The Quack Shack

[Luv Ducks]

Found one of my Blue runners dead this morning. In the coop, no sign of damage. Just dead. Of course it was the hen. All the years I've been doing this, this is the first mystery death. I can only think it was a snake bite. On a happier note, I have lovely deer and fawn in the yard. Mom stashed the fawn in the woods in front of my windows and meanders through the yard grazing. Then about this time of day she comes and gets the fawn and they run around the yard for a while before disappearing for the night.

So sorry for the loss of your Blue Runner. I bet she was beautiful. That is neat about the Deer and fawn though. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Jenbirdee]

Found one of my Blue runners dead this morning. In the coop, no sign of damage. Just dead. Of course it was the hen. All the years I've been doing this, this is the first mystery death. I can only think it was a snake bite. On a happier note, I have lovely deer and fawn in the yard. Mom stashed the fawn in the woods in front of my windows and meanders through the yard grazing. Then about this time of day she comes and gets the fawn and they run around the yard for a while before disappearing for the night.

oh no so sad. i lost both my blue runners too young last year. they are so sweet it’s sad. i’m sorry. did you search for snake bite marks?

 

[Magnolia Ducks]

Yes saw nothing and no swelling. Though she was already stiff so I don't know.

 

[Supercow]

Today's special duck effects:

- Another duck decided to pick up broodiness as a hobby; 2 of them sitting on the same nest in the morning and both easily shooed away

- When the little ducklings get agitated as I'm trying to move them from the garage to the outside enclosure things really get wild; one of them jumped head-first (!) into a pot with water and got stuck because its back end is about as wide as the pot. Too silly to live. Let's just say I'm practicing for sheep which are expected to arrive in 2-3 years.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Hi friends,
bad and good things have happened here since Wednesday. In the afternoon i decided to rush to the farm-store to buy some more food for the ducks, we were running low especially on their favorite cat -food. Got trapped in the store for more than an hour due to a severe thunderstorm outside with a tornado warning, all that time being worried sick about little ducklings outside in bad weather.
On the way back home, i got delayed by downed trees, there was debris on the roads and here it looked like a disaster zone.
Lots of plants in the garden were destroyed, what kind of wind would rip large Zucchini plants out of the ground?
The duck-shade that i built out of an old, broken gazebo had been lifted into the air and landed on top of some tall autumn olive shrubs.
Many of the plums, peaches and apples have been knocked off the trees, fortunately the trees themselves are undamaged. (in hindsight that might have been a blessing, especially for the plum-tree)
The duck-run was flooded again, fortunately it didn't swamped the duck-house this time. One of Laura's ducklings went missing, the one of the three light gray ones, looked weaker than all the others. The dragon-baby was sitting on the second floor, together with Milka and Karen duck.
No electricity, no internet and sporadic mobile-network until yesterday afternoon (Thu).

Yesterday morning the dragon baby went missing! - Darkbill Duck was calling out for it, becoming more and more frantic and aggressive. I was searching in the duck-yard and in between Darkbill's screams i thought i heart somebody peeping, but could not figure out where it was coming from. Finally after 20 long minutes i discovered the little one in the hole where the mallard-drake got stuck. It must have been there for a while, was weak and dehydrated. Despite being bitten and scratched i dare to keep the duckling in my hands, walked with it back to the house and gave it some vitamin-water and food and it made a quick recovery.
I covered that hole now with a heavy cement paver, so nobody will ever fall back in.

Yesterday i found the Sharp Dressed Drake injured and unable to walk in the duck-yard, more details about him in the next post.

And finally this morning i found Annifrid (Frieda) Duck dead in the duck-yard. I assume she was killed yesterday by the same predator that injured the Sharp Dressed Drake. From what her remains look like it was a dog...

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

The sharp dressed drake:
I found him yesterday afternoon in the duck-yard, covered in blood and unable to stand or walk. Initially i thought his injuries were from a wire-loop or something similar, plant based like those wild roses, but after i found Annifrid this morning…
He was not bleeding anymore when i found him but the skin on his leg was peeled off for about a centimeter with the bare tissue exposed.
The surrounding feathers were clumped together in what first looked like yellow puss, but turned out to be lots and lots of fly-eggs. I gave him a bath with luke-warm water and did my best to remove as many of these eggs as possible. First time i used soap on a duck! He ended up being completely soaked. That's when i discovered the wound in his side.
I tried to spray Blue Kote on both wounds without success, but i can report that i am now the proud owner of a white and purple cow-design t-shirt. - And have purple stains in my face. Is there a way to remove that purple stuff from skin? Other than a knife i mean. I look like a freak now…
Instead i covered both wounds with triple antibiotics ointment as best as possible, using two arms to keep the drake under control, one arm to keep him from biting off my nose and one arm to apply the ointment to the wounds.
He spent the night in a plastic box on a towel in my bedroom and received another bath this morning (at 7am!) because the remaining fly eggs had hatched and his wound areas were covered in maggots. I know those are actually helpful in removing the dead tissue, but too many can cause necrosis and gangrene. Before grabbing the soap again, i sprinkled meal-worms into the bath and he ate and drank, good sign. Due to the soap he got soaked again, followed by the same ointment application procedure as yesterday
Then i sat him down to the floor to see how he is doing and he walked straight into my office and laid down under my desk, like last year when he was a member of the incubator gang. He is dozing there since then:

