I had two female Pekin ducks that grew up together, and one suddenly passed a few weeks ago. The survivor was the less friendly of the two, only in that she never was one for human attention. She was fine being 'independent', so long as she had her buddy.
Once she realized her buddy was gone, she clearly got depressed, and craved attention, and a need to have a visual of me. She developed an incredibly sad, loud quack that she does when I'm not within sight. It's especially bad at night. But it's some of her other behaviors that I'm not sure about.
The first I noticed was her walking towards me with her head down, almost in a submissive position. She often does this as I'm walking away from her, and she'll be right at my heels. More recently, she seems to be 'presenting herself' to me, as in, she flattens herself out. I recognize that as a mating request, as even though I had two females, they took turns getting on top of each other, and gong through the motions. What concerns me, though, is she only started doing this after she stopped laying eggs. Are the behaviors tied together? Is she not laying because she's not getting the sexual attention she craves? Or is it purely coincidental, only being connected through her recent loss/depression? Is there anything I can do?? Any suggestions on the sad quack?
Once she realized her buddy was gone, she clearly got depressed, and craved attention, and a need to have a visual of me. She developed an incredibly sad, loud quack that she does when I'm not within sight. It's especially bad at night. But it's some of her other behaviors that I'm not sure about.
The first I noticed was her walking towards me with her head down, almost in a submissive position. She often does this as I'm walking away from her, and she'll be right at my heels. More recently, she seems to be 'presenting herself' to me, as in, she flattens herself out. I recognize that as a mating request, as even though I had two females, they took turns getting on top of each other, and gong through the motions. What concerns me, though, is she only started doing this after she stopped laying eggs. Are the behaviors tied together? Is she not laying because she's not getting the sexual attention she craves? Or is it purely coincidental, only being connected through her recent loss/depression? Is there anything I can do?? Any suggestions on the sad quack?
