3 week old pekin ducks sick?

[Cjoakes790]

Hello,

I have 2 female 3 week old pekin ducks who might be sick. One has some crust on her eye, the others eye is somewhat red. They both breathe through their mouth and sometimes rapidly even when it is cool in the room. Their bowl of water is pretty deep they can reach to the bottom to rinse eyes. They don’t have diarrhea.
I don’t know what to do.

 

[Isaac 0]

Pekins can get overheated very easily, especially when they're being kept in a small pen for their size ( Your setup) which enables their body heat to almost "build-up". They need a much bigger pen, with a deep water dish.

 

[Cjoakes790]

Pekins can get overheated very easily, especially when they're being kept in a small pen for their size ( Your setup) which enables their body heat to almost "build-up". They need a much bigger pen, with a deep water dish.

thank you Issac. I always thought they had to stay in the brooder tub which is pretty large I know not for them at least until 4 weeks old. I have them in an area with AC. It doesn’t blow directly on them. I did notice they were eating their bedding and not drinking water after and then started panting, so I covered it with material and it stopped. They drank and cleared their nose and throat and no more panting.

 

[Isaac 0]

Glad to hear the panting stopped.

Also, Welcome to BYC!

 

[Cjoakes790]

Now one of them have started again. Idk what is going on. Maybe they are too hot. I keep my room pretty cool.

 

[LT71689]

I moved mine into a 28”x6ft chicken wire pen at around two weeks, to give them some space to cool off and to help keep the bedding dry. They had more than enough rook to separate from one another. This was in a direct line of the A/C and we had it blasting so much we got too cold and had to put more clothes on. They’d still pant. If I let them out onto the floor they’d cuddle up on a towel under the table and be perfectly fine. 3 feet from their pen, think they just wanted to be let out

Hard to tell from the photos - are you seeing actual discharge/dried crusties on their eyes or could it just be them losing their yellow fluff for their white feathers? My girls looked a little gnarly around the eyes for about a week, especially if they got their heads wet, but it was their fluff falling out

 

[Isaac 0]

Now one of them have started again. Idk what is going on. Maybe they are too hot. I keep my room pretty cool.

As long as its not excessive panting non-stop, I wouldn't worry, Pekins are known for doing this regardless of the temps.

 

[KelseyBoxer]

Hi and welcome to BYC. I loved my 2 pekin ducks. The female ran the show! I have raised Welshies also. Have fun and good luck with your sweet babies,

 

[Cjoakes790]

I moved mine into a 28”x6ft chicken wire pen at around two weeks, to give them some space to cool off and to help keep the bedding dry. They had more than enough rook to separate from one another. This was in a direct line of the A/C and we had it blasting so much we got too cold and had to put more clothes on. They’d still pant. If I let them out onto the floor they’d cuddle up on a towel under the table and be perfectly fine. 3 feet from their pen, think they just wanted to be let out

Hard to tell from the photos - are you seeing actual discharge/dried crusties on their eyes or could it just be them losing their yellow fluff for their white feathers? My girls looked a little gnarly around the eyes for about a week, especially if they got their heads wet, but it was their fluff falling out

thanks for the response. It looks like crust but hard to tell. I sprayed a little light mist of vetericyn over their eyes and they had debris come out of their eyes, so maybe they were irritated? I also put vetrx on a tissue and rubbed under their wings and dabbed their nasal passages. It seemed to help the one who was really panting the most.
This morning neither of them are panting. I have also kept my room at 62 degrees, I’m super cold in their so I’m under a blanket all the time. I try to get them to dunk their heads by putting peas in their water which fall to the bottom and worms on top. They spend a few minutes dunking their heads in and out.

 

[Cjoakes790]

As long as its not excessive panting non-stop, I wouldn't worry, Pekins are known for doing this regardless of the temps.

thank you issac, if it turns out to be a respiratory infection what would I treat them with? We don’t have any vets here that I know of in Aurora CO that treat chickens or ducks. I’ve called a few places.