We have a 19 day old Pekin and she has her mouth open a lot! I’m not familiar with Pekins and was wondering if this is normal. 🤷‍♀️

[AmyA248]

Hello to all!

We currently have our first Pekin duckling from our 11 month old parents.
She is 19 days old and was the only one that hatched out of 3 eggs.

Mom didn’t sit, so I incubated her eggs.
Her name is Stella and she is currently in a large puppy playpen with everything she needs.
She spends most of her time sitting on the couch with my mother on wee wee pads because I want to make sure that she gets plenty of attention.

I am not familiar with Pekin ducklings, as we raise Muscovy’s and we rescued our male and female at 5 months old.

I have noticed that she has her mouth open a lot, not very wide, but definitely open.
She seems very healthy and has a great appetite. She is by far the friendliest duck we have ever had!
We give her lettuce, tomatoes, peas and grapes which she absolutely LOVES! But I’m a worrier and I was wondering if this is normal.
It is not hot in the house, (about 75 degrees)
and she always has fresh water, but it is not deep enough to put her whole head in.
Is it possible that she needs to clean her nares?
She had her first bath yesterday and loved it and kept going under water. But I’m concerned about why her mouth is open so often.
She’s not having trouble breathing and her nostrils are clean.

Would anyone happen to know if this is normal?

Thank you so much!
Kindly,
Amy

I added some “baby pictures” too! I couldn’t resist how cute she was!

 

[Gigachad poultry]

Hello to all!

We currently have our first Pekin duckling from our 11 month old parents.
She is 19 days old and was the only one that hatched out of 3 eggs.

Mom didn’t sit, so I incubated her eggs.
Her name is Stella and she is currently in a large puppy playpen with everything she needs.
She spends most of her time sitting on the couch with my mother on wee wee pads because I want to make sure that she gets plenty of attention.

I am not familiar with Pekin ducklings, as we raise Muscovy’s and we rescued our male and female at 5 months old.

I have noticed that she has her mouth open a lot, not very wide, but definitely open.
She seems very healthy and has a great appetite. She is by far the friendliest duck we have ever had!
We give her lettuce, tomatoes, peas and grapes which she absolutely LOVES! But I’m a worrier and I was wondering if this is normal.
It is not hot in the house, (about 75 degrees)
and she always has fresh water, but it is not deep enough to put her whole head in.
Is it possible that she needs to clean her nares?
She had her first bath yesterday and loved it and kept going under water. But I’m concerned about why her mouth is open so often.
She’s not having trouble breathing and her nostrils are clean.

Would anyone happen to know if this is normal?

Thank you so much!
Kindly,
Amy

I added some “baby pictures” too! I couldn’t resist how cute she was!

I'd say it's time to get out that kitty pool and let her take a dip! She seems to be in need of a water source deep enough she can go for a dip in! Even In normal weather ducks will still feel hot, that why most breeds have no problem with freezing water and snow giving her some ice cubes in a tub of water might also make her really happy! She really is a fighter! Also it should probably be outside, for your floors sake!

 

[AmyA248]

I'd say it's time to get out that kitty pool and let her take a dip! She seems to be in need of a water source deep enough she can go for a dip in! Even In normal weather ducks will still feel hot, that why most breeds have no problem with freezing water and snow giving her some ice cubes in a tub of water might also make her really happy! She really is a fighter! Also it should probably be outside, for your floors sake!

Hi!

Thank you for your reply!
She is in a playpen, thank goodness. The amount that she poops is unbelievable!
I got a kiddy pool and she didn’t seem to enjoy it. She stayed right by me and didn’t swim around and go underwater like she does in the bathtub.
I also put a heavy, deep bowl in her playpen so she can dunk her head completely under.
It’s definitely not hot inside but we are currently having a heat wave here on the East Coast of temps in the high 90’s.
I worry about my other ducks and make sure my husband refills their pools everyday and I even had him install outdoor fans! Lol!
But I’m concerned about putting Stella outside with the flock yet. We have cameras but our 2 drakes are very large and sometimes aggressive.
She doesn’t have her adult features yet either so she’s not waterproof and I worry about her having access to the pools.
I certainly am tired of having her inside and having to clean her playpen constantly and I think she needs to be with other ducks, but do you think she’s too young to join a flock of 9 adult Muscovy’s and a pair of Pekins??

