Hello All, I have checked the archives first before posting. Our 6 week old Pekin male duck, flips over and can't get up! We have found him upside down in his water bowl, and then at least three other times. He flops around and cannot right himself. We watched him closely last night and when he reaches around to preen his feathers he wobbles and nearly falls over. He looks a mess and has some injuries from his thrashing around. Please help!

-- Glynn Pennington (glynnpennington@yahoo.com), April 23, 2002

Answers

Glynn, the first thing I would suggest is to go to www.poultryconnection.com, and click on General Waterfowl Forum. There are experts there who can help. They will want to know what you are feeding your ducks, how long he has been doing this, how old is he etc. Also, you will find LINKS there to a Poultry Veterinarian. Hollar if you need help accessing this link. Good luck, he sounds pitiful, and I know it upsets you too. LQ

-- Little Quacker (carouselxing@juno.com), April 23, 2002.

Glynn, I have a duck who developed the same problem as your duck when he was about 6 weeks old. He had balancing trouble and his neck appeared to be off center. I spoke with a woman who raises show ducks about this problem, and she said it is most likely a deformity. We had to watch him constantly to make sure he did not hurt himself. When he was about 8 weeks old he gained some weight, and stopped flipping over.

He is a year old now and is doing fine. He does have difficulty preening his lower stomach still, but my other duck does it for him. Other than that he is perfectly normal and healthy.

-- Shannon B. (sboedewig@hotmail.com), May 06, 2002.