The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: PJB on October 07, 2013, 05:44:42 pm
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I dug in a pond into the garden (large circular bowl) and i dug it into the ground level to the rim of the bowl. My 6 Pekin Ducks have taken quite a while to get familiar with the pond but this weekend they all jumped in and were having a great time. I noticed a bit later on that water level had dropped due to the splashing around and 2 Ducks were having difficulty in climbing out.
They must have been trying for a while but after eventually noticing i gave them a helping hand but one seemed quite distressed after i assume trying to get out for a while!!
A day later (sunday) my poor Duck lay dead in her run!! Would the stress given her a heart attack?
Obviously i need to quickly address my pond situation. :'(
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So sorry, you lost one of your ducks. I assume you have a drake as well as females? Your drake may have mated her underwater - as they do, and she may have become stressed that way. They always splash out a lot of the water so you need to make sure there is an easy way for them to get out when the level has dropped - either a slope for them to waddle out or a brick at one side they can hop onto easily
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:( So sorry! I think ducks seem to be quite resilient but I guess it depends whether she just got so exhausted with the efforts. My ducks have a vertical sided dog bath and are pretty good at getting out but I did have one of the ducklings (already quite big) stuck in their once. I noticed she'd been in a while and helped her out (proof that she couldn't get out on her own, normally they bounce out as soon as I get close) and she was fine but maybe I just go there sooner...
H