Help me please!!!!! My baby duckies keep laying on their backs while they're outside in the run and nearly dying!!!! A couple of the duckies have done this a couple days in a row now!!!! They're about 5 weeks old and I've been letting them out in the run everyday with a small tub of water that they can get into and stand up in. I leave it in there all day but I make sure it's warm and I check on them often. Just yesterday, two of the duckies were laying on their backs again so we brought them inside and put them in a towel and waited to see if they were alright. They were very quiet and just sat there (usually they peep really loud when we bring them inside.) After a few minutes, one of them started flapping his wings and pulling his head straight to his back really slowly and struggling for air. We were freaking out not knowing what to do. My Mom started slapping him and rubbing his neck because that's the natural thing to do. It turns out that that saved his life yesterday. We kept them in for a little bit and they kept doing these big watery poops. They were back to their normal selves and peeping loudly again, so we put all the duckies in their night time cage and didn't give them any food or water until later. Today I decided to let the swimming water be available only for a half hour. I had already taken the swimming water out and went in to eat. I happened to look out the window and see one of the duckies on her back. I rushed outside, flew the run door open, and dove in there. I thought I was to late, her eyes were distant, her body was completely stiff, but I kept slapping her. You can imagine me crying and freaking out, my hands were shaking, I was asking God for help, I was trying to make sure the other ducks and chickens didn't escape while I'm trying to slap the life into this little ducky. After a minute of all that, she finally blinks. I brought her inside and held her, my hands are still shaking, and she sits there quietly. She's probably done like 10 watery poops since I've been holding her. She was acting like she was hot, so we put her back in the run with the others and she's happily doing what ducks do. I don't know if they are getting water logged, or eating stuff they shouldn't and choking on it. The tub has been available for like 2 weeks now and they're all of the sudden acting like this the last few days, so I don't know what the problem is. @Miss Lydia, I know you're good at medical stuff for birds, what do you think is wrong with my little duckies? Thank you guys for any information, if this happens again I might have a heart attack even though I'm not old enough for one!
