Tag: Indian Runner Duck

Plot Twist: A Luna Update

~ Crystal Sands ~ 5 Comments

I was all very much prepared to write a blog post this week about my success with Luna. It has been one month since the “incident” with Bairre when he accidentally stepped on her, and her leg has healed quite well. It is still a little off, and she still has a bit of a limp. However, she gets around very well. It really barely slows her down.

Because Luna was reluctant to eat in the house early on, as soon as she was able, I would let her spend time outside with her people, little bits at a time. It helped get her appetite going, and with her leg wrapped up, she could hang with her flock for at least a couple of hours each day. I was amazed that no one was aggressive to her when she would go back outside for visits. I was so grateful because flock aggression is a real issue with our ducks.

This week, Luna was doing so well and the temperatures were warm enough that I decided to leave her outside all day one day. In the evening, I went to check on her, and she didn’t want to come in. I let her spend the night with her people, and in the morning, I scooped her up, gave her a soak in the tub for about an hour, wrapped her leg, and let her go back outside. This seemed to be working so well for a couple of days until one afternoon I was outside with the chickens and heard a terrible commotion from the ducks. I wish I could have run, but there was so much ice on the ground that it took me a bit to get to the ducks. I found a terrible situation. Luna was at the bottom of a pile, and four of the ducks were absolutely abusing her–like severely. Only Ferdinand and Anna Maria weren’t involved.

I ran to her, but she didn’t want to come to me. She took off, so I yelled at the ducks to knock off this nonsense and realized I had better start keeping a very close eye on Luna, though I thought I already was. For the rest of that day and another one, I checked on her about 20 times each day. It was steady. I didn’t see anything else, but yesterday morning, she was acting really strange. I found her away from the flock, and when I went to check on her, it seemed like she wanted me, which was a surprise. I told her I would be right back. I came inside to run a bath for her and went right back to get her. When I put her in the tub, I saw blood on her bill.

I couldn’t figure out what had happened, but after she was in the tub for a bit and her bill was cleaned, I could see the small cracks near the top, where her head meets the bill. I was devastated! I couldn’t believe the other ducks had done this much damage to her, and I couldn’t believe we were here.

A duck’s bill is far more sensitive that you might think. A duck’s bill has highly-sensitive nerves. I have seen the ducks out hunting at night with their bills to the ground. It’s really fantastic to see. Obviously, seeing Luna with a damaged bill was a big worry.

Her bill not only has some small cracks, there is a tiny missing chip from the outer area. I researched about what to do, so I treated her with antibiotic spray to prevent infection. I then had a talk with Ron about what this might mean.

There is a chance Luna may never be able to go back with her people. I found out later from our teenage son that he had to break up an attack on Luna the afternoon before I saw her injury, and he forgot to tell me about it. I told him to please, please tell me when things like that happen.

With these attacks in mind, at the very least, Luna is going to be in the house until spring. I hope we will be able to put her back with her flock, but she is going to have to heal a long time and is going to have to get used to the house right now. Hopefully, we will be able to integrate her back into the flock, but if she gets beat up again, the damage to her bill could be even greater. I don’t know how well it’s going to heal. I don’t know how sturdy a bill will get to be after an injury. I have been trying to research online to get more information, but I really don’t know a lot yet.

All I know for now is that we have to take care of that bill, and Luna is now walking around the house, making herself fairly at home. She’s walking so well now that she won’t stand for sitting her her little nest very much, so she marches those little webbed feet across our wood floors in the cutest manner you could imagine.

Mean Ducks and Pretty Roosters

~ Crystal Sands ~ 2 Comments

I am putting it down in writing that I am never getting another duck. Our ducks will be 6 years old in the spring. They can live to be 13 to 15 years old with good genetics and good living conditions. I love those little ducks, but I will not get more ducks after these ducks pass away. They can be so mean.

Poor Anna Maria is getting picked on again. It’s happening in the duck house at night, so I have been making sure I get up very early and run down stairs to let the ducks out every morning. This morning, however, Anna Maria still had a little spot on her head. Thankfully, it’s nowhere near the damage a male duck can do, but still. In the absence of a male to lead the flock, the largest female has stepped up and is pretty fierce.

Just yesterday, I heard a loud commotion with the ducks. I looked out the window to see two ducks ganged up on another duck, just driving her head into the ground with those bills (thankfully, it was not Anna Maria getting picked on this time). I ran outside to stop the nonsense, but the largest duck went right back to it when I walked away. I chased her down and scooped her up and just made her walk around with me for a bit. She submitted quickly. She’s not a mean duck really, but my goodness, ducks can be pretty mean to each other. I know some people will think I am silly for writing this. It’s just ducks being ducks, after all, but I am opposed to any behavior that causes injury to another–in all aspects of my life–even ducks, it seems. So I’ll just keep trying to be vigilant, but no more ducks after this batch.

