Baby ducks acting strange help please

[harkey1995]

I am new to raising ducks, I have read and studied up for hours before getting any but we have 1 baby white pekin "the brother or sister died"

So we decided to go to Farm and tractor supply to get he or she some company. we picked up 2 more witch I believe to be khaki cambell's, today we went and picked up two more baby chicks "The breed is unknown.. "If you can help me with finding out i would appreciate it, i will post pics soon. "there sleeping"... But any way the "Mystery" ducklings that we've gotten today are doing OK? The bigger one eats and drinks fine and seem to be healthy except he lays down all the time and dose not really get exercise. When he eats and drinks he lays down ? Is this normal? The second duck the smallest one iv'e gotten dose not eat as much as the rest, but is constantly drinking water? also he seems to have something wrong with the way he walks.. he walks crooked and stands on the back of his feet as if he has no balance. I have seen him fall on his butt when another chick bumped into him? Please help me! I want my ducks happy and healthy. I'm really worried and don't want to lose another.. "the one that died was as healthy and happy as could be but didn't make it through the night, when i woke up he was gone. I don't let them sleep with food, only water im scared of them choking while i am asleep.so i don't know why he didn't make it..


The picture is sideways i apologize but the yellow one is the pekin. the two bigger one's far left and far right beside the pekin i believe to be khaki cambells? and the two tan/light brown ones in the center are the two mystery ducks... any idea of the breed? and are the khaki cambells really khaki cambells? also the duck at the top of the pic you can see him standing on the back of his feet "as i mentioned above..

 

[Amiga]

What is the temperature in the brooder?

What is their food?

It is not unusual for ducklings to sit while eating or drinking - at least, mine did sometimes.

Here are my littles at a few days old, napping

 

[harkey1995]

What is the temperature in the brooder?

What is their food?

It is not unusual for ducklings to sit while eating or drinking - at least, mine did sometimes.

Here are my littles at a few days old, napping

temp is roughly 80 to 85 dose it need to be warmer? or cooler? there food is a medicated chick starter, i also read on here that i could do this so i have been feeding them a little bit of mashed up green grapes. today i let the older ducks take a swim in the tub "they loved it, They dove under the water and had a blast" I didn't let the little ones in instead i gently washed them with a warm damp rag. after that i gave them some grapes "this was there first time trying any"... well i don't know what it was but they all seem to be doing fine now, although he dose lay down a lot more than the rest which has had me worried, but he seems to be healthy now... "no more leg problems either... Do you have any idea of what kind of ducks the little ones are?

 

[Amiga]

Not sure about the breed, if you are feeding chick starter, medicated, then I would definitely add some brewer's yeast to their food - a tablespoon and a half a day. You might consider going to a non-medicated feed if you can get it, though many here have said it is not a problem. But some don't like to feed medicated feed for a few reasons.

Ducklings need much more niacin than chicks do - and if they don't get it, some of them have development problems.

 

[harkey1995]

well 1 is around 3 weeks old "the pekin" 2 are around 2 weeks old "the supposedly khaki cambells", and the two new ones are around a week possibly a few days older than a week.. whats the differences in a chick and a duckling? and i do feed them the scratch feed as well.. iv'e been mixing it with the mediated because they don't seem to like it. I think its because its more powdery than scratch feed.

 

[Orca5094]

These are just my suggestions: I would definitely go out and get them non-medicated feed. Ducklings eat ALOT more than chicks do and so can overdose on the medication in the feed. Ducklings also don't need the medication (it's just for chickens), so that's just a risk you really shouldn't take when it's just as easy to buy non-medicated food. Scratch is also more for chickens, really. You can try giving them finely chopped kale or mealworms, ducks typically go crazy for those and they're healthy for them too.

 

[Amykins]

Ducklings need niacin. It's not in chick feed or scratch.

 

[Amiga]

Scratch is not for littles - they need high nutrient food. I used to put vitamins in their water every two weeks also.

 

[needlessjunk]

Grit will also be needed if you are feeding them treats. I started out with minced up kale and watercress put in water.

 

[harkey1995]

Thank you! i will definitely be getting some mediated feed and im going to look and see what additives they have an some food other than scratch... i probably will mix it up and only give them medicated once a day or once every other day.