I’m a little concerned about Whitey, the White Appleyard. He (she?) seems a little more lethargic than the others, and sits a lot, even while eating and drinking. He’s got an odd reddish spot alongside his neck that particularly shows up when he’s wet, he just seems a bit odd.
I wonder if he’s growing too fast, and if we’ve given the ducks too much protein. According to the book, we should be dropping the protein content about now anyway, so I’ll mix some lower protein ingredients into their food to drop down the protein percentage. We got some organic “hen scratch” at 8% protein, so hopefully that will help, along with a little more oatmeal. I’ve also been adding some water or whey to their food, as suggested, with my kitchen pastry blender. It makes a nice, moist, crumbly consistency, and I’ve noticed they don’t run to their waterer quite as quickly or frequently now while eating. I should have done this from the start—that food seemed awfully dry!
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| Whitey |