I have heard chickens can be like this too, but outside of a crazy rooster we had a long time ago, I’ve never seen such terrible behavior. We have a pretty nice flock.

And, speaking of our nice flock, we have too many boys right now. I mentioned before that I lucked into the best home ever for one of Ruby’s babies, and I meant to look for a home for her other little boy. But every single day that little boy gets more and more beautiful. It’s hard to capture his beautiful colors in a picture, but he just shimmers green and black in the sun. He looks just like his mama, Hector, who is a Black Copper Maran, and Black Copper Maran roosters are gorgeous. Ron said, “let’s just keep him” because Rooster is pretty old. I thought we would surely lose Rooster last winter though, and he’s still getting around, even making babies this summer. So I don’t know what to do yet, but I know that our flock makes some beautiful babies. This little boy is magnificent.

Trying to be better than nothing.

~ Crystal Sands ~ Leave a comment

Day 335 of 365

Anna Maria is a little better today. She’s a strong girl and hanging in there well. It’s going to be a couple of weeks that she’s in the house, I think, but I see some progress already. Plus, tonight, I decided we had better get antibiotics on her poor eye, so Ron held her and I got the medicine on her.

Mainly, today, I tried to get her used to me. While she was in the bathtub soaking, I sat on the bathroom floor next to the tub and did our taxes. Then, I spent more time with her this evening while I was working. My hope is that she will just get used to my presence. Ron spent some time with her tonight, and I think he agrees that Anna Maria will never again be able to return to the flock.

It was very interesting spending so much time with her. When I originally rehabilitated her, she would fight me when I had to pick her up to get her out of the tub and into her nest. My arms were covered in bruised from duck bites. Ducks pinch really hard, it turns out. But no biting or fighting this time. She’s just pretty worried about me.

So, today, I just leaned against the tub and told her she was going to have to get used to me, that we were going to have to learn to be friends. I told her I would try my best to be better than nothing. Maybe she understood this because the coolest thing happened.

After I told her this, I went to work on my laptop, and a little later, I thought I felt her looking at me. She was. I turned around just in time to see her “duck” behind the shower curtain. She was like, “you saw nothing.”

But she did it again. And again! It’s like she was playing hide and seek. It was so cute. Of course, when I decided to turn all the away around and look at her, she turned around and pretended like I didn’t exist while also watching me with her one good, I mean semi-good, eye to make sure I wasn’t going to grab her. Hopefully, tomorrow will be easier for her, and hopefully, Ron and I can figure out a long-term plan for her.

The First Duck Egg

~ Crystal Sands ~ 4 Comments

Day 318 of 365

It was as if the ducks gave me a present this morning after all that trouble last night. Today, we got the first duck egg of the season, and I am over the moon!

I have been keeping track of when the ducks begin and end laying each season because I am very interested in how long our ducks will lay eggs. I have not encountered many people who have kept Indian Runner ducks for more than a few years, so I am anxious to see how things go with our ducks. I did hear from one person online who said he had an Indian Runner duck who was laying until she was about 8 years old. Our ducks are 5 now.

Two years ago, we got the first duck egg on March 17. Last year, it was March 21. This year, we got the 23rd. They are pretty consistent. I will be so interested in seeing how they do this year. I noticed a decline in number of eggs per day last year, but it wasn’t much of a decline.

And, of course, we will keep all of them for the rest of their lives (some make it to 12 to 15 years, I read), whether they lay eggs or not.but I also really love duck eggs. So I’m always super happy to get them!

If you have not tried ducks eggs, I highly recommend them.

Anna Maria

~ Crystal Sands ~ 3 Comments

Day 197 of 365

Today, I was giving the heels from Ron’s homemade bread to the ducks. It’s true that you don’t want to feed ducks too much bread, but this is whole grain bread. I have seen it help heal an injured duck who wouldn’t eat anything else, so I keep giving them whole grain bread as a snack sometimes. Plus, they love it.

I have noticed, however, that one of our ducks seems to have vision issues, and this breaks my heart. It’s Anna Maria, and she has a very special story. I have been meaning to write it for some time. Today, after watching her struggle, I decided to tell her story.

I met Anna Maria shortly after my Poe died. A farmer friend had a female duck who had been over-mated pretty badly. The duck had nearly died, but they were able to save her. When my farmer friend asked me about rehabilitating the duck, she told me the duck was set to be picked up by someone who culls. If I thought she was too much for me, I could pass.

