- May 21, 2008
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Hello everyone,
Right before Easter we bought two Mallard ducklings (about three weeks old at the time) that have been doing very well. We kept them in the house initially, and last Wednesday afternoon we started letting them into the enclosed pen with our lonely adult Mallard hen, Mollie. The three took to each other immediately, the babies followed Mollie around and Mollie assumed the role of protective mother. It was very cute! We still brought them in at night though, as it's still cold here. We put the babies outside with Mollie again on Sunday and left for the day. It did rain quite a bit, but they have a shelter to go into (Dogloo filled with shavings) and they were loving it anyway. When we got home Sunday night we found Mollie and the male duckling warm and dry in their home and the female duckling was lying stretched out on the outside of the shelter, dead. She had been dead for awhile, judging by her state of Rigormortis. There aren't any marks on her like something got into the pen, but she did have shavings on her beak like she had been rooting through the bedding (which they all love to do) and some poop on her back like she had been stepped on. Another weird thing is that while I know ducklings/chicks grow fast, this baby visibly grew in the day that we were gone, and is now larger than the the baby that is still with us (they were the same size on Saturday!). I know that sounds really strange, but I've never had one jump in growth like that in one day. Even her beak is measurably longer than the male's.
The only things we can think of is A: she managed to get her head stuck under the Dogloo and maybe Mollie stepped on her neck/something? But Mollie doesn't weigh much, she's a Mallard hen. B: maybe the duckling spent too much time outside in the rain and was chilled enough to develop hypothermia or something else? It was about 58-62 degrees. The other duckling has spent all day outside today (except right now...my kids are spending time with him), which is pretty much the same weather as yesterday and he is fine. We have a large, shallow water dish at the moment in there for their safety (instead of Mollie's large water tub) so they couldn't swim, and they are fed the flock starter and NOT chick starter. They are definitely not my first poultry babies, as I raised both Mollie and her parents, and I've had plenty of chickens. I've never had one randomly die like that though, despite being seemingly healthy.
Any ideas/experience?
Thank you,
Megan
Right before Easter we bought two Mallard ducklings (about three weeks old at the time) that have been doing very well. We kept them in the house initially, and last Wednesday afternoon we started letting them into the enclosed pen with our lonely adult Mallard hen, Mollie. The three took to each other immediately, the babies followed Mollie around and Mollie assumed the role of protective mother. It was very cute! We still brought them in at night though, as it's still cold here. We put the babies outside with Mollie again on Sunday and left for the day. It did rain quite a bit, but they have a shelter to go into (Dogloo filled with shavings) and they were loving it anyway. When we got home Sunday night we found Mollie and the male duckling warm and dry in their home and the female duckling was lying stretched out on the outside of the shelter, dead. She had been dead for awhile, judging by her state of Rigormortis. There aren't any marks on her like something got into the pen, but she did have shavings on her beak like she had been rooting through the bedding (which they all love to do) and some poop on her back like she had been stepped on. Another weird thing is that while I know ducklings/chicks grow fast, this baby visibly grew in the day that we were gone, and is now larger than the the baby that is still with us (they were the same size on Saturday!). I know that sounds really strange, but I've never had one jump in growth like that in one day. Even her beak is measurably longer than the male's.
The only things we can think of is A: she managed to get her head stuck under the Dogloo and maybe Mollie stepped on her neck/something? But Mollie doesn't weigh much, she's a Mallard hen. B: maybe the duckling spent too much time outside in the rain and was chilled enough to develop hypothermia or something else? It was about 58-62 degrees. The other duckling has spent all day outside today (except right now...my kids are spending time with him), which is pretty much the same weather as yesterday and he is fine. We have a large, shallow water dish at the moment in there for their safety (instead of Mollie's large water tub) so they couldn't swim, and they are fed the flock starter and NOT chick starter. They are definitely not my first poultry babies, as I raised both Mollie and her parents, and I've had plenty of chickens. I've never had one randomly die like that though, despite being seemingly healthy.
Any ideas/experience?
Thank you,
Megan
