5-day old duckling sick?

[Roni466]

Hello, I helped hatch one of my ducklings. He was doing really well & then I noticed one of his eyes had a white film on one end. Last night, I sprayed “drug-free” nasal saline solution (only ingredients are water, salt & baking soda) to his eye. This evening his other eye has the same problem and he’s weak now, won’t eat or drink water. I purchased Terramycin and applied it to both eyelids. Any advice?

 

[nuthatched]

Can we see some pictures? Is it the 3rd eyelid?

 

[Quatie]

@Isaac 0 knows a lot of ducks and should be able to help you. Photos will help a lot.

If your duck is not drinking, you will want to make sure it stays hydrated. You can give your duckling electrolytes dripping into his beak. You can also use Gatorade or Pedialyte instead.

 

[Isaac 0]

It would be helpful to see some pictures of his eye.

If she is not eating or drinking much, I would try soaking a cotton swab in an electrolyte mixture, and rubbing it along side her bill often to get some drops in. You may try offering, mashed scrambled eggs, or the feed mixture in a watery warm consistency and see if she eat any of that.

 

[Roni466]

She didn’t make it . She was fine two days ago (eating, drinking water, walking around) so I’m wondering if it was something else and now I’m worried about her sibling. I’m reading it could have been an infection?

 

[Isaac 0]

She didn’t make it . She was fine two days ago (eating, drinking water, walking around) so I’m wondering if it was something else and now I’m worried about her sibling. I’m reading it could have been an infection?

Very sorry for your loss - ducklings this age can pass due to several reasons, if you assisted the duckling out of the shell, it's possible there were already problems that happened during incubation the predisposed the duckling to develop problems. Yolk sac infections are possible but are usually seen with ducklings that have unabsorbed yolk sacs. A thorough clean-out of their brooder may be good incase of a bacterial related problem.

 

[Roni466]

I will do that (clean the brooder)! Thank you all so much!