thinking about adopting more (written 6/22/13)

GrmaDuck saw this video




We have been thinking about getting more females to join our teeny tiny little flock, and this video was the straw that sent GrMaDuck over the edge to look into adoption.  We still have concerns about adding and adopting, because we know it will be extra work, and a lot of extra time required, especially during the transition.   But our ratio is still backwards, and while the boys are calm, and Missy is happy, maybe this would be a good time to introduce new feather friends.... maybe .. Still we don't know if we will qualify, and still not 100% sure if our hearts (especially GrMaDuck's is ready to take on the emotional connection to 4-6 more duckies), but are we sure enough to apply and look into it.  In the long run, the boys and Missy should be happier with more girls than boys.

Readers, don't be surprised if this doesn't happen.  There are many many things to take into consideration
we'll see
...

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...
On a side note, Missy is still singing her happy song and this make us VERY happy that she is happy.

more pictures later

One of the many worries

One of the many things a pet duck care taker / human flock member worries about.
Is when one of our duckies separates from the rest of the flock. 


Missy had become "the prize" focal point of competition for the drakes.  And she is a bit worn out from being bossed around, chased, and treated aggressively when mated.

:-(

We want peace for them



Missy is to the far right tucked next to the bucket and back fence while all the rest hang out around the big pool and eat.


This too shall pass and we will keep a close watch over them.


Always so much to worry over.



~GrMaDuck~

duckie drama

There is always a bit of duckie drama when the boys are feeling competitive.

We separate the girls from time to time to give them a rest from the aggressive drakes.

During one of these times the girlie duckies were in the R&R pen and a big storm came through. The shade tarp stretched and filled with water and then crushed the R&R pen. The girlie duckies escaped unharmed physically but they were freaked out. The humans were upset and worried for them but a cooler calmer morning inside the aviary seemed to cure it all.

There are ups and downs of keeping watch and care over pet duckies.


This morning GrMaDuck hung out with the duckies during and after saturday morning girlie time. GrMaDuck and the duckies both needed this time together.

Even though competitive duckie drama continues.  Boys will be boys and drakes are boys :-)   and we love our silly competitive drakes very much!

Darrick in front - Kouta in back left

Beau in the front



girlies in the pool

every duckie hanging out at the "big" pool

a coyote not a fox (updated post)

Stock picture of Coyote from the web

Oh no! A bold fox (correction: coyote) in our backyard (garden side) in the bright morning light this morning. While we don't mind a little rodent control, we worry for our duckies. As we went off to work we were hoping and praying our duck aviary (enclosure) is as predator proof as we designed to be.

Our duckies look so innocent ... we hope they have a good day playing in the rain we are supposed to get and that the preditors stay away.

SCARY CORRECTION!!
GrMaDuck thought it looked like a gray fox but it's face was more dog like, so I we looked up pictures on the web.  It was a coyote!  (see top of updated post)
It was not scared of us but when GrMaDuck charged at it yelling it trotted away.
It was coyote that took our first feathered family members, so we are worried.  Of course we didn't have the bigger safer duck enclosure that we have now.

peace of a cool spring morning with pet duckies

It was a long long work week for MamaDuck and GrMaDuck.  So welcome and embrace the wonderful peace of a spending time with our very loved pet duckies while they forage on this cool overcast spring morning.

Missy                                 Darrick

Darrick                      Beau                              Kouta

Queenie

Missy is looking SO pretty

Queenie and her white speckles

Queenie                                Missy

Beau   (his head feathers are changing again)

Duke Darrick

King Kouta watching the sky for preditors

Beau                                   Queenie

dig dig dig

Our duckies are LOVING springtime, and they got the extra treat of spending lots of time outside the aviary while GrPaDuck was home from work and spending time working in the garden.  Our happy pet duckies are looking really good.  It appears that their bodies needed the extra green goodies.  It's too bad that they have eaten and dug up all the green stuff inside the aviary.



