[Kier]

its been a while since i was on here an now i'm back but under sad circumstances.One of my 2 month old silver appleyards which i incubated died about 10 mins ago.I went out to collect eggs and top up water tanks when I found the rest of the appleyards an other ducks by the pond,under their shade bush on the far side of the garden was the other duck,straight away i could tell something was wrong as her wings were lowered on both sides and she seemed very weak.I offered her fresh water as I thought she may have been dydrated but she didnt accept it,Usually they are very skitty and stick together so I knew something was up by her extremely docile way of just lying there.I got a jumper an wrapped her in to keep her warm an bought her inside,she seemed to be more alert but had a spasm an died.I feel bad coz my mums at work and my 9 year old brother saw it an he;s distressed.luckily my mum is home in an hour to make him feel better,i tried explaining to him that these arent pets an that at least it didnt die outside alone.I;m pretty sure it had a stroke,the reason i think this is as thus-
wings were by her side
she seemed very subdued
seemed very weak
the worst bit is that she fed from my hand earlier today an they all seemed ok.What do you think?I;m thinking of taking her for an autopsy.theres nothing in the garden which i know to be poisionous to the chickens or ducks so that rules out poison.shes not wounded in any way.She has fresh water right next to her feed so that rules out choking on her food,the other animals are fine so that rules out any mass infection.I;m just so annoyed an frustrated,i;m one of those ppl that need answers.I;m just so glad i went out when i did.Sorry for the long post,its just been one of those days

[sandy]

How sad, you need something happy to happen now, I dread finding any of my birds dead

[shetlandpaul]

i know how you feel my only blue splash cochin was badly hurt today. i hate killing them but there was no choice. if its only one i would not bother. if more are effected then i would.

[jameslindsay]

Sorry to hear about your loss Kier, I too lost one of my girls unexpectadly lastnight - it is a bugger. Sorry I can't offer any suggestions as to what happened but I hope the rest of the flock are ok? I started off with only 2 ducks, many years ago and one of t hem was a Minaiture Silver Appleyard. He was a brilliant wee fella and he lived with us till he was 9 years old and dies of old age I guess. I hope your brother is doing ok now after his shock, enjoy your time with the other ducks.

[Kier]

cheers everyone for your comments,i buried the duck under a tree it used to shelter under during the sunny days,but a flower pot with a rose in on top of the grave to keep off any interfering beasties.At least its at rest now an as we have 4 other appleyards an 2 call ducks then they dont seem too bothered by the missing one.Infact thats one thing that has surprised me,the appleyards were incubated together an have been kept together all their lives an go round in a pack.but they left the duck under the bush,i was always told that one duck will stay with an injured duck out of the flock when they fly but it doesnt seem to be the case here.Quite grateful theyre not distressed by it at all

[LockerbiteReiver]

Very sorry to hear about your duck Kier  .

We've at present got seven Runner Ducklings growing up in our back yard however just a couple of weeks ago with had ten.  We lost three of them in a very short period of time (about 48 hours) which was very upsetting.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for the rest of your flock, and I know you'll be keeping an extra close eye on them.

Good luck, and try not to take it too hard, sometimes life's a bit cruel but there's always something to make it alright just around the corner.

[sheila]

Sorry about your duck. I have lost 3 chicks and a hen in two weeks so I think I know how you are feeling. We try to tell ourselves that this is nature etc. but it doesn't make it any easier