Sickly duck at local produce store...

[SampyArctica]

Wow guys, it feels so good knowing I have support with all of this. Especially while I had been arguing with the store, knowing that my actions were justified. Thank you all!

By the way - we've decided to call the duck 'Whistles' on account that it still has a soft whistling/wheezing noise when it breathes and that yesterday, my partner was whistling to it and it would respond each and every time, as if they had been talking to each other.

With the Paypal stuff...I really do appreciate the offer and the ideas that you had all come up with - anything offered would be of great help and should any money be collected for Whistles, it will be used to buy him/her (we're not actually sure!) a children's pool to clean himself/herself in as well as a mirror and a couple of stuffed toys. When we went to purchase the duck, we hadn't actually expected to come away with it, so we hadn't really been prepared!

But I would like to make it very clear that I am not actually asking for any money and that this was not my idea! Haha. Just because I don't want anyone to feel as if they need to give money, and I think that actually asking anyone for money on the boards may be against board rules...? Although I do suppose there is a buy/sell/trade section...anyway - if you do really want to help, then please PM me and I'll reply with my Paypal details, but all the kind words, advice and support that has been offered so far has seriously meant so, so, SO much already and has been an amazing help.

You are all seriously amazing people.

Here are some videos I took yesterday when we brought Whistles home...

The first time it'd ever been able to completely submerge its beak/bill:

Most likely the first bath its ever taken (we weren't too sure how much water to put in, should we have put a bit more in?):

It kept 'wagging' its tail, was so freaking adorable.

Oh, and subhanalah - kind of...well, tufts of fluff have started growing back and there looks to be a few pinfeathers coming in along its back, it mainly has feathers down its front only, white with flecks of brown here and there. And he/she looked like a completely different duck once it cleaned itself! Was amazing how much dirt came off with just the first bath! She/he no longer looks as bad as when we first saw him/her, it had been REALLY struggling and fighting to breathe. At the moment, there's just a soft whistling/wheezing sound you can hear when the room is quiet. And some of the best news I found out today from the local pet store - there's an avian vet literally a two minute drive from me! They won't be in again until Monday, but they don't have any available appointments until middle of the week, so the vet nurse behind the desk said to just keep a very close eye on him/her in the meantime and to call for an appointment if we do get seriously worried.

I'm SO stoked that there's turned out to be an avian vet so close by!

 

[jenniemig]

Wow guys, it feels so good knowing I have support with all of this. Especially while I had been arguing with the store, knowing that my actions were justified. Thank you all!

By the way - we've decided to call the duck 'Whistles' on account that it still has a soft whistling/wheezing noise when it breathes and that yesterday, my partner was whistling to it and it would respond each and every time, as if they had been talking to each other.

With the Paypal stuff...I really do appreciate the offer and the ideas that you had all come up with - anything offered would be of great help and should any money be collected for Whistles, it will be used to buy him/her (we're not actually sure!) a children's pool to clean himself/herself in as well as a mirror and a couple of stuffed toys. When we went to purchase the duck, we hadn't actually expected to come away with it, so we hadn't really been prepared!

But I would like to make it very clear that I am not actually asking for any money and that this was not my idea! Haha. Just because I don't want anyone to feel as if they need to give money, and I think that actually asking anyone for money on the boards may be against board rules...? Although I do suppose there is a buy/sell/trade section...anyway - if you do really want to help, then please PM me and I'll reply with my Paypal details, but all the kind words, advice and support that has been offered so far has seriously meant so, so, SO much already and has been an amazing help.

You are all seriously amazing people.

Here are some videos I took yesterday when we brought Whistles home...

The first time it'd ever been able to completely submerge it's beak/bill:

Most likely the first bath its ever taken:

It kept 'wagging' its tail, was so freaking adorable.

Awww! If she enjoyed bathing in that bowl I bet she'd have a blast in the bathtub. It's a pain to clean the poop out of the tub but totally worth watching them swim

 

[SampyArctica]

I bet it would, but...the only problem here being that we don't have a bathtub.

 

[Finny]

Sampy, I am SO glad you were able to rescue that poor duck! I have been following this thread for a while, and although I have not posted much, I was rooting for you and the duck the whole time! This duck is going to have a MUCH better life now. Good for you for being so determined to help this duck. If it was not for you, who knows what terrible things this duck would have had to go through for the rest of his life. So lets give a HUGE round of applause for Sampy and the duck . Please keep us updated on how the duck continues to do!

 

[Miss Lydia]

I'm thinking if you all were on stage with Whistles you would be getting a standing ovation! and some hugs all round too.

I'm thinking that lil one is more like 4-5 weeks looking at those wings. and yes put more warm water in the next time you let it bath, it will have a blast and if you put a towel under the tub will help absorb the water. all except for what gets on the walls and you.

Where are you keeping lil Whistles?

 

[SampyArctica]

You guys are just too awesome! ^_^

4 -5 weeks, really...? When I first approached someone about him/her at the store - which, by the way is called Capalaba Produce, I have no qualms anymore about releasing the name, I have the duck now - I was told he/she was kind of the 'runt' of the ones that had come in and was roughly about two months old. Keeping in mind I've had my eye on this duck for about three weeks now, and it doesn't look like it's grown very much either. Do you think they were lying about that as well? Is it too early to tell if it's a duck or a drake? I can provide more pictures today if there needs to be more detail given to be able to tell, I fully intend on taking more anyway, I'm so in love with this little thing.

Yeah, we had two towels under the tub. When it got out though, it was shaking like a wet dog and I was sitting on the floor beside it, so I got drenched! Haha!

At the moment, we're keeping it in our old chick brooder - basically a big plastic tub that we cut part of the lid out of and attached chicken wire to see and for air without letting anything fall in. Its maybe 1m long by 60ish cm wide and about the same deep. That's during sleeping and resting moments though, it has full run of the living area - we have tiled floors throughout, so cleaning up any messes are of no concern. Or should we just keep it confined until it settles down a bit so it can rest...? Do we need to have a heat lamp like we did with the baby chicks? I know it's not *that* young, but it doesn't have all of its plumage yet. It's not very cold here though, average day temperature is about 25 - 6 degrees Celsius (77 - 78.8 F) and night around 20 (68 F), both inside (outside temp is about 30 C (86 F) during the day).

 

[subhanalah]

I would give her a heat source to help boost her immune system so she has a good chance to fight off her infection. We're you able to locate a vet? If she needs antibiotics, the sooner the better, infection can cause serious complications, and can spread to her eyes and do damage.

 

[SampyArctica]

No worries, we still have our heat lamp from raising our other girls.

And yep! It turns out that there's an avian vet literally a two minute drive from where we live! I found out from the pet store when I went to buy the multi-vitamins/minerals. They're not there full-time though, the next time they're in is Monday, but the vet nurse behind the counter said the best time to book an appointment if we needed to would probably be on Wednesday and she said what you guys said with giving the vitamins and minerals and keeping a very close eye on the duck in the meantime.

 

[subhanalah]

You can also give her a steam treatment to help loosen up whatever sinus/respiratory stuff she's got going on. Simply run your shower on hot for a while with her in there. Once you are done with the treatment, stay with her in the bathroom until it cools down naturally (if you can) as the shock of cool air could give her a chill.

 

[Miss Lydia]

You can also give her a steam treatment to help loosen up whatever sinus/respiratory stuff she's got going on. Simply run your shower on hot for a while with her in there. Once you are done with the treatment, stay with her in the bathroom until it cools down naturally (if you can) as the shock of cool air could give her a chill.

This is run hot shower with out duck in the shower. just inside the room.