Show off your house ducks!

[AmandaVirginia]

BEACH VACAY tomorrow!!! Me, my parents, my boyfriend, our three Yorkies, and Winter!!! I'm so excited!!! And, I'll def be getting pics!!!

I want to be able to walk Winter on the beach with my Yorkies! Since I don't have time to get her a duck leash and harness would a cat, bunny, or ferrit one work best for her y'all think?

 

[mommaducksweet]

I posted the following to another thread and someone recommended I come here for an answer. Hopefully someone can help:

So I have a five/sixish week old duck and we've basically broken all the rules of duck ownership thus far, but he seems to be thriving in the current situation.
He is our only duck, but we never exactly made plans to have a duck. It is more along the lines of a rescue situation, but we've gotten pretty attached and for better or worse, we belong to him now.
He is also an inside duck because we have three dogs (two of them hunting dogs, although the guard/herding dog seems to keep them in line anytime the duck is near and he is never on the ground around them) and we live in the middle of the suburbs. We do have a nice fenced in backyard so he will have a place to get fair exercise and outdoor time when he is old enough, but as a new momma duck, I really just worry too much to have him outside for any length of time without being right there with him. All that aside, those are bridges we will cross if and when we come to them.

My major concern right now is this: He is getting older now and as a result he is loving the water more and more. I would be worried if he didn't! But he is also staying wet the majority of the time. He lives in a large breed dog kennel during the day while we are at work and usually within hours of cleaning up his bedding, half the cage is wet. The kennel will not be his long term housing, but it is what we have for now, until we can come up with a more permanent solution that will keep him safe and healthy.
I am looking for solutions/suggestions to keep his cage (and him) as dry as possible. In the event that he spills his water or steps in it, which happens often, I want the water to stay contained away from his bedding, so that he has a dry place to go if he chooses until I can get home and clean it up. Especially because he is in the house, which can get drafty during the summer months with the air on, I don't want him getting colder than he can handle.
I've also wondered if he maybe plays in his water to occupy himself during the day and if we could potentially reduce the mess he makes by giving him other stuff to do. We've had a mirror in there but he liked it less and less as he got older. We also have a couple of rocks in there with him but he tends only to use those when he wants to sleep. Most everything we have tried to occupy him with (because he is alone and they need to be social and busy) he ends up disinterested with and we take it out of his cage in favor of giving him more space. I haven't exactly seen "duck toys" for sale at Petco, but are there ways to allow him to forage within the confines of his cage or other activities he might take to that would have him spending less time playing in his drinking water?
I understand that ducks will be ducks and I'm completely okay with that but, as this is not an ideal duck raising situation, I just want to make sure we aren't doing anything that is unhealthy or will impede his development in the future. Please, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Scovy Momma]

Julie Bird,
I think they just like watching their momma's & poppa's exasperated faces & laughing their little ducky "QUAAAACKquackquackquackQUAAAACKquackquack...quack" laugh at us

 

[Scovy Momma]

Mommaducksweet,

I had a lone Muscovy, Daisy, & as long as she was always entertained I never saw any bad behavior out of her. I know it helped the "ducky-splashing-in-the-water-dish" for me by going to Wally World & buying a cheap plastic jug & cutting a hole in the side just enough for her to stick her head into it to drink & clear her snoot & ears but not enough to get in there & wallow. She got a bath every night or other night, at least a shower rinse off to keep the feathers healthy. I used to be able to leave Daisy in her house while I was at work with just bedding & blankets without her making a big mess.
The toys she had was anything that rattled or had food in it that she could toss around. She loved that. Also, she lived in the same room as my four dogs so she had entertainment when I was at work.

There's some pics & videos on this site:http://m.scovy-momma.wix.com/house-...=true&isMobileDevice=false&showInIphone=false


The foster I have now is a little more messy but I use a puppy pee pad in her pen to keep it cleaner & drier.

 

[marcelineduckie]

so sweet and is there absolutely no.way to get him a friend? were you eventually planning on.building a duck run and maybe just keeping him in the house at night time? for the water you could.use a gallon water jug and.cut a big hole on.one side make.sure it's not.cut too.low so.he can dunk his entire beak in the water. put a couple larger flat rocks at the bottom so.it doesnt tip easily. as for.toys I'm not sure I.have a 2 month old and a 6 week old and both are outdoors they forage and play in the kiddie pool all day

 

[Scovy Momma]

You know, Mommaducksweet, if you want another young one that's small for your baby duck, I have a little cutie that's cuddly & used to diapers, she needs a home.

