Bantam Duck Page

[missy5]

Thanks for your kind thoughts linda. I keep telling myself better when thier real young instrad of a week or two old. Thanks again.

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

Missy sorry about your littles. Hope the next hatch goes better for you. Are the next eggs from the same parents?

 

[linda_zeagler31002]

You know FL chicken, I tried to vent sex even have a video on it, but when I tried to do it I felt like a pervert, I mean a straight molester, and told my husband in the middle of this process, HECK NO, I stopped, NO, NO, NO they can grow up and who ever wants them, if they want them bad enough they can WAIT until the feather and get there quack on. The hens quack really loud and the males have a shy timed whine to them LOL

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

LoL, that's what I figured too. I have a drake now (has the tail curl) but yet he has a very BIG quake. Unlike my rouen who rasps. So we will enjoy the fluffy butts and wait for the feathers.

Shellie

 

[Bnemeth]

I had one that kept going on his back too and died that way when he was 1 day old

Someone told me it could have been from bacteria that got into the egg and then affected his stability when he hatched??? Hope the next hatch goes better for you!

 

[duckluck]

Quote:
When they are falling over onto their backs like that, you can dip their bills into Enfamil infant vitamins (without added iron) twice a day, more often if you can't get them to take a tiny swallow, and give them concentrated electolyte water every few hours. Propping them up in berms of washcloths in the hatcher sometimes helps. It really can help them get oriented and gain stength in their legs if they can stay upright, but sometimes it will work and sometimes it won't. The more often you can offer the electrolytes, the better. But there will be some that nothing will work for.

 

[missy5]

duckluck, what is electrolyte water? I found pedealite for baby's at the drugstore, is that the same sort of thing? Thay were actually doing fine when they were in the bator for 24 hours and then when i put them in the brooder is when all the falling started. With the new hatch should i leave them in for 48 hours, or is that too long?
I have a question about my ducklings that are a couple of weeks old. They are healthy and getting tail feathers now, but i just noticed the other day that they have a naked spot under thier bills on thier necks. Is that normal? When they're preening they scrach thier heads and thier necks and thats when i noticed it. Now one of the littls ones has naked parts on her wings. Is that because they are starting to feather or are they picking on each other and i don't see it? I'm hopeing it's normal cause they are very happy healthy ducks and they eat and drink like little pigs. lol
Thanks again for all your help. Angie

 

[duckluck]

Don't know about the bald spots, but I am guessing that the naked parts on the wings are just a normal part of feathering out...I seem to recall seeing similar, especially on white ducks.

Electrolyte water for me means getting the Merrick's Blue Ribbon poultry vitamin/electrolyte mix and mixing it at the concentrated dosage and giving it; it also has probiotics in it and I've had pretty good luck with it with ducklings that come out dropsy and also for starting new ducklings just moved to the brooder. There are several other brands, some that have a good B complex in them, but this one is readily available here and I just use dried kelp, brewers' yeast or the infant vitamins for B vitamins.

I think leaving them in for 48 is too long if you're dealing with Calls. I bring them out as soon as they are dry and can move around enough to get under or get away from the heat. You can always assist them with drinking if need be in the brooder but you want them to try and drink on their own.

 

[missy5]

I don't know whats wrong with the people at my feed store. They never seem to know anything about ducks. One of the clerks owns ducks and she says they don't get anything special. Anyway i found vitamins but it's for pullets, laying hens, broilers and turkeys. Says nothing about ducks. It is a water soluble premix vitamin pack. It contains, vitamin A,vitamin D3, vitamin E vitamin B12, biotin, vitamin K3, folic acid, thiamine, riboflavin, calcium d-pantothenate, pyridoxine HCI, niacin. Is this what i use for ducklings? They were no help at all. We have three feed stores in town and i don't think anyone who works there has any pets, lol.
If thats not the right stuff let me know i will just use it for my chickens anyway. Thanks again, Angie.

 

[linda_zeagler31002]

I buy the grogel b plus and mix it thin drinkable or in a blob

the GQF has some great meds and competive prices, I have ordered quite a bit of stuff from them. I have found that helps, but I bought the yellow tin foil looking pouch that says Electrolyte on it, but it states I believe for live stock, not DUCKS persay, one thing I have found in critters over the years started at 12 yrs old and 42 now, think outside the box treat your critters as you would your child, when we take our doggies to Vet. half the time we go to pharmacy to get there medicines filled with Vet Rx. A vet will tell you most medicines to treat animals are the same used to treat humans. My duck has a runny nose I give it Liquid bendryl, my duck looks wormie or sympotmatic of wormie I have used the same liquid wormer I use for my pigs the pink liquid and even used my doggies wormer butterscotch flavored wormer, even used pig pellet wormer on them, yeah I grant you there are different bacteria and worms, but you will be amazed at what one wormer will kill other than doggie and piggie worms. I agree with you Missy5 there are not enough DUCK labeled products and really chicken either, but I use alot of different products for other critters just different dosages, when my chickens get there every 6 month worming, I use pig pellet wormer in with there pellet feed and use pig wormer liquid in there water. When my chickens all started dropping dead of URI, I bought Tylan and just remeasured the dosage for the injections to treat them all with a insulin needle. Again, think of them as your kids, think outside the box, and it will work 99 percent of the time I grant you. One thing with treating animals I researched how that animals body was internally and externally, look up the anatomy of Ducks or Chickens, and at the different disease on gets but one don't get even Turkeys or pheasants etc. I was falling at hatching eggs, well I did all the literature tips, read every thing, took everybodies advice, the incubator manufactor tips, and finally Dashia from Canada, got me to thinking about alot of pointers, first thing she brought to my attention was watch a duck setting on the eggs in your own nesting box, that duck gets up eats, breaks, takes a swim, suns, socializes, then back on the nest, well that duck is not keeping a perfect 65 percent humidity, or even perfect 99.5 temp, but the last 3 days (incubator LOCKDOWN) that duck sets not eating or socializing or a quick swim, she sets on that dang nest those 3 day STILL, and once I started thinking like a DUCK,

and outside that box, and chunked all that crap I read, and come to think about it, this year I have been kicking butt hatching. I started simulating my incubator as a duck nest, opening in for a few minutes to simulate that duck up eating or off nest, I spritzed the top and walls of incubator not the eggs, I started NOT keeping perfect temps and humidities during incubation but the 3 day lock down, I will stand by that for sure, opening and closing that incubator will cause you stress and missery during that 3 day hatch, what ever happens let it happen.

oh one more thing, those incubators were tested and designed for chicken eggs many of cases, also they were tested and designed for perfect hatching with simple directions, as Betty Crocker cake mixes, or Velvetta shells and cheese, marketiers spend alot of money to research for PERFECT to sell a product, I see pictures of people laying towels or cloths or napkins on the bottom floor wire to make easier clean up, well that was not what researchers had in there perfect designed hatch incubators, that restricts the circulated return complete air flow, asorbs humidity, and asorbs heating, but everyone has there own ideas, but I have tried it to see what the purpose or outcome and it does make a difference in hatching. They have the removable plastic liners and removable floor wire to take out for easy clean up, hmmmm don't figure.