humblehillsfarm
Crazy chicken lady
I don't have ducks, nor do I know much about them. My coworker recently got ducklings and I thought I would post her case here for some insight:
She bought four-day old Peking ducklings on April 2nd from TSC. She kept them inside for about a week before moving them outside. She said she put them in a wire cage dog kennel during the day on Monday (April 5th), and put them in a garage with a heat lamp at night. She was reportedly feeding them feed specifically formulated for ducklings. She says while they were still staying in the house, the first enclosure she put them in, they escaped. When she was picking them up and putting them in a new enclosure, one of the ducklings regurgitated a lot of water. She noticed a few days later one of them kept losing its balance, but by that night it must have been acting normal, because they were all walking around peeping and behaving what she thought was normally. She states last night she went home, and their water was almost out. Remember, they were outside on the ground at this point during the day. She is using one of those mason jar waterers. She took the mason jar and filled it with bottled water. She said roughly 30-60 minutes later her grandchild who is 18 months was shouting "duckies" standing next to their (fully enclosed dog kennel cage) and one of the ducklings heads was sticking through one of the holes, clearly dead. She states she thought maybe the grandbaby strangled it or something, but then she noticed in the center of the cage, the other two was dead. The holes aren't big enough for the baby's hand to fit. She said she didn't notice anything unusual in their behavior, just one minute they were fine and the next three of them were dead. She says this morning the remaining duckling is still fine.
My concerns were temperature. At what point can ducklings go without heat? On Monday, the highs were around 72, and yesterday (Tuesday) 80*. I suggested to check the mill-by date on the feed and check for mold. Perhaps there was something poisonous on the grass?
Why would a duckling regurgitate water or have balance issues?
Does anyone have any thoughts on this?
She bought four-day old Peking ducklings on April 2nd from TSC. She kept them inside for about a week before moving them outside. She said she put them in a wire cage dog kennel during the day on Monday (April 5th), and put them in a garage with a heat lamp at night. She was reportedly feeding them feed specifically formulated for ducklings. She says while they were still staying in the house, the first enclosure she put them in, they escaped. When she was picking them up and putting them in a new enclosure, one of the ducklings regurgitated a lot of water. She noticed a few days later one of them kept losing its balance, but by that night it must have been acting normal, because they were all walking around peeping and behaving what she thought was normally. She states last night she went home, and their water was almost out. Remember, they were outside on the ground at this point during the day. She is using one of those mason jar waterers. She took the mason jar and filled it with bottled water. She said roughly 30-60 minutes later her grandchild who is 18 months was shouting "duckies" standing next to their (fully enclosed dog kennel cage) and one of the ducklings heads was sticking through one of the holes, clearly dead. She states she thought maybe the grandbaby strangled it or something, but then she noticed in the center of the cage, the other two was dead. The holes aren't big enough for the baby's hand to fit. She said she didn't notice anything unusual in their behavior, just one minute they were fine and the next three of them were dead. She says this morning the remaining duckling is still fine.
My concerns were temperature. At what point can ducklings go without heat? On Monday, the highs were around 72, and yesterday (Tuesday) 80*. I suggested to check the mill-by date on the feed and check for mold. Perhaps there was something poisonous on the grass?
Why would a duckling regurgitate water or have balance issues?
Does anyone have any thoughts on this?
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