I feel terrible. I think I killed one of my ducklings. Or my actions did rather.
19 ducklings hatch date may 6. Starting to feather, but still yellowish around the head, and wings aren't fully feathered. pekins.
We've been caught in a heat spell in iowa, it went from winter to summer in a flash, so we've had a few 90 degree days. My duck barn is a 3 stall hog building, 1 stall is storage, 1 stall is bedding, and 1 stall is the living space with their indoor kiddie pool, feeders, and waterer. My air isn't working in the house either, and the coop and the house is the level of nasty heat. They have an outdoor space that is taller grass, rose bushes, trees, and a kiddie pool. there wasn't much breeze coming in their windows, so i decided it might be best to let them out in the morning. They were excited and loving their baby pool outside. So excited about the pool they didn't go under the tree at all, and I am not sure how much feeding they did, they were so busy dive bombing. I hosed them down with the sprinkler attachment and they were chasing it around and biting at the water. Everyone looked super happy. I checked on them every 15-20 minutes. They were out for 2 hours when one was standing a few feet from the others panting. I went out to check on her and perhaps usher them to the shade, but she just let me walk up to her more easily than i expected. I rushed her to the pool, felt her feet to see if they were really hot, she did have 2 black bugs on her one wing. she soaked in the pool and drifted about but didn't excitedly swim, or guzzle up water. So I rushed her back to the coop and fetched the others. Their fun in the sun was done. Everyone else has lots of energy. I ran inside and got a bag of frozen peas, a bag of frozen corn, and a few frozen green beans and some ice to add to their indoor pool. It was a hit with all of the ducks but her, she seamed kind of dazed. still panting I couldn't see anything in her nose. After a few minutes inside she stopped panting, and just stood there for a few then slowly turn around and headed to join the group. We had a storm roll in and dropped the temp from 93 to 68 in under an hour. I checked on them later and closed up their windows before bed. I did a walk through and topped of their food, and am 99% confident that everyone was alive then. I'm fairly confident that i made them all stand up when i checked on them to proove they were alive. This morning when i did my chores, one was dead. No sign of injury, died in her bed room. I'm super bummed. I didn't let them in their pasture today.
I don't know if it was due to gnats or heat, maybe a combo. I don't know why she didn't go to the pool she was at the beginning. Some of the others were panting, but no one else turned down treats or food because of it. I don't know when i should let them back outside. I do have a fan for their coop. I captured several and checked for bugs, didn't find any. (I am calling what I found on her 2 black bugs because I crushed them before looking/thinking and they appeared to be more raspberry beatley than gnat but I could be wrong, Either way they didn't squish bloody) Sigh. I'm so sad, and I just found out she was a girl. Its starting to look like a large part of our flock are going to end up drakes as well.
19 ducklings hatch date may 6. Starting to feather, but still yellowish around the head, and wings aren't fully feathered. pekins.
We've been caught in a heat spell in iowa, it went from winter to summer in a flash, so we've had a few 90 degree days. My duck barn is a 3 stall hog building, 1 stall is storage, 1 stall is bedding, and 1 stall is the living space with their indoor kiddie pool, feeders, and waterer. My air isn't working in the house either, and the coop and the house is the level of nasty heat. They have an outdoor space that is taller grass, rose bushes, trees, and a kiddie pool. there wasn't much breeze coming in their windows, so i decided it might be best to let them out in the morning. They were excited and loving their baby pool outside. So excited about the pool they didn't go under the tree at all, and I am not sure how much feeding they did, they were so busy dive bombing. I hosed them down with the sprinkler attachment and they were chasing it around and biting at the water. Everyone looked super happy. I checked on them every 15-20 minutes. They were out for 2 hours when one was standing a few feet from the others panting. I went out to check on her and perhaps usher them to the shade, but she just let me walk up to her more easily than i expected. I rushed her to the pool, felt her feet to see if they were really hot, she did have 2 black bugs on her one wing. she soaked in the pool and drifted about but didn't excitedly swim, or guzzle up water. So I rushed her back to the coop and fetched the others. Their fun in the sun was done. Everyone else has lots of energy. I ran inside and got a bag of frozen peas, a bag of frozen corn, and a few frozen green beans and some ice to add to their indoor pool. It was a hit with all of the ducks but her, she seamed kind of dazed. still panting I couldn't see anything in her nose. After a few minutes inside she stopped panting, and just stood there for a few then slowly turn around and headed to join the group. We had a storm roll in and dropped the temp from 93 to 68 in under an hour. I checked on them later and closed up their windows before bed. I did a walk through and topped of their food, and am 99% confident that everyone was alive then. I'm fairly confident that i made them all stand up when i checked on them to proove they were alive. This morning when i did my chores, one was dead. No sign of injury, died in her bed room. I'm super bummed. I didn't let them in their pasture today.
I don't know if it was due to gnats or heat, maybe a combo. I don't know why she didn't go to the pool she was at the beginning. Some of the others were panting, but no one else turned down treats or food because of it. I don't know when i should let them back outside. I do have a fan for their coop. I captured several and checked for bugs, didn't find any. (I am calling what I found on her 2 black bugs because I crushed them before looking/thinking and they appeared to be more raspberry beatley than gnat but I could be wrong, Either way they didn't squish bloody) Sigh. I'm so sad, and I just found out she was a girl. Its starting to look like a large part of our flock are going to end up drakes as well.
