Help! 6wk ducklings refuse to come back to barn at night

[Miss Lydia]

question @Miss Lydia , one of the ducks seemed less active than the others today. She was foraging but would take breaks and curl up on the grass. They have not eaten a full grain meal for two days, and it has been raining and 45^F here. She is 12 weeks old. Is it possible she is suffering from exposure? Should I attempt to catch her and bring her in, or wait for the flock to come inside in 6 hours?

Might not be a bad idea that way you can monitor her eating and drinking and also check her for injuries.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I have three ducks 8 weeks old. I have a Jumbo Pekin, a Black Sweedish and a Buff. The Pekin and Sweedish are doing awesome, the Buff not so good. She has pretty much stopped growing. She is about the size of a 4-5 week old. Her legs are very wobbly and look to be bowed backwards. They don’t appear to be swollen, but she can’t stand straight and she walks on the back of them. I have increased her niacin, but it doesn’t seem to be working. Her drinking water has hydro hen, Niacin, ACV, and B complex added to it. Her food is organic starter food with fly larva fresh kale and sprinkled with oregano, brewers yeast and a little garlic powder. She has not improved any at all with the extra nutrients. I don’t know what else to do. Im afraid I will have to put her down if she doesn’t start getting better. She don’t eat as much as she should. She won’t splash around in the water, she just stands in it. She tries to preen but her legs are so week she can’t stand to do it. She keeps falling over when she tries to reach everywhere to preen. If she gains any weight her legs are not strong enough to hold her body up. What can I do? Im getting desperate, I don’t want to loose her, but I don’t want her to suffer either. Please, any advice would be appreciated.
Sent from my iPhone

How much Liquid B complex are you giving her?
I'd put her by herself but where she can see the other ducks this way you can treat her an monitor what she is eating and make sure she is getting the proper dose of liquid B complex. When one has a problem putting any supplement into their water dilutes it too much she'll need to have it by mouth plus they waste so much when its in water. I'd get her started with the B complex by mouth and add the oregano and other supplements onto her feed. Here is info on giving liquids by mouth. I'd at least give this a try before giving up on her. It may take a couple weeks before you see improvement.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...dications-to-all-poultry-and-waterfowl.73335/
@beckyditto

 

[goats-n-oats]

Might not be a bad idea that way you can monitor her eating and drinking and also check her for injuries.

Thanks. Was able to get them in last night. I called them with 'snacktime' to the barn, then quickly walked around the barn and stood between them and the pond, and slowly navigated them into the coop. They seem more energetic today.

 

[goats-n-oats]

I have three ducks 8 weeks old. I have a Jumbo Pekin, a Black Sweedish and a Buff. The Pekin and Sweedish are doing awesome, the Buff not so good. She has pretty much stopped growing. She is about the size of a 4-5 week old. Her legs are very wobbly and look to be bowed backwards. They don’t appear to be swollen, but she can’t stand straight and she walks on the back of them. I have increased her niacin, but it doesn’t seem to be working. Her drinking water has hydro hen, Niacin, ACV, and B complex added to it. Her food is organic starter food with fly larva fresh kale and sprinkled with oregano, brewers yeast and a little garlic powder. She has not improved any at all with the extra nutrients. I don’t know what else to do. Im afraid I will have to put her down if she doesn’t start getting better. She don’t eat as much as she should. She won’t splash around in the water, she just stands in it. She tries to preen but her legs are so week she can’t stand to do it. She keeps falling over when she tries to reach everywhere to preen. If she gains any weight her legs are not strong enough to hold her body up. What can I do? Im getting desperate, I don’t want to loose her, but I don’t want her to suffer either. Please, any advice would be appreciated.
Sent from my iPhone

You could try to get a stool sample evaluated at a local vet. If there is not an avian vet nearby, sometimes a companion animal hospital will send out livestock stool samples. Test for bacteria and parasites in the gut. In the meantime, you could try some Corid in case she has coccidia. However it's possible she was born weak, sometimes my flock produces disabled chicks; if they are able to stand and feed themselves, I'll keep them in a separate cage.

 

[Moments]

Hi, first time duck owner here. 12 ducklings from Metzer, about 6 weeks old, Khaki Campbell and Cayuga breeds. There is a 1/3 acre pond about 130 feet from a barn. Their first four weeks they were in a stock tank in the chicken coop. At five weeks, I let them out during the day into a chicken wire play pen that was half in the pond, half on the shore. Brought them back in at night. At week six, let them out to the pond on their own, which they seem to enjoy and have been exploring. They are scared of everything, even a baby chick falling into their brooder terrified them. They know me but won't come to me when I call. Two nights ago I bought a fishing net with extending pole, and succeeding in catching them to bring them back into the chicken coop. The last three ducklings did run back into the coop so as not to be left behind the group (which was crying loudly from the stock tank). The ducklings have since wisened up to me and my fishing pole and when I tried to bring them in tonight - now they take off swimming towards the middle of the pond. There are definitely raccoons and minks on the property, who got 5 or so hens earlier in the summer. Aside from the predators, it's raining and will get down to 50^F or so tonight. What can be done? Thanks

Peas, peas, peas! Get them used to the taste and the sound of the shake of the bag... They'll come barreling to you at full waddle!

 

[goats-n-oats]

Peas, peas, peas! Get them used to the taste and the sound of the shake of the bag... They'll come barreling to you at full waddle!

Hey! Thanks! I went through my barrel of peas.. will buy more as budget allows.
It's been six months but they are fully trained now! They hear me throw scratch grains for the chickens at 5 or 6 pm and they come running! They also know the sound of wheat kernels shaking, and visually recognize the red feed scoop. They even learned to go inside through the back door facing the pond! On cold days they line up outside earlier. They are adorable. And they are super egg layers!

 

[kaumlauf]

Peas, peas, peas! Get them used to the taste and the sound of the shake of the bag... They'll come barreling to you at full waddle!

When you say peas, I'm guessing frozen peas?

 

[Launchpad]

When you say peas, I'm guessing frozen peas?

Yup, frozen peas. Buy the biggest bag and shake it so they know the sound. And you dont have to give them a ton so the bag will last a couple of days (dont forget peas are high in niacin so they are great as an extra boost in it for the ducks)

 

[Moments]

Hey! Thanks! I went through my barrel of peas.. will buy more as budget allows.
It's been six months but they are fully trained now! They hear me throw scratch grains for the chickens at 5 or 6 pm and they come running! They also know the sound of wheat kernels shaking, and visually recognize the red feed scoop. They even learned to go inside through the back door facing the pond! On cold days they line up outside earlier. They are adorable. And they are super egg layers!

Awesome!

 

[Moments]

When you say peas, I'm guessing frozen peas?

Yup! Thawed of course