 

[mommaducksweet]

Thanks @Scovy Momma ! That helps a lot actually! Right now he is drinking out of a dish we don't use for the dogs anymore, it is lower and fairly wide which probably only helps him make a mess because he can lay next to it and play (which is pretty cute but maybe not worth the mess). We use a puppy pad as well underneath the pine shavings, but with that particular bowl he pretty much saturates the cage. For the time being, I've set his food and water on a sheet pan across the back of the cage and lined it fairly thickly with newspaper so we'll see how well that works, but a water jug seems like it will be my next step. Since he hasn't gotten all of his feathers in, I still worry about him getting too wet and then having to stay in it until I get home. He is directly across the room from an air vent and he was none too happy with us moving the cage to another part of the room; from where he is now, he can see into our kitchen and living room and see some activity going on around the house, I think it keeps him from being lonely at times when he has to be in his cage.
As for the dogs, I've had people tell me they raised their ducks with the dogs and I hope he will eventually be able to be around them; for now we just introduce them in small, very supervised doses. I have a 12 year old beagle who seems entirely disinterested in the duck (but being 12, she's almost entirely disinterested in everything) and she doesn't seem to mind that momma loves on the duck. We also have great pyrenees who is about 1 1/2 years, she is a prey guarder by nature and seems really protective so far, but she gets a little close when she's clearly just checking on him and he isn't too comfortable with that. The teacup poodle is my primary concern as they are water fowl hunters by nature and she has definitely shown that since the duck has been around. The pyr does what she can to stay in between the duck and the poodle (which has been really interesting to watch because we don't actually use/train our dogs to do what they are bred for so we are seeing their natural instincts show through) but I still wouldn't trust them alone with the duck, even with him in a cage. Either the poodle would hurt the duck or the pyr would hurt the poodle. For now they stay in separate areas of the house for the most part.
The toys are a great idea! We've been wondering what exactly a duck would play with, it's good to know there are actually things that will occupy him!

 

[Scovy Momma]

The toys are a great idea! We've been wondering what exactly a duck would play with, it's good to know there are actually things that will occupy him!

Yep! Daisy had that green bunny ball with a jingly bell in it since I got her. If she was in the room & didn't get let out yet you could hear her kicking that ball around like she was playing soccer. She liked the noise ball I had from my ferret that made bird & cat & dog noises when she hit it. I made a couple of toss toys from those amber prescription bottles with the child proof lids by drilling a couple of holes big enough for snacks or food bits to fall out & she would peck or toss them as soon as she found out there was food involved. She was never into eating feeder fish (I tried to get her to at least chase them) but she loved this DVD that I play for my dogs when I leave for work that has all sorts of animals & noises, she would chase back & forth at it. Even just Pandora playing would keep her amused.

 

[AmandaVirginia]

@Scovy Momma Daisy sounds like she was wonderful

 

[mommaducksweet]

@marcelineduckie and @Scovy Momma , thanks, but I do have access to other baby ducks so if it becomes clear that he needs a friend, I don't see how I could very well say no. My mom works for our county 4-H program and she does an embryology program each year with the local elementary schools and behavioral/developmental center. So she partners with local people who participate in the 4-H poultry club to get her eggs. We would likely get another duck from the same people who provided the eggs this year, that is how we got him.
The end of this year's program concurred with Memorial Day weekend and she brought the eggs that still had not hatched home instead of to her office so she would not have to go back and fourth to check on them. Of the eggs left, there were only two that hatched and he was the only one to survive so we started holding him and playing with him within a day so he wouldn't get lonely. He imprinted on us and we got pretty attached as well, but we never laid out plans to keep one duck, let alone anymore ducks. As long as he continues to be content with us, he will be our only duck. And as long as he is manageable we are happy to have him and love on him, but it is still a day-by-day situation at this point. As he grows, we are looking into plans to build him a safe area outside, but because he is alone, he will probably spend a good deal of his time inside, and just go out for a few hours a day. We are also looking into a feasible way to expand his cage inside for times when he needs to be in the house but still contained.
On the subject of diapers, do you guys have any recommendations? I've been looking at Party Fowl diapers on Etsy. It is a mallard and we are seeing signs that it is probably a male so I think I am likely looking at an open-tail diaper because I've heard it is more comfortable on the males. For now we just pick up behind him when he is out. What age do you recommend starting with diapers, though? We made him one a couple of weeks ago but had a hard time making a strap that would adjust quickly and comfortable and the whole situation just stressed him out. And he has outgrown that pattern by now so we would have to start all over again. I've been considering just waiting until he is full grown and getting a couple then, but is that too late?