P.S.  Our girlie duckies are NOT laying right now.  We have had a few stretches of days of "yucky" eggs.  The vet couldn't find anything wrong on the last visits, but makes us wonder and worry just a bit. 

yucky very soft shelled egg

In the future, we would like to add a few more girls to our little flock, but we would like to have a better understanding of the egg issues associated with our water, soil, etc, before we introduce more duckies.  In the meantime everyone is happy and healthy so we are happy too!

YouTube video links ... video from today:

http://youtu.be/me4ue2TSlBE

http://youtu.be/UBsBV7SGzsk

http://youtu.be/BIAcR0ftDnY


:-) quack quack

Both of KEELYN 's legs appear to be broken again or severely re-– insured . She only looked sore this morning. But after some time playing in the grass she is not able to walk at all. And has to use her neck and wings to try to scoot.

We are sad and frustrated. Not sure what the future holds for Keelyn . For now she's back in the dog/duck house nest resting semi-comfortably on the think pile of pine chips.

hurricane IRENE

Keeping the duckies very close because of wind and rain causing falling branches etc during their break outside their house (during a lull in the storm) - hurricane IRENE

Hurricane IRENE

Giving the duckies a short break from being inside their house all day.because of hurricane IRENE. (super stormy but not huricane forces here West of Richmond, VA)

Trying to balance what is best for Keelyn's legs against her very real need for socialization with the flock is tricky. Here is a moment when I was duck sitting close by and I let Kouta and Darrick have a swim with her.


(this is low quality phone video)

~GrMaDuck~

Fighting the bordom

Gave Keelyn a plush toy and a small mirror to hopefully help keep her entertained. We'll see how this works...

Lots of pictures and considerations...

We are having to consider some hard things related to our little flock. Both of Keelyn's femurs are broken (due mainly to low calcium levels - she has experienced no major trauma). But surgery to pin them is not likely an option because of the low calcium (her bones are simply too weak.) So we are left with very difficult decisions...

put her to sleep OR try and rehab her ourselves OR find a rescue center that can rehab her

After doing some research, MamaDuck found out that those sanctuaries/rehab centers that even take pet ducks, are either so full of rescues that they can’t take any and/or they don’t take lame ducks. There is also the factor of, if we surrender Keelyn to a rehab center, we won’t get her back.


Things to consider
- GrmaDuck usually work 45-55 hours a week, which means that it is a daily challenge for her to make the time to care for and socialize with our little flock, but she manages and it is a delight. BUT adding rehab, will (if we do this right so that we can better manage her pain and increase her potential of a decent outcome) require more frequent care and more time with her and the flock.
- Only GrmaDuck and MamaDuck can work with Keelyn. We don't have anyone else that is comfortable with this. We do have a couple of people who can duck sit healthy ducks, but not injured or sick ducks.
- MamaDuck now lives 25 min away, and starts full-time work in a couple of months. She will always be around and be MamaDuck of the flock, just not every day.
- Happy or not, Keelyn is in pain.
- We wonder if she will ever be able to run and chase bugs again (which was her FAVORITE thing to do)
- We love her so very much. We wish we had a sign that their calcium was so low, but the eggs were fine, everyone was happy, we just couldn't have known before now. Her broken legs are breaking our hearts.
- We don't want to put her down. We selfishly want to keep her with us for all of her life.
- We are trying to be realistic. We are trying to think about what is best overall.
- We aren’t sure that we have the time or energy or money resources to give her the best rehab possible.
- It is more than, is Keelyn capable of being happy. It is, can we keep her happy, and manage her pain level well for months, and likely for years?



As of now, we are finding ways to keep her happy and as comfortable as possible. We even figured out how to keep her immobile while also with the rest of the flock in the aviary. Other than when she is trying to move, she doesn’t seem to be in great amounts of pain. We know that she has to be hurting; you can’t break both your femurs like that and not be in pain. But we are managing her meds to keep her comfortable and using water therapy as often as we can to relieve the pressure and weight off her legs. We have already started adding vitamins to their water which has calcium plus D (Vitamin D helps the body actually absorb the calcium) to help with her bones, and to prevent future issues with the other ducks.

Keelyn is and always has been very energetic, it is the reason we picked her name, Keelyn means "lively", this means that she is already trying to be adventurous and move more than we would like her to. This can create more problems as she is trying to heal.

