Weird wild duckling

[Chickenlove64]

He's really cute! Hope he makes it

 

[desertdarlene]

I think he's growing now.

I dropped my lens cap and he thought it was food and came running over, lol.




Here he is to the side. He doesn't have the lighter yellow legs that a Brewer's duck would have, but he's still young. Or, he could just be an ordinary mallard duckling that's just a runt. Parts of his bill are turning yellow and I think his voice is just beginning to change.

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

He is cute DD.

 

[desertdarlene]

"One day, I'm going to fly like my big brothers and sisters do!"



I think he grew a little bit. Here he is with his sister for comparisons. Notice, also, the difference in leg color. But, it could be just the lighting:

 

[Frank Phinster]

Looks almost as if he had some runner blood in him, but I guess it's only because of his odd proportions.
Hope he makes it!

 

[desertdarlene]

It's entirely possible. He doesn't usually stand up very straight. Mostly, he's horizontal with a short body. We have a Duclair or some other small breed of drake at the lake which is only a little bigger than a call duck. That would explain his small size if that Duclair/call duck was his father. I'm beginning to wonder if he's ever going to grow to a normal size.

 

[desertdarlene]

Mama duck is in a grumpy mood today. She keeps tight tabs on Troublemaker, but I saw her fly off a little bit. I think she's trying to encourage her babies to fly. One of the siblings started flapping like he wanted to fly off to her.




He's lost most of his white belly:



Here he with with the big guys. The drake at the top was an adult male and the one at the bottom is his brother. Mama duck didn't like that adult near her baby and gave him a thrashing after I took this photo.



I wanted to mention that it's been about 6-7 weeks since I first met Troublemaker and he was at least 2-3 weeks old at that time. That makes him 8-10 weeks old now. He looks and acts like a 5-6 week old, so he's behind on his development even if he started out late. His siblings are showing normal feathering and development for ducks that are 8-10 weeks old. So, Troublemaker might be the same age as his siblings, but slower to develop.

 

[desertdarlene]

Today's update. Yes, he has grown. Mama keeps tight tabs on him. It's hard to tell the difference between mama and his sisters, but this duck was doing "mama talk" so I think she's the one:



One thing that's worrying me is that he's doing this a lot: Lying down. Here's a photo of him doing it while foraging. He seems energetic, active, and keeps up with the group, but this isn't normal:

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

Love hearing the "mama talk" it's so funny!

 

[Frank Phinster]

The lying down is definetely not normal for this age. Ducklings tend to do this, and I suppose that he is trying to safe energy, hopefully this is not a sign that he is about to take a turn for the worse...

His whole plumage appears to be in not the best shape, apart from the fact that he is still partly covered in fluff, the juvenile plumage he already has looks ruffled...