Baby Duck hasn't grown in a week

[Burkeeks]

received two ducklings at 3 days old, and both appeared healthy at the time. We’re now in week 2, and while one duck has tripled in size, the other has barely grown. Despite that, she eats, drinks plenty of water, and sleeps regularly. She loves to cuddle up next to her sibling but tends to prefer standing. She seems most comfortable when I cup her in my hands.





Today, however, she hasn’t stopped chirping. I’ve tried everything I can to keep her warm and comforted. She’ll fall asleep on me for a minute or two, but then wakes up chirping again. I’ve given her electrolytes and a small amount of Rooster Booster, as those are the only supplements I have on hand. I also offered a bit of hard-boiled egg yolk for extra protein.





Has anyone experienced something similar? Does anyone know what might be going on—or have any advice on how to calm her so she can rest? Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

[SnackMeat]

And she's around her siblings when she is nonstop chirping?

Are you using a lamp to heat the brooder? I find the chicks are a lot noisier when they don't have some dark time to help regulate their circadian rhythm. I would see if the duckling keeps chirping after having her settled in a dark quiet brooder for awhile. For chicks, maybe loud chirping for 15 min (more often almost immediately silence) and then sleepy chirps for a couple of hours, especially if they can hear me watching TV or talking.

Otherwise the size discrepancy sounds like failure to thrive. Maybe someone has some ideas. I've only read about it. But from what I've read you just have to wait it out. You can also concentrate on feeding them egg yolk as that's a super food. If they get as much nutrition as possible then it can help push them past the lag.

I've seen some interesting reports of FTT lasting a few months. Sometimes they die. Sometimes they catch up in size. Sometimes they remain a bit runty but they do make it past their two week size.

It is possible to have genetic/hormonal disorders that would have a duck stay small for however long their life is (pretty sure most animals, including humans have examples of this.) but it would be so rare/recessive that it's not even worth considering because of the unlikelihood that the duckling would survive to a point where you're left wondering why, say, you have a year old duck the size of a month old.

 

[Papaye]

Hi.

You could want to read this article : https://saltinmycoffee.com/runt-ducklings/

Good luck!

 

[OneEggToRuleThemAll]

What breed are they?

I hatched 7 muscovies on July 1st. Out of the 7, two are significantly smaller than the rest. We are at 9 days post hatch. They are growing, just slower than their siblings. The two that are smaller are wild type muscovies and their siblings are chocolates.