Vaccination question - newly hatched ducklings

[Kelster65]

Question - when should newly hatched ducklings receive vaccines or is it better to feed medicated crumbles instead since they aren't already vaccinated? What type of vaccines should they get? I have unexpected ducklings for the first time. I've previously purchased and raised pre-vaccinated chicks so I've also never fed medicated feed before.

 

[nuthatched]

Medicated feed just prevents Coccidosis, which *I think* isn't as big of an issue in ducks as it is chicks. Ducks need more niacin (b vitamins) than chicks, feeding them medicated feed, which reduces b vitamins to prevent Coccidosis, *might* cause them to have niacin deficiency.
If they were hatched out by momma, its too late to hove them any vaccines, since they've already been exposed

 

[SilverBirds]

Have you candled any of those eggs? She's only covering a handful of them so you'll most likely have a lot of duds.

 

[Kelster65]

Thank you so much. The ducks all get brewers yeast added to their feed. I hadn't known what the "medicated" food actually did, but knew they shouldn't eat it if vaccinated.

 

[nuthatched]

Thank you so much. The ducks all get brewers yeast added to their feed. I hadn't known what the "medicated" food actually did, but knew they shouldn't eat it if vaccinated.

If you're adding brewers yeast, you're canceling out the coccistat

 

[Kelster65]

Have you candled any of those eggs? She's only covering a handful of them so you'll most likely have a lot of duds.

I haven't yet, no but need to. She moves them around constantly (I see this on camera) and only leaves the nest for short periods of time so I haven't timed it well yet. There are 27 eggs and maybe half will hatch.

 

[SilverBirds]

I haven't yet, no but need to. She moves them around constantly (I see this on camera) and only leaves the nest for short periods of time so I haven't timed it well yet. There are 27 eggs and maybe half will hatch.

I see 19 eggs not being covered by her. If she kept moving them around, they might not have stayed warm long enough and died. I'd try to candle them ASAP so the viable ones don't perish with only a few days left. Feel free to post pictures of any questionable ones.

 

[Kelster65]

Thank you all. Her sister has been laying eggs in the same clutch and sitting at night also. Ugh. I finally caught her off the nest this morning and was able to candle. There were over 30 eggs and I removed over half of them. The ones removed were either new, stunted development/ early quitters or cracked. She's able to cover the remaining eggs which are on track developmentally. We'll see in another 10 days or so.