barn so we can keep an eye on him. I know to watch for sunburns, but I will also keep an eye out for bad molts. We don't have any predators nearby- between us and the neighbors I think all the coons, coyotes, and possums have been shot, and the hawks (we have yet to see one) are more likely to dive for the Carls (white leghorns that hang out in the big field) rather than the ducks (who stay close to the barn's walls). That being said, we'll still be really careful with him, I'd like to have him around as long as possible.

 

[chickensioux]

I love the Ping updates! Please keep them coming. He looks great! Look at his chunky legs. He is precious. I would love to see him fully feathered out and see what size he turns out to be. Good luck with him and the others.

 

[Hattiegun]

Keedreva

 

[Kedreeva]

So I totally lied when I said I would make a new threat for updates on Ping.

First of all he's doing really well where he's at. He mostly hangs out with Yin and Yang and ignores the pekins all together. Sometimes he just wanders around on his own. He still does not make a sound. At the end of the video, you'll see him open his beak a couple times like he's talking, but nothing comes out. He CAN hear after all, if the noise is loud enough. I beeped my car horn in his face and his head crest went straight up like "WHAT WAS THAT!" Still has those baby blue eyes, I'm SUPER glad he got them. He free ranges, and even though The Trio doesn't come in at night I'm not particularly scared for them as they stay near the barn and the dogs nothing else will mess with. Smart kids!

We're not so sure Ping is a 'he' anymore though. We haven't actually caught him at laying any eggs, but as Yin and Yang are both males and we only have 3 female pekins, and we sometimes get 4 eggs... and 1 of them is smaller... We have our doubts. If anyone can say one way or another by the pictures/video, please let me know!

I also don't know what size muscovy ducks are supposed to be, but he seems pretty normal now. He ended up being almost entirely white, with just that black blaze on his head- which, if you are up close to him you can see is actually barred black and brown somehow. His bill is, unfortunately, sunburned to a nice bright red and there's nothing we've been able to do about it because he refuses the barn life. The white stripe across his bill is actually scar tissue from ducklinghood- when he had all the disgusting brown membrane goo stuck to him from hatching, some of it... melted part of his bill for lack of a better way to phrase it. When I went to wipe it off his face, part of his bill came with it, and evidently scarred over and won't burn now. Who knew?

Anyway, we all know you're here for pictures, so here ya go!

Here he is by hisself, wandering around in front of the barn.

Here he is with Yin and Yang under their favorite pine!

A good pic to see how big he is... hard to imagine this guy used to fit in the palm of my hand with room to spare!

And finally, a nice head shot of him on my lap (excuse my dust, I took a dust bath with my peachicks earlier)

And since I promised a video, here is Ping chilling with Yin and Yang under the pine. He doesn't really like peas that much, but you can see that Yin and Yang are clearly hogs as they assume any time I come over and kneel down I must have peas for them to eat.

Enjoy! Ping asked me to thank everyone here that offered help and suggestions along the way, so thank you from both of us! <3

 

[desertdarlene]

Wow, I enjoyed your story about little Ping. He's gotten so big!