Culling is a reality for badly injured animals. It’s better than suffering. One time, my Broody Hen was so sick, I thought we might have to cull her. Ron had taken our son to orchestra, and her little head was so swollen. I was Googling the most humane way to cull a chicken. Sever the spinal cord. Quickly. I read about the broomstick method. I decided to give her just one more round of meds and a few more hours. The swelling went down a little, and Broody Hen would live three more years. I tell that story just to say that I have no judgment for my farmer friend considering culling. It’s a reality of farming.

My friend told me the duck’s name was Anna Maria, and before I even met her, I wanted to save her. It felt like it was meant to be. I had just rehabilitated one of our ducks who broke her leg on the ice–Anna Sophia.

But then I met Anna Maria. She looked terrible. She had no feathers on her neck, and her skin was rough, kind of scaly. Her skull had been showing before I met her, but her skin had grown back over her skull by the time I saw her–but just barely. Her skin on her skull was so tight that her eyes were pulled back. She had a sinus infection and bubbly eyes.

I was a little scared. I didn’t know if I could handle it, but when I reached down to talk her her, she just came to me. This is HUGE for a duck, especially an Indian Runner duck. They are skittish ducks. But she just came to me, and then I held her the whole time I was at my friend’s farm. She just leaned into me, so calmly. She let me pet her little scaly head. I couldn’t believe it. It was like some kind of miracle. It was like she knew I was there to save her. What could I do but try? It was like something out of a movie.

Little did I know Anna Maria was setting me up. Of course, I am so glad she did, but the first few weeks Anna Maria came home with me, I was exhausted. Her sinus infection had to be treated. She needed medicine. She also needed soaks to help her skin. And she wouldn’t eat the things our other ducks loved. She was wild, out of control. I could calm her down with classical music but not like with our other ducks. The music just kind of took the edge off. And, oh my goodness, her edge was sharp. She attacked me. She bit me–a lot. I was covered in bruises. And she would run from me when it was time for medicine or soaks. I had to dive to catch her. I was middle aged. It was not easy.

But, somehow, over time, she started to heal. Her eyes were no longer tight, but it would be months before she was strong enough to be put with our flock. Our male duck would try to mate with her, and she had to be strong enough to handle it. Ron built her a little shed and a fenced area next to our ducks. Every day, during the day, she could hang out with them through the fence, but she was protected from our male, Antonio.

One of the things that I noticed about Anna Maria during that time was that she didn’t get into the little duck pool I had for her. Our ducks love the water, so it was confusing to me that she didn’t want to get into the water, but she didn’t. How was that possible for a duck?

One day, I decided to start putting one or two of our females in the fenced area with Anna Maria, so she could start to make friends and not be so lonely. I saw her watching as the other ducks would get into the pool and splash around, but she never got in.

And, then one afternoon, the sun was setting and I looked out the back window just in time to see Anna Maria get into the pool all by herself. I watched in awe as she splashed and splashed. Ducks make a move in the water where they put their heads in and then raise up, and the water runs down their backs. As Anna Maria made these moves, I watched the water droplets glisten in the sunlight. They looked golden, and Anna Maria looked magical. She had healed. It was breathtaking watching her enjoy herself for the first time I had ever seen, maybe the first time in her whole life.

Fairly soon, she was able to move in with the rest of the flock. It was stressful at first, but she handled being mated. And, since we have just one male for six ducks, he moved on. She was in the flock, in the club, and she had good home where she had lots of space, a kiddie pool, and peas every night before bed. Oh, and whole grain bread snacks.

Anna Maria is now the favorite duck. Ron adores her, and she loves Ron. She will come running when he calls for her and quack and quack while she talks with him. She still holds a bit of a grudge against me for all that medicine, but it’s not too bad. She will come to me for treats and knows how to tell me what she wants.

I learned a tremendous life lesson from that duck. I learned about loving others on their own terms, not mine. It was a lesson I was going to need very soon as a mother. I like to think that Anna Maria came into my life to teach me that lesson. Hopefully, I have been as good for her as she has been for me.

I am heartbroken that she is having such terrible vision issues. Ron and I started to suspect she wasn’t able to see very well this summer, but today, when I threw the bread snacks right in front of her, she couldn’t find them. In about 20 pieces of bread I threw at her feet, she got one. I just wanted to hug her. Of course, she would hate that.

I looked it up today, and apparently over mating can lead to vision issues. I couldn’t find anything related to long-term vision issues and blindness, but it makes sense that the damage could cause problems later in life. She does well getting around and knows where the peas are. Hopefully, that beautiful duck who has been through so much, even if blind, can have a long, wonderful life.