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What a handsome little fellow! Thank you so much for responding. We got a much bigger brooder today - a huge clear rubber tub so they have a lot more room. I separated the food and water as well. I will definitely start offering the baths. I'm not sure how old they need to be before they can go in some warm water bath?? This one is so tiny - I can give it a try tomorrow. I do have some wood pellets and also some newspaper pellets I could put in the bottom and then the puppy pads over top of that.Yes I have one with a deformed bill, he will be a year old in about 3 weeks!
I think I wet his food for a bit, early on, but his brother hatchmate helped him along.
I’ve found with ducklings, as large a brooder as possible is a big help. If you can keep the water in a separate area, it helps a lot. I place my waterer in a shallow pan, with an old rag under it. So it’s easy to remove, rinse, and helps to not get the whole brooder so wet. I use puppy pads, with rabbit bedding pellets instead of shavings as I find they get less junk in the water and it seems to help with the odor better than shavings.
One comment I will make about my fella with the deformed bill (his name is Garth), he seems to eat more, and is always first to come running for treats. I don’t think he actually eats more, I think it just takes him longer to get full, as he can’t scoop the feed as quickly as the others.
I would also encourage you to get her used to baths. For some reason, Garth doesn’t seem to bathe as much as my others, and his feathers stay tattered looking. I’m not sure if it’s an aversion to being in the water or just coincidence, but he never did swim as much as the others.
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I wonder if anyone has tried making a "beak patch" to make them an actual complete beak? I know they can do this with turtles who damage or destroy parts of their shell. There is some type of compound they can use to patch the shell and is just as hard as a turtle shell. I'm sure vets have too much to worry with to deal with that - but the guy who makes those artificial legs and carts/prosthetics for all sorts of animals (he has a tv show) might be one to ask about it....
The little one is still giving it tonight - I think you are right in that all the vigor for eating is partially due to the fact that it takes a lot more work to get a few bites down. Softening the Mazuri does seem to help a LOT and the other one prefers the wet food as well. They aren't even touching the dry food now, but I keep it in there just in case.
Thanks again for your help, it is greatly appreciated! I will also check out the other thread someone shared on the deformed beak. And Happy One Year birthday to Garth!!!