Concerned about call duckling, please help!!

[MangoDuck]

This duck was about a day old when we got it, but it was in a pretty bad environment. When the lady opened up the duckling coop, there were three dead ones and they all looked kinda unhealthy. Anyways, we got a one day old call duck and a two day old pekin because I didn’t want them ti be by themselves, and also I wanted to get some ducklings out of there cuz they could’ve died!

Now, I’ve raised two Pekins before, and everything went well. This pekin, he seems to be doing great. The call duck on the other hand.. it’s doing this weird thing, while it’s falling asleep it will suddenly jerk it’s head and sometimes tumble over. It’ll do this when it’s awake too. Also, he’s not eating nearly as much as the other or drinking as much. He also stumbles around while walking a lot.

I’m not sure if this is normal for a young call duckling, but I really wanted to ask because I’m worried for this little guy and I really want him to live!

Please let me know if you need any photos or information or whatever. Thanks in advance

 

[BelovedBirds]

This duck was about a day old when we got it, but it was in a pretty bad environment. When the lady opened up the duckling coop, there were three dead ones and they all looked kinda unhealthy. Anyways, we got a one day old call duck and a two day old pekin because I didn’t want them ti be by themselves, and also I wanted to get some ducklings out of there cuz they could’ve died!

Now, I’ve raised two Pekins before, and everything went well. This pekin, he seems to be doing great. The call duck on the other hand.. it’s doing this weird thing, while it’s falling asleep it will suddenly jerk it’s head and sometimes tumble over. It’ll do this when it’s awake too. Also, he’s not eating nearly as much as the other or drinking as much. He also stumbles around while walking a lot.

I’m not sure if this is normal for a young call duckling, but I really wanted to ask because I’m worried for this little guy and I really want him to live!

Please let me know if you need any photos or information or whatever. Thanks in advance

a video would be helpful, showing how he stumbles, jerks etc. You would have to upload it to YouTube and put the link here, though!
Let me call in some people: @Miss Lydia @WVduckchick

Also what are you feeding them?

 

[Miss Lydia]

@MangoDuck are you offering any type of niacin to their feed? How long have you had these ducklings? If the poor lil one hadn't be taken care of properly then it may take a while for them to completely recover. Do you have liquid B Complex? Nutri drench? Scrambled eggs is a go to when a duckling isn't doing well. Is the Call duckling eating? can't go by what the Pekin is eating since Pekin have big appetites and Calls probably do too but not on the same scale.
Doesn't sound like they came from a very good environment so it may take time to get the little Call up and going. I'd def get the liquid b complex and start giving that to both of them.
This will give you info on doses for the liquid b complex
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/niacin-deficiency-in-waterfowl.1367557/
A video of what the little Call is doing would help too. Bless you for rescuing them.
@shawluvsbirds
@Overo Mare
@FunnyfarmMidwest all have Calls hopefully they can advise.

 

[Painted Calls]

I agree that a video would be most helpful.

Brand new Call ducklings are quite wobbly in my experience. If it is only a day old, it likely wouldn't be super hungry either. For the first few days they seem to only nibble here and there. Same with water.

In comparison to a Pekin (feathered pig), I'm sure it's behavior will seem super off.

As far as the sleeping and startling awake - new babies often do this. A LOT. I have one named Flipper. He used to startle himself awake so hard he was constantly flipping over. This concern though is best addressed after seeing a video.

 

[BelovedBirds]

I agree that a video would be most helpful.

Brand new Call ducklings are quite wobbly in my experience. If it is only a day old, it likely wouldn't be super hungry either. For the first few days they seem to only nibble here and there. Same with water.

In comparison to a Pekin (feathered pig), I'm sure it's behavior will seem super off.

As far as the sleeping and startling awake - new babies often do this. A LOT. I have one named Flipper. He used to startle himself awake so hard he was constantly flipping over. This concern though is best addressed after seeing a video.

"feathered pig"

 

[BelovedBirds]

@MangoDuck are you offering any type of niacin to their feed? How long have you had these ducklings? If the poor lil one hadn't be taken care of properly then it may take a while for them to completely recover. Do you have liquid B Complex? Nutri drench? Scrambled eggs is a go to when a duckling isn't doing well. Is the Call duckling eating? can't go by what the Pekin is eating since Pekin have big appetites and Calls probably do too but not on the same scale.
Doesn't sound like they came from a very good environment so it may take time to get the little Call up and going. I'd def get the liquid b complex and start giving that to both of them.
This will give you info on doses for the liquid b complex
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/niacin-deficiency-in-waterfowl.1367557/
A video of what the little Call is doing would help too. Bless you for rescuing them.
@shawluvsbirds
@Overo Mare
@FunnyfarmMidwest al have Calls hopefully they can advise.

 

[MangoDuck]

@MangoDuck are you offering any type of niacin to their feed? How long have you had these ducklings? If the poor lil one hadn't be taken care of properly then it may take a while for them to completely recover. Do you have liquid B Complex? Nutri drench? Scrambled eggs is a go to when a duckling isn't doing well. Is the Call duckling eating? can't go by what the Pekin is eating since Pekin have big appetites and Calls probably do too but not on the same scale.
Doesn't sound like they came from a very good environment so it may take time to get the little Call up and going. I'd def get the liquid b complex and start giving that to both of them.
This will give you info on doses for the liquid b complex
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/niacin-deficiency-in-waterfowl.1367557/
A video of what the little Call is doing would help too. Bless you for rescuing them.
@shawluvsbirds
@Overo Mare
@FunnyfarmMidwest all have Calls hopefully they can advise.

Hey so sorry for the late response, he ended up eating after a few hours and he’s doing well today. Also, I looked really closely at his beak and I realized that he was probably shaking his head because there was some fluff stuck in his nose that he wanted to get rid of. And yeah, I am giving them a bunch of vitamins, especially niacin. The scrambled eggs worked really well btw, thank you!

 

[MangoDuck]

I agree that a video would be most helpful.

Brand new Call ducklings are quite wobbly in my experience. If it is only a day old, it likely wouldn't be super hungry either. For the first few days they seem to only nibble here and there. Same with water.

In comparison to a Pekin (feathered pig), I'm sure it's behavior will seem super off.

As far as the sleeping and startling awake - new babies often do this. A LOT. I have one named Flipper. He used to startle himself awake so hard he was constantly flipping over. This concern though is best addressed after seeing a video.

Hey, he’s doing really well today thank you for the response. I did a few things that Miss Lydia told me about, and they worked really well. He’s stopped shaking his head around, apparently there was some fluff stuck in his nose that was bothering him. And yes, they act REALLY different from pekin ducks

 

[MangoDuck]

a video would be helpful, showing how he stumbles, jerks etc. You would have to upload it to YouTube and put the link here, though!
Let me call in some people: @Miss Lydia @WVduckchick

Also what are you feeding them?

Thank you so much for your response, the duckling is doing a lot better today. The head shaking was probably because he wanted to get some fluff off his nostril and he started eating when I gave him some scrambled eggs, Miss Lydia said I should try that and it worked well. Also just to make sure I’m feeding them the right stuff, it’s duckling crumbles, with some added niacin, a few cut up peas and occasional a tiny little bit of spinach, I’ve heard it’s good for them in small quantities. They seem to like it a lot, especially the veggies.

 

[MangoDuck]

And btw, sorry about not posting any videos, I don’t actually have a YouTube account I just use it on a website. Also, once he started doing better he stopped doing the head shaking so I didn’t get a chance to film it