Duckling Not Gaining Weight

Hi there,

Our orphan mallard duckling has been with us for two weeks now and today I looked up stuff about average weight and he only weighs 54 grams!
Should I be concerned about this? He seems to be growing fast to me, though and has constant access to food and water.

Many thanks from a newbie

Mallards are smaller than Saxonies for sure, but I don't think THAT small.

I'd recommend nutri-drench for your little one. It seemed to help my little one quite a bit.

Thank you for the advice, dotknott!

I'll see if I can get nutri-drench from the store tomorrow.
I weighed my little friend again today and he gained 13 grams, I'm happy about this! Hopefully he can keep up this rate of +25% a day!

Just an update on this microDuck. We're at 4 weeks now and this little guy is still tiny. He's still bigger than the 2 week olds but I don't know how long that's going to last.



Here he is on the left, with one of his hatchmates on the right feathering out! The little yellow ones in the background are 2 weeks younger.

If you have someone with access to vet equipment you should have his heart checked. Our tiny duckling had a heart defect so I am thinking yours does too. I understand you may not have the resources to have it checked out but if the opportunity is there I suspect you will discover he has a smaller than normal heart for his size and that is stunting his growth. Birds actually have genetic defects we would never see unless we butcher alot so it is not as uncommon as we might think.

I understand that he may have smaller heart, but I don't see what confirming that will do for me?

No amount of supplemental feed or worry will correct a heart defect. I think you may need to accept that the duckling has a birth defect that is stunting its growth. That is all I can offer as a solution to your concerns. You can keep trying to make it grow faster but I don't think it will ever catch up. You may be better off thinking about how to keep its heart healthy if it does outgrow its heart in the future. Without testing there is no way to confirm it has a small heart but that is my best guess.

Okay, so at this point you're making assumptions about things. I'm not trying to make it grow faster, but I am making sure that weight is being gained at a steady rate. I'm pretty sure I've already accepted that this duck has something going on that's stunting its growth. I just don't see it as something that could be fixed and, now that I know it's gaining weight, requires I modify how this duck is raised.

I raise my ducks for meat, eggs and to continue the breed. "Long term" means the freezer unless you're laying or you're breeding stock. This duck is unlikely to be either hence my resistance to a veterinary diagnosis.

My latest photo was meant as an update to those that had assisted in the beginning when I started to notice that the duck had stunted growth. Moving forward the photo serves the next person who has a duck with a similar issue to show how very small the duck is comparatively.

I'm not saying you're wrong. You posted two weeks ago first suggesting a heart condition and I considered it a possibility then as I do now. I just don't see there being any "long term" and don't see the need to confirm this theory.