Brewers yeast making 3 week old ducklings sneeze, breath loudly.

[Mccluckers]

Hi guys I have 2, 3 week old call ducklings and they are on duck starter with extra Brewers yeast. I think the Brewers yeast is making them sneeze( they only sneeze occasionally but when they do they sneeze about 4 times in a row) and breath heavily( they might be wheezing but I don't know what a wheezing duck sounds like ) I am wetting their food with Brewers yeast on to try and keep the dust down. What can I do ?or will the sneezing, heavy breathing stop at ten week when they come of the Brewers yeast? Thanks in advance

 

[Mccluckers]

Hhhhheeeeellllllllppppp I am really worried they may have a respritary infection!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Hhhhheeeeellllllllppppp I am really worried they may have a respritary infection!

Dusty feed can make them sneeze and cough, is their bedding dry? very important not to keep ducklings in wet enviroment because of aspergellois [brooder pneumonia ] if your wetting their feed with the BY on it make sure you only leave it down for a couple hrs before replacing it because in a heated brooder it can mold fast. Did you try giving them some Apple Cider vinegar in their drinking water? 1Tab to 1 gal, it is a tonic and also good for them to use to clean out their nares. Any other symptoms like drainage from nares? you might try not putting any BY on their feed and see if that stops the sneezing that way you are eliminating till you figure it out. Is their feed dusty?

 

[jtn42248]

Hhhhheeeeellllllllppppp I am really worried they may have a respritary infection!

It is unlikely that brewers yeast would cause a respiratory infection. Make sure that they have bedding as dry as possible. When I was brooding all my ducklings I discovered really fast that shavings and straw just don't work for a duck brooder. What I did was use old towels and rags that I could switch out several times a day, shake them out then pop them in the washer. They had dry bedding and, even though a little more work, I had peace of mind that they were in a safe and clean environment.

When you add the brewers yeast to their food just sprinkle a little on top and mix it around a bit so that they are not sticking their bills directly in the yeast powder. If yours are at all like mine they are going to gobble up the feed pretty quickly mixed in yeast and all. Check the label of the feed you are using. If it says it has niacin and/or brewers yeast already you probably don't need to add any...there is such a thing as too much of a good thing afterall.

Make sure they are warm enough. Though they don't need the prolonged extra heat that chicks do they need more than room temp for the first few weeks. And, watch that they don't have any sort of discharge coming from their nostrils. They will have water that they shake out but watch for anything other than water.

Good luck, you will find that your ducks are a true pleasure to have and will hopefully look back on this time as something well learned.

 

[jtn42248]

Also, you say they are 3 weeks old. Are you letting them swim in water at all? If so make sure they are really really dry when they get out. Ducks are waterfowel and nothing is cuter that a duckling swimming around in a little bit of water. But young ducklings, without a mother to make sure they are water proofed, can get damp and chilled very fast. Either towel dry with a soft warm towel or use a blow dryer on a low but warm setting. Once they get used to the sound they will really enjoy the warm air.

 

[Amykins]

Hi Cluck,

For starters, are you sure they're not just trying to clean out their nares? Ducklings sometimes don't really get the hang of the whole "water" thing right away so they may be trying to flush 'em in the air. It looks like they're having sneezing fits and can be quite worrisome. But it's the wheezing that concerns me. If they've accidentally inhaled the yeast spores then yeah, they could potentially develop a candida infection. It's not the same species, but for some reason there's a proven correlation to consumption of brewer's yeast and candida. The same exact thing happened to Wobbles when I was giving him fermented feed. He's...he's not a graceful eater.

If you're that concerned, then please get them to a vet ASAP. Heck, even I'm concerned, You shouldn't be able to hear them breathing that loudly. Be sure to tell them everything, since it could be either bacterial OR fungal. If it's already in their respiratory system then no home remedy is gonna do the trick, you need prescription antifungals.