 

[Supercow]

The sharp dressed drake:
I found him yesterday afternoon in the duck-yard, covered in blood and unable to stand or walk. Initially i thought his injuries were from a wire-loop or something similar, plant based like those wild roses, but after i found Annifrid this morning…
He was not bleeding anymore when i found him but the skin on his leg was peeled off for about a centimeter with the bare tissue exposed.
The surrounding feathers were clumped together in what first looked like yellow puss, but turned out to be lots and lots of fly-eggs. I gave him a bath with luke-warm water and did my best to remove as many of these eggs as possible. First time i used soap on a duck! He ended up being completely soaked. That's when i discovered the wound in his side.
I tried to spray Blue Kote on both wounds without success, but i can report that i am now the proud owner of a white and purple cow-design t-shirt. - And have purple stains in my face. Is there a way to remove that purple stuff from skin? Other than a knife i mean. I look like a freak now…
Instead i covered both wounds with triple antibiotics ointment as best as possible, using two arms to keep the drake under control, one arm to keep him from biting off my nose and one arm to apply the ointment to the wounds.
He spent the night in a plastic box on a towel in my bedroom and received another bath this morning (at 7am!) because the remaining fly eggs had hatched and his wound areas were covered in maggots. I know those are actually helpful in removing the dead tissue, but too many can cause necrosis and gangrene. Before grabbing the soap again, i sprinkled meal-worms into the bath and he ate and drank, good sign. Due to the soap he got soaked again, followed by the same ointment application procedure as yesterday
Then i sat him down to the floor to see how he is doing and he walked straight into my office and laid down under my desk, like last year when he was a member of the incubator gang. He is dozing there since then:

That's a fine looking drake, I hope he pulls through and gets healthy again, it sounds like he will!

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

That's a fine looking drake, I hope he pulls through and gets healthy again, it sounds like he will!

Thank you very much! - Yes, he is a pretty drake, the patterns in his plumage are like drawn with a sharp pencil, hence the name.

 

[Canadian Wind]

Hi friends,
bad and good things have happened here since Wednesday. In the afternoon i decided to rush to the farm-store to buy some more food for the ducks, we were running low especially on their favorite cat -food. Got trapped in the store for more than an hour due to a severe thunderstorm outside with a tornado warning, all that time being worried sick about little ducklings outside in bad weather.
On the way back home, i got delayed by downed trees, there was debris on the roads and here it looked like a disaster zone.
Lots of plants in the garden were destroyed, what kind of wind would rip large Zucchini plants out of the ground?
The duck-shade that i built out of an old, broken gazebo had been lifted into the air and landed on top of some tall autumn olive shrubs.
Many of the plums, peaches and apples have been knocked off the trees, fortunately the trees themselves are undamaged. (in hindsight that might have been a blessing, especially for the plum-tree)
The duck-run was flooded again, fortunately it didn't swamped the duck-house this time. One of Laura's ducklings went missing, the one of the three light gray ones, looked weaker than all the others. The dragon-baby was sitting on the second floor, together with Milka and Karen duck.
No electricity, no internet and sporadic mobile-network until yesterday afternoon (Thu).

Yesterday morning the dragon baby went missing! - Darkbill Duck was calling out for it, becoming more and more frantic and aggressive. I was searching in the duck-yard and in between Darkbill's screams i thought i heart somebody peeping, but could not figure out where it was coming from. Finally after 20 long minutes i discovered the little one in the hole where the mallard-drake got stuck. It must have been there for a while, was weak and dehydrated. Despite being bitten and scratched i dare to keep the duckling in my hands, walked with it back to the house and gave it some vitamin-water and food and it made a quick recovery.
I covered that hole now with a heavy cement paver, so nobody will ever fall back in.

Yesterday i found the Sharp Dressed Drake injured and unable to walk in the duck-yard, more details about him in the next post.

And finally this morning i found Annifrid (Frieda) Duck dead in the duck-yard. I assume she was killed yesterday by the same predator that injured the Sharp Dressed Drake. From what her remains look like it was a dog...

Geez! That's horrible!!! I'm so sorry for all you went through, and the ducks went through. Glad that your Sharp Dressed Drake made it though, even if you now look like a punk cow!

 

[Luv Ducks]

So sorry that you lost your one duck Frank. I am so happy that your Drake looks so good and it sounds like you took good care of him. I am happy that you found your ducklings too. That was really a bad storm. I am glad that you and the rest of the ducks all seem to be doing well. Hopefully whoever's dog that was will be found and be made to pay restitution for your duck. That's about the only way people learn to keep their animals home.