If we continue down this road of rehab, it is going to be a very long, long hard road. We know that she will never be the same, and will most likely always be mostly lame. This is harder than we can put into words.

FOLLOW UP NOTE ADDED JUNE 2011: We decided "rehab" her ourselves. It has been a BIG challenge and has impacted every area of our life with the frequent time commitment required, but we are seeing progress and are hopeful that despite some permanent nerve damage in one leg she will walk again (she will likely never run again but walking is looking probable). Of course we will forever supplement their diet to counter the effects of the minerals in our ground and water that limit calcium absorption.

Now, for some pictures.

Family breakfast around Keelyn

Tub (Water therapy) time...Darrick sneaking some of Keelyn's treats :P

Kouta - "My Love!...My Darling!"
Keelyn - "Babe, you ate my treats...you get no love right now."
:P

Time to dry off and preen in the sun on the towel.

"Gotta....get...comfy..."
This is the only way she can move around right now, she pushes herself up to get her legs comfortable.

"I don't like this...but since you're holding my bill, I'll tolerate it."
We have to roll her over to dry her belly off since she can't reach that one spot.

You can see, her right leg (the older less severe break) she can sort of move if it doesn't have weight on it.  But her left leg (the more recent, and worse break) has nerve damage, she can move her foot, but not her leg.

"I'm tired Mama, hold my head for me"  <3

"Ahh...Back in the aviary with everybody, in my new set up, so I can see and talk to everyone, but I can still rest, and not worry about those silly boys getting too close."

~MamaDuck and GrmaDuck

Keelyn

Grass and preening/drying off time.

more worries

Keelyn is not able to walk thhis morning. Her legs appear too weak to hold her. She does not act like she is hurting just not able or willing or strong enough to walk. *another trip to the vet*
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We are VERY VERY worried.  She has been on antibiotics for almost a month, and a second round of anti-inflamintory for almost a week, to treat what the vet thought she has bumble foot and then adding a knee sprain on top of it.   But now... now .....

We are VERY VERY concerned..... Keelyn's condition has significantly changed since yesterday. She mostly drags herself around by her wings. She feels a bit bonier (thinner) today. She doesn't appear to be in pain, but to be sick and wea...k and her the way she barely moves or uses her legs looks like paralysis more than injury. I am wondering if she got into something poisenous. She doesn't want to eat her duck feed only mud or to sleep in the nest. Our vet is off today. We are calling all around for vet to help us.

A quick but necessary update

Just wanted to let everyone know, that MamaDuck has moved out of GrmaDuck's house, about 20min away.  I will still be around very often to keep my role as #1 in the flock, and to help with the responsibilities (especially while we are still dealing with health issues since GrmaDuck and myself - MamaDuck - are the only ones who know how to give medicine.)

Also, Queenie has an appointment with the vet tonight...we are thinking that it's not going to be a great prognosis.  She has not laid eggs in quite some time, and is visibly heavy with egg.  This may (most likely) require surgery to take care of.  Depending on what the Vet says, we are going to have to wiegh our options and see if we can afford that kind of care, plus the added time and responsibility of post-op care.  I (MamaDuck) really wants to just do what will make her healthy again...but I also know that it costs money that we may not have.  :-\  I've been very worried, but trying not to let it get to me.
Anywho...enough of that.  We will update later with what the vet says and our decisions.

~MamaDuck

*sigh* Came home tonight to see that Keelyn can't walk on her right leg and is using her wings to balance herself. Back to the vet tomorrow for an X ray. For tonight she's in the pet carrier, inside the house, to keep her from trying to stand or walk, but also to keep her with everyone to prevent attitude issues. *stress* *stress* *stress* Trusting God.

We are also watching Queenie closely she is always heavy and not laying much.  If she doesn't show improvement Queenie may also be getting a ride to the vet later this week.

After a week on her new eye medicine her eye is looking so so so much better. :)

We had company this weekend.
The duckies made a new human friend.

   

Steps

Kouta saying, "Come up here; climbing the steps are easy." Kouta will fly down sometimes but the others walk around the slope.

Steps

Climbing up the steps

Apr 25

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