Thank you so much!
Amy

 

[Gigachad poultry]

Hi!

Thank you for your reply!
She is in a playpen, thank goodness. The amount that she poops is unbelievable!
I got a kiddy pool and she didn’t seem to enjoy it. She stayed right by me and didn’t swim around and go underwater like she does in the bathtub.
I also put a heavy, deep bowl in her playpen so she can dunk her head completely under.
It’s definitely not hot inside but we are currently having a heat wave here on the East Coast of temps in the high 90’s.
I worry about my other ducks and make sure my husband refills their pools everyday and I even had him install outdoor fans! Lol!
But I’m concerned about putting Stella outside with the flock yet. We have cameras but our 2 drakes are very large and sometimes aggressive.
She doesn’t have her adult features yet either so she’s not waterproof and I worry about her having access to the pools.
I certainly am tired of having her inside and having to clean her playpen constantly and I think she needs to be with other ducks, but do you think she’s too young to join a flock of 9 adult Muscovy’s and a pair of Pekins??

Thank you so much!
Amy

She is so cute! If you have Muscovy ducks she needs to have all her adult feathers before she can join the flock. You could try introducing her to the pair of Pekins, they might even adopt her. Or she won't do good with them and it's just a waiting game for feathers. I'm so happy that she has made it through being the only hatchling all the way to looking like a fluffy duck!

 

[CoriM]

I think she is too young to go outside, except for short supervised playtimes with you in the grass so she gets used to that. You should definitely separate her from any drakes until she is at least 4 months old. They could kill her when trying to mate. When you introduce them you'll have to watch closely and I would start with the other pekins. When I introduce ducklings I keep them separate with a fence they can see through, then gradually increase supervised visits with plenty of space and multiple feeders/waterers, so they're not competing. I think your girl is hot - pekins especially get warm because of their size and that's likely why she's panting. Is she on a duckling specific feed? That is essential, especially for pekins. If she doesn't have proper niacin her legs could possibly grow deformed - it happens particularly with pekins due to how fast they grow and put on weight. With pekins I would add brewers or nutritional yeast on top of their food and if you sense the slightest problem starting - pigeon toed, or trouble getting up or walking - you need to get the liquid vitamin B complex and start giving that immediately.

 

[CoriM]

She is adorable! Pekins are incredibly sweet ducks!

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Don't be giving her treats. She needs strictly waterfowl feed and added niacin. Pekins need a lot of niacin when growing

 

[AmyA248]

I think she is too young to go outside, except for short supervised playtimes with you in the grass so she gets used to that. You should definitely separate her from any drakes until she is at least 4 months old. They could kill her when trying to mate. When you introduce them you'll have to watch closely and I would start with the other pekins. When I introduce ducklings I keep them separate with a fence they can see through, then gradually increase supervised visits with plenty of space and multiple feeders/waterers, so they're not competing. I think your girl is hot - pekins especially get warm because of their size and that's likely why she's panting. Is she on a duckling specific feed? That is essential, especially for pekins. If she doesn't have proper niacin her legs could possibly grow deformed - it happens particularly with pekins due to how fast they grow and put on weight. With pekins I would add brewers or nutritional yeast on top of their food and if you sense the slightest problem starting - pigeon toed, or trouble getting up or walking - you need to get the liquid vitamin B complex and start giving that immediately.

Hi,
Sorry for taking so long to reply!
I did exactly as you said, my husband built another pen and put it right beside the other pen so Stella could see the other ducks and her parents.
I kept her outside in her new pen for an hour per day while I watched, and wow, they were all so curious about her!! She was afraid at first because being a lone hatching she bonded with me.
I kept doing this daily for a bit longer each time until I felt comfortable putting her mother in with her. Her mom took to her immediately and vice versa!
I began letting Stella stay in her pen with her mom during the day and she began following her mom into the pool which I had to make very shallow.
To make a long story short I introduced her father and he was great with her too!
Now she is grown and has joined the flock with no issues at all.
She is still so friendly and loves human attention, but all my ducks are because they get so much attention and love!

Thank you for sharing your information, it helped me so much!

 

[CoriM]

I'm so glad you've had a happy outcome!! Those are the best stories to hear and make us duck lovers so happy!