Strange Pekin behaviour

[gaiamethod]

I have a female Pekin duck who lives with another female and a drake. They are all around 10 months old and both females are laying. Since yesterday she has been twitching her wings, splaying her tail feathers like a fan and making little purring noises. She seems uncomfortable but is eating and drinking with no problem. Anyone got any ideas as to what this could be? (We live in Egypt so things are not quite the same here!!)

 

[Miss Lydia]

I have a female Pekin duck who lives with another female and a drake. They are all around 10 months old and both females are laying. Since yesterday she has been twitching her wings, splaying her tail feathers like a fan and making little purring noises. She seems uncomfortable but is eating and drinking with no problem. Anyone got any ideas as to what this could be? (We live in Egypt so things are not quite the same here!!)

Sounds like she wants to mate. My Muscovy's do this when mating season begins. Have you noticed any mating from your drake and ducks?

 

[gaiamethod]

She lives with another female and a drake so there is no shortage of mating!! It is not her usual mating behaviour. Both females have been laying for a couple of months now. . It seemed more like she was uncomfortable. Her eggs too, always have calcium deposits on them, and after this behaviour seemed to have a lot more. They forage and have access to greens and eat the same food they always have. They have access to water for swimming and drinking. Bit of a mystery really!

 

[Amiga]

Sounds like egg laying difficulties. She may have an internal infection. If you can get to a vet that is great. If not, you may need to do a little research and get some oral antibiotics into her.

You may want to separate the drake from the girls for at least a few days - see if mating activity is causing difficulty. If you want her to stop laying for a while, she will need to be in a dark place, with comfortable bedding, fresh water and lower protein food. Just add some oats to her food that will cut down the protein percentage.

Please keep us posted.

 

[gaiamethod]

Thank you for that. I did wonder if it might be an 'egg thing'. She has always laid 'rough' eggs but recently they are less lumpy and more 'evenly rough' but weaker at the apex! There are only two females so maybe the Drake is getting too enthusiastic. We can't get oats here in Upper Egypt, but would corn do? I know its lower in protein, but higher in fat. I'll try to see if I can get a different feed for her. Its quite difficult to get feed designed for different types of bird here. Unless you are a commercial grower of course. Most families keep ducks, geese etc for meat, and they only feed them household scraps. I use commercial feeds but they are very limited!
The other female has no problems and has always laid 'normal' eggs! I will follow your suggestions re: antibiotics and rest and see what happens. We don't need the eggs fertilized in any case.
Thank you.