If the duck is fully feathered then you don't need to provide any additional heat (except in winter for very cold areas). 65 degrees F. is not cold for a duck. A one month old duck can easily handle 65 degrees. You don't need to protect it from drafts anymore either. I'd be more concerned about the heat since waterfowl do better in cool weather. Make sure they have access to shade and never leave them without water. A friend of mine recently lost her goose on a hot day because he tipped over his water pail. Your duck is likely healthy since its so active and well cared for. You probably don't need to disinfect their water containers that often unless there are signs of disease in their environment--ducks are quite hardy compared to chickens. One thing to watch out for is mold though--don't let them have moldy food or straw. Also keep in mind that many antibiotics that are safe for chickens are not safe for waterfowl so you would need to do some research. I've occassionally used grapefruit seed extract (GSE)without any problems. Its always better to start a treatment earlier in an illness rather than later.

Sometimes the body simply gets very sensitive to particles in the air. It's not exactly an allergic reaction, it's more like a tickle and irritation by something you breathe in. It's going to be very hard to eliminate everything in your house/bedroom that will set you off. Start with your bedroom and eliminate the things that may be harboring dust particles like drapes, fancy pillows, and duvets. Wipe down everything as best you can. Give it a couple of clean days and see if you sleep better. Use a damp mop on the floors if you don't have carpets. If it seems to help, and you have carpets, think about getting rid of them. For this first extra clean dust eliminating cleaning, if you can get someone to help you, it would be very good. It might even be worthwhile to get an air filtering system for your bedroom. If you can clean up where you sleep, then it will help ease things for you for the rest of the day. don't use perfumes, bath powders or soaps that have a fragrance. Be careful about what kind of detergent you use in the washer. No softening sheets either. No air fresheners. I'm sure that you have already thought about most of these things, but sometimes it's easy to forget a few things. Everything that you can eliminate, makes it easier to tolerate other things. You may never be able to completely eliminate everything, but you can make things much more bearable. Don't forget to change that filter on your air conditioner or furnace either. Keep your window and doors closed as much as possible. Fresh air is nice, but often it has air borne particles that will irritate. I hope this helps some. From my own personal experience, I am a terrible housekeeper.....and I pay for it by having to cough more than I should. We took up the carpets that were in the house when we bought it. That helped a lot!!! The previous owner loved poipourri, and I think the walls and carpets would coated with the stuff!

I'm having a weird sneezing issue and I was wondering if anyone has experienced anything similar... I'm currently battling a really bad cold. I noticed yesterday that when I would sneeze, immediately afterward it felt like I was being stabbed with thousands of hot needles around my neck, shoulders and arms. The pain is severe and only lasts a few seconds before it goes away. Sometimes this happens when I cough really hard too. I often see stars and it's worse when I'm sitting down. When I woke up this morning, my back and shoulder muscles were really sore, like the feeling after you use muscles you haven't used in a while. I just sneezed while writing this and the pain almost knocked me over but it disappears so quickly. And now my neck muscles are sore. My only thought is that since I'm sick, the coughing/sneezing is more powerful now and I must be hitting some sort of nerve? Would that cause almost immediate muscle soreness? I'm 28 with perfect blood pressure so I don't think it's related to that. Other than this cold, I'm completely healthy. Has anyone experienced anything similar? I went to the dr last night and mentioned it but he didn't really say anything about it. Thanks!

I have a whippet that does it occasionally. Usually just several seconds and have yet to nail down a reason. Scared the stuff out of me the first time she did that!!!