A senior Pekin duck should exercise in water far more than on land, because her heavy body is the problem her aging legs have to solve with every step. Pekins are big, fast-grown white ducks whose legs and feet were never their strongest feature, and a senior Pekin duck who is walked like a lighter breed will tell you so with a limp by evening.
Why land exercise costs a Pekin so much
In a senior Pekin duck, weight, upright stance, and soft feet combine against her. Each step on concrete, packed dirt, or stony ground presses her full load through joints and soles that bruise and swell readily, and the damage shows as a shortened stride, a waddle that rolls more than usual, sitting down mid-route, or reluctance to stand when the flock moves off. A senior Pekin duck also gains weight easily when she slows, and every gain makes the next walk harder, so her exercise plan and her feed amount must be adjusted together rather than in isolation.
Making the pool her main exercise ground
For a senior Pekin duck, the pool entry is the whole design problem. She needs a ramp or a set of wide, submerged steps she can walk up and down without jumping, flapping, or being lifted, because a duck who must be hauled in and out will simply stop swimming. Let a senior Pekin duck paddle in several shorter sessions across the day, supervised, in water clean enough that she wants to dive her head and work her neck and legs.
Scatter a little feed on the grass beside the pool to encourage a slow graze, but measure her main ration rather than free-feeding an inactive older bird. Never chase or herd a senior Pekin duck across a yard to make her exercise: the hurried, splay-legged scramble that follows is exactly the movement most likely to strain a leg or leave her panting and stressed. In hot weather, her white feathers offer little relief once she is active, so swim her in the cool hours and keep the pool shaded, with drinking water separate from her bath water.
Feet and gait checks after every active day
A senior Pekin duck's feet need looking at more often than her behaviour suggests, because she will keep walking on a sore sole until she suddenly will not. Turn each foot over regularly and look for swelling, a dark scab, heat, or a toe she resists extending, and note which leg she favours on the walk back from the pool. Keep her standing areas dry, since a heavy duck standing in wet bedding softens the sole and invites trouble that ends her exercise entirely.
A senior Pekin duck who cannot stand, drags herself by her wings, stops eating, breathes hard while resting, or has a hot, swollen leg or foot needs a veterinarian the same day rather than a trial of rest. A new limp that persists beyond a day of quiet, or a steady week-by-week shortening of how far she will walk, also deserves a prompt visit.
Records that show her legs' real trajectory
A senior Pekin duck can look unchanged for weeks while her walking range halves, because she organises her day around the pool and nobody measures the difference. Dated notes on how far she walked willingly, how her gait looked, and what her feet showed turn that hidden slide into something a veterinarian can act on. Keeping those notes with her weights and visit records in KinsLe through Pet Passport gives anyone treating or minding her the full story of her mobility in one packet, instead of a cheerful guess that she seems fine.