B-BEANIE?! *melts at the adorable name*
Oh hon, I'm so glad that your baby's doing better! Do runner ducks naturally have issues with prolapse since they're upright all the time? I wonder. Also if Sechs has a hilarious tooshie-bandage, please take a photo and show us, hehe!
..Also, what's a Coffee duck? A google search came up with nothing but a coffee brewer brand. o.o;;
Well, I keep forgetting that just because I begin a thread, it does not mean I am subscribed, so I missed these lovely remarks. Thanks, Amykins!
The Coffees are rescued buffs, so their names came with them: Bean (drake), Carmella and Hazel
This is our first prolapse. I don't feel that runners are more susceptible than others, based on what I have read here, but statistics may differ with that. My vet says the prolific layers of any breed are the ones most prone to it. And my girls do lay when they lay. Though we have just about a month ago come off of a five to six month hiatus. I was glad for it. They have laid as long as fourteen or sixteen months with no rest. Mercy.
Sechs' double-stitch is quite discreet
think tummy-tuck. And we are leaving that double in for a while yet.
So here's a more detailed update.
We have kept Sechs confined for the most part indoors in the night pen, no artificial light, so not pitch dark but very very low light. Being bored and seeing some eggs in the corner, she brooded them as long as she was by herself. When her cohort comes in at night, she takes a break. I did let her run around for a few minutes in the morning while I did room service, so she was able to stretch legs, swim, and play with her friends. Then back inside and after some complaint, plop onto the nest. She is a great grumpy broody. What a girl!
Friday a friend helped me cut the single stitch. Backing up - the doc put in a double on the prolapsed side, and a single on the other side. On the fourth day, we snipped the single, as she would not have been able to pass an egg with both stitches in place. I was on high alert to watch her vent and if I saw an egg crowning, snip the single stitch. But she did not lay, so we waited four days to snip that one.
A couple days later, she seems fine - vent good, behavior normal, so we're letting her be an outdoor duck again. Gotta do it some time. The double stitch stays for now.
And yesterday and the day before Zwei had a little egg trouble. In fact, yesterday I think she was eggbound for a little while. What I saw was her walking stiff-legged, slowly, looking uncomfortable, and poop dribbled out her vent. Oh, that put me in a state. Got the tub warmed up, and when I got back to the garden, she was not nearby. Then she walked out from around a building looking much better. I looked around and saw an egg with barely a shell (white, chalky) where she had been, still quite warm. She got her bath anyway.
Oh, did she have a great time! Splash, wiggle, flap, dunk! And when I brought in the peas, hooooweee she was ready for a party
It was nice quality time together. I was assured she was okay again, she was assured that she really is a ducky princess.
Then out again to the yard, back with the flock.
The saga of Sechs' prolapse may never be really over. She will have a propensity. But the vet and I agree that while the feed I give them, Blue Seal Organic, seems otherwise good, it does not have enough calcium for a number of my runners, and they do not eat enough of the free choice oyster shell to compensate.
Gotta pencil out the next step . . . do I beef up the Blue Seal Organic (my first inclination)? Find another organic feed? Mix my own? Hmmmmm
