Weak and sluggish almost 4 week old duckling

[CLUlelSS]

Hello, I am a 16 year old raising ducks for the first time. I have two pekin ducklings that I got from Tractor Supply almost a month ago, and one of them seems a little sluggish and tired-looking but the other one is lively and fine. I gave them two baths/swims outside and a warm shower yesterday, monitoring them every second. However, after the second swim, one of my ducklings seemed a little slow all the time especially when it was trying to preen itself. Initially, I thought it was too cold, so I brought it inside to warm up with a warm shower and a warm blow dry for almost an hour. When I went to check up on them this morning, I noticed that that same duckling would not eat (or munch a little and spit out) the feed and the same cabbage it would always go crazy for. They are both niacin deficient which surprised me because I fed them a 100mg niacin tablet from Nature's Blend (ground up and sprinkled on their feed) every day ever since day 2, so recently I switched to mixing the tablet with water. The feed I give them are the Purina Premium Flock Raiser Pellets mixed with oats(which I would ground up into crumbles) with the occasional corn, pea, and cabbage treat. During the day, I would let them hang out outside in a caged in area on the grass in our backyard and bring them into the garage at night. I really hope its nothing serious, since I really don't want to lose him/her(I don't know their genders yet). Please help I have no access to a vet at the moment!

 

[Isaac 0]

Welcome to BYC!

Can you post a video of the duckling or a picture? Not eating very much worries me, do you have a food scale you can weigh her on? Are you providing grit since you are giving her treats/grass? Do you know of anything it may have eaten, wire, nail, moldy feed or maggots? What's the temp in there brooder throughout the day/night?

For now, the duckling needs to be in a warm dry quiet area with plenty of food and water.

 

[Miss Lydia]

What are your outside temps during the day? You say your letting them swim outside ?

 

[CLUlelSS]

Welcome to BYC!

Can you post a video of the duckling or a picture? Not eating very much worries me, do you have a food scale you can weigh her on? Are you providing grit since you are giving her treats/grass? Do you know of anything it may have eaten, wire, nail, moldy feed or maggots? What's the temp in there brooder throughout the day/night?

For now, the duckling needs to be in a warm dry quiet area with plenty of food and water.

Thank you for the quick response! Yesterday I recorded a quick video of him/her before I gave my ducks a warm shower. Here is the link:

. A friend of mine told me I didn't need grit, so I haven't been providing them with any. Ill definitely get some grit right away though. I don't believe they ate anything bad, I would replace the food every couple of hours, and made sure their feed wasn't too wet or old. However, sometimes they would pick at the dirt and eat the moss in our grass. During the day the temperature gets about mid 60 to high 60 degrees Fahrenheit but we bring them back in before it drops below 60. I am not sure of the temperature at night, but we let them sit on towels and pine shavings with a lamp on (our heat lamp doesn't work so it's a regular lamp that provides light). I didn't think it would be too cold since they would almost always move and sit in the shade when we placed them in the sunlight.

Little updated edit: Actually, they have been ingesting some wood chips on accident (we bought shavings recently). We had them on bath towels and old t-shirts previously. I also found a room heater when rummaging through the house that I will turn on tonight.

What are your outside temps during the day? You say your letting them swim outside ?

During the day, the outside temperatures get to about mid 60 to high 60 degrees Fahrenheit. We let them swim outside with a tub that we fill with water to let them swim in.

 

[Isaac 0]

They look cold to me, can you buy a regular heat lamp so they have a sufficient amount of heat to keep them warm? They look a bit pigeon-toed as well, can you pick up some Durvet Cattle B Injectable complex for them, most feed stores will have it. 1ml a day for each duckling over treats until symptoms improve.

I see now you said you're putting a heater in with them, with those space heaters make sure bedding can't get near it or it may catch fire.

 

[CLUlelSS]

They look cold to me, can you buy a regular heat lamp so they have a sufficient amount of heat to keep them warm? They look a bit pigeon-toed as well, can you pick up some Durvet Cattle B Injectable complex for them, most feed stores will have it. 1ml a day for each duckling over treats until symptoms improve.

I see now you said you're putting a heater in with them, with those space heaters make sure bedding can't get near it or it may catch fire.

I have 100mg Nature's Blend niacin tablets and Nature Made super B-complex with vitamin C tablets, I don't live near any feed stores, will these work? As for the grit, will finely crushed rocks work for now since I can't leave the house any time soon. Another issue I found out today just now was the duck's neck. It won't move out of that position, even when its drinking. Its as if his/her beak is stuck to their chest. The duckling's beak is also noticeably colder than the other lively one.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Letting your duckling be in water in 60* temps is too cold for them since they haven’t water proofing feathers yet. They need to be kept where temps are in the high 70’s and if you have a way to check temps that’s very important. They are also at an age where niacin deficiency is showing up. Crush up the niacin and b complex and put over their feed if that’s all you have for now. If you don’t address this problem your duckling will end up not being able to walk normal. If you can get to a TSC then get the Durvet liquid b complex it’s like liquid gold for our duckling with niacin deficiency. Keep them warm but no overly warm just comfortable. And don’t put them In cold water until they are feathered in and ready to be outside for good.

 

[Magnolia Ducks]

I would also stop mixing oats with their feed until they are grown. This is lowering the protein content of the feed.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Good reply I forgot about the oats.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Yes your duckling need just the feed. and if you have crushed rock place it in a small dish close to their feed not in it! This has to be small like grit for them to be able to use it.