Lethargic Call Duck

[uisceros]

Hi all,

I’m very new to ducks - I’ve only had my two calls for approximately 6 months, so I’m still learning. I have a hen and a drake. They are confined in a 60 sq ft pen, and do not free range. I have chickens, but they do not interact. The ducks eat Kalmbach duck and goose pellets.

Recently I noticed my hen is acting odd. Sleeping a lot more, acting depressed, not as excited about food, etc. I picked her up and she seems lighter (my calls are not fans of people so I don’t do this often, but I believe I remember her being heavier. She also shows no excitement for her pond and doesn’t even quack much. Thomas has been going on for only a few days, max a week.

She has no outward signs of illness, and her poop SEEMS fine, but I’m worried.

She has started laying eggs recently (within the last month, I’ve gotten about a dozen from her), but shows no interest in brooding them. Is this typical for early spring? Is there anything I can or should do?

 

[casportpony]

Do you have a food scale that you can weigh her on?

 

[uisceros]

Do you have a food scale that you can weigh her on?

I do - I will weight her when I get home from work.

I’m going to see if I can buy them a different food to her to try.

Should I try deworming? I have safeguard goat dewormer, and a variety of chicken dewormers.

 

[CoriM]

How are your ducks doing?

 

[uisceros]

How are your ducks doing?

She’s doing good! I ended up panic messaging the breeder I got them from, sent videos, and the final diagnosis was that she is broody

I’m very used to broody chickens, but broody ducks were new to me! Aspen is still not a fan of me (especially since I steal her eggs), but she seems okay. Alder the drake remains normal

 

[CoriM]

Oh good! They are gorgeous! I just adopted two calls - one the breeder had in a stock tank alone for 5 weeks due to wry neck, and she wanted to use the stock tank for babies. They are so tiny compared to my standards. I am one month in and finally able to integrate them under supervision - one of my big girls is not a fan.