 

[Mccluckers]

Dusty feed can make them sneeze and cough, is their bedding dry? very important not to keep ducklings in wet enviroment because of aspergellois [brooder pneumonia ]  if your wetting their feed with the BY on it make sure you only leave it down for a couple hrs before replacing it because in a heated brooder it can mold fast. Did you try giving them some Apple Cider vinegar in their drinking water? 1Tab to 1 gal, it is a tonic and also good for them to use to clean out their nares. Any other symptoms like drainage from nares? you might try not putting any BY on their feed and see if that stops the sneezing that way you are eliminating till you figure it out. Is their feed dusty?

Miss Lydia to the rescue again!!! I change their towels once a day but the towel around the waterer are always wet!! I tried to make a non spill waterer but they climbed on top of it and cut their feet so I just use a bowl now. The wet food will not go moldy because I have a large brooder and use an Eco glow chick brooder so it doesn't warm the air and the heating in my house is broken so the house is freezing!! Haven't used ACV before what does it do for them? No drainage from nares of anything apart from occasional sneezing and wheezing. Will try lay off the Brewers yeast. No their feed is not dusty apart from the Brewers yeast .

It is unlikely that brewers yeast would cause a respiratory infection. Make sure that they have bedding as dry as possible. When I was brooding all my ducklings I discovered really fast that shavings and straw just don't work for a duck brooder. What I did was use old towels and rags that I could switch out several times a day, shake them out then pop them in the washer. They had dry bedding and, even though a little more work, I had peace of mind that they were in a safe and clean environment.

When you add the brewers yeast to their food just sprinkle a little on top and mix it around a bit so that they are not sticking their bills directly in the yeast powder. If yours are at all like mine they are going to gobble up the feed pretty quickly mixed in yeast and all. Check the label of the feed you are using. If it says it has niacin and/or brewers yeast already you probably don't need to add any...there is such a thing as too much of a good thing afterall.

Make sure they are warm enough. Though they don't need the prolonged extra heat that chicks do they need more than room temp for the first few weeks. And, watch that they don't have any sort of discharge coming from their nostrils. They will have water that they shake out but watch for anything other than water.

Good luck, you will find that your ducks are a true pleasure to have and will hopefully look back on this time as something well learned.

Thanks for replying the food has niacin in it but one of the ducklings had leg problems so I added some Brewers yeast and It corrected the problem. I use towels as well they work really well. No discharge coming from the nostrils, i am enjoying them but I seem to worry about a lot off things. At the moment I am worrying about the Brewers yeast and I think one of them may have angel wing even though they haven't grown feathers yet because the fluff sticks out like the feathers do when they are older!! Don't know what that means! Anyway I will stop rambling on and say THANK YOU!!

 

[Mccluckers]

Hi Cluck,

For starters, are you sure they're not just trying to clean out their nares? Ducklings sometimes don't really get the hang of the whole "water" thing right away so they may be trying to flush 'em in the air. It looks like they're having sneezing fits and can be quite worrisome. But it's the wheezing that concerns me. If they've accidentally inhaled the yeast spores then yeah, they could potentially develop a candida infection. It's not the same species, but for some reason there's a proven correlation to consumption of brewer's yeast and candida. The same exact thing happened to Wobbles when I was giving him fermented feed. He's...he's not a graceful eater.

If you're that concerned, then please get them to a vet ASAP. Heck, even I'm concerned, You shouldn't be able to hear them breathing that loudly. Be sure to tell them everything, since it could be either bacterial OR fungal. If it's already in their respiratory system then no home remedy is gonna do the trick, you need prescription antifungals. 

Hi amykins it is not really wheezing it is just kinda when they flap their wings or something like that then they kinda breath out loudly while flapping.. ECT

Thanks I hope it doesn't come to that how will I know?

 

[Miss Lydia]

Mc you need to get that heating system fixed can't have you coming down with a respiratory infection.

Can you make a video of what they are doing? no sense in getting all worked up if it's just a ducky things but if we can see and hear we maybe able to set your mind at rest.

They can sure make you worry about them.

 

[Mccluckers]

Do I have to put the video on YouTube? It can be quite hard to hear above the chirping! It seems to be mainly after they drink.