Blind muscovy duckling not eating!!??

[Duckies321]

Hi everyone,
A few days ago I had some muscovy ducklings hatch. One kept running into things and getting left behind so I had a look at it and it turns out the poor little guy is blind. It has clouded eyes and you can just tell somethings different about it when you watch it interact with its environment. So I decided to look after it myself (instead of leaving it with mumma duck). I have put it in our duck/chick light box with a bowel of chick starter mash with water, and a bowel of water however it doesnt seem to be eating. It hatched 2 days ago. I have hatched plenty of ducks before and I know they often dont eat much the first day and some only start eating on the second day but this little guy isnt showing any effort to even try find a bowel and eat. He walks around a bit but often spins in circles, which i read could be a sign of thiamine deficiency (so tommorrow I will buy some Nutritional Yeast and im currently mushing up peas to feed him) Otherwise it could just be him looking towards the sky because i think he can see some sort of brightness and darkness. He is quite nervous when walking and takes it a few steps at a time. Im currently feeding him via siringe, I squeeze a bit onto the tip and he nibbles it off but I cannot get him to eat by himself. If i dip the tip of his beak in water of food he nibbles but wont do it again unless i put his beak against it. Does anyone have any advise on how to get him to feed and walk properly?

Thanks!

 

[ruthhope]

Keep doing what you are doing, and with luck it will start eating on his own! Poor little being will likely get lonely. Can you bring another duckling inside to be with it, encourage eating and drinking, and keep it company?

 

[MangoDuck]

Hi everyone,
A few days ago I had some muscovy ducklings hatch. One kept running into things and getting left behind so I had a look at it and it turns out the poor little guy is blind. It has clouded eyes and you can just tell somethings different about it when you watch it interact with its environment. So I decided to look after it myself (instead of leaving it with mumma duck). I have put it in our duck/chick light box with a bowel of chick starter mash with water, and a bowel of water however it doesnt seem to be eating. It hatched 2 days ago. I have hatched plenty of ducks before and I know they often dont eat much the first day and some only start eating on the second day but this little guy isnt showing any effort to even try find a bowel and eat. He walks around a bit but often spins in circles, which i read could be a sign of thiamine deficiency (so tommorrow I will buy some Nutritional Yeast and im currently mushing up peas to feed him) Otherwise it could just be him looking towards the sky because i think he can see some sort of brightness and darkness. He is quite nervous when walking and takes it a few steps at a time. Im currently feeding him via siringe, I squeeze a bit onto the tip and he nibbles it off but I cannot get him to eat by himself. If i dip the tip of his beak in water of food he nibbles but wont do it again unless i put his beak against it. Does anyone have any advise on how to get him to feed and walk properly?

Thanks!

I agree with ruthhope, definitely put one of the other ducklings in with the blind one. If there’s a runt in the duckling group I would choose that one so that there’s no aggression.
I think you’re doing everything else perfectly, I really hope the little guy will survive! Please keep us posted.

 

[Duckies321]

Ok, thanks guys!! Fingers crossed! He is the sweetest little ducky and its really interesting to see how much he relies on me calling for direction! Thanks!!

 

[Duckies321]

Today hes drinking! If he bumps into the water bowel he puts his head down, looking for the water! Sometimes he misses which is cute but a bit sad but mostly he manages to find the water! Not quite onto the food yet but im sure he will get there. Thanks for the feedback!!

 

[MangoDuck]

Today hes drinking! If he bumps into the water bowel he puts his head down, looking for the water! Sometimes he misses which is cute but a bit sad but mostly he manages to find the water! Not quite onto the food yet but im sure he will get there. Thanks for the feedback!!

That’s great to hear! I hope he keeps doing well.

 

[Duckies321]

Drinking lots and looking nice and healthy but still not eating much... if you put the bowel in front of him he will nibble a tiny bit and he will eat a bit out of your hand but only eats a bit by himself, I'm sure as he gets older he will eat more and more - everyday hes getting better!

 

[Miss Lydia]

@Duckies321 how is your duckling doing?