Disabled Duckling? Definitely vulnerable.

Du Vey

In the Brooder
Aug 10, 2019
9
9
14
How do I stop my 2 baby ducklings pecking the vulnerable one? They’re 2 days old, and the other one is one day old and he’s not been too well, sleeping all day in a strange position in the incubator. They pecked at him while he was hatching. He needed help hatching. I helped with the shell, and some of the membrane, then I left him to push himself out the egg, and the other 2 stepped all over him and pecked him. He came out too fast and his umbilical cord wasn’t ready and it bled. I put cornflour on it to stop the bleeding - which worked.
His legs are spread wide, and he wobbles a lot and falls over... I tried getting him to drink, but he wouldn’t. All night he slept in a strange position, his head facing at a weird angle.

I have 3 bigger ducks which I hatched 7 weeks ago - they’re in a separate enclosure.
 
I'm so sorry you're having trouble with your new ducklings. It sounds like he may be disabled like you mentioned. You can only help him along so much. He has to want to eat/drink on his own. I'd maybe remove him from the enclosure with the other two until he's a bit stronger. Hope everything is ok!
 
You can separate him into another enclosure until he is able to be like the other ducklings. You definitely want to make sure that he is eating and drinking by tomorrow or the next day. It can go 48 hours without eating because it will live off the yolk it absorbed.

I'm not sure if you have any Nutri-Drench, but that's always good to give to a duckling like that. You can also try to scramble eggs for him. I would let him rest for now because he might just be tired from the hatch and from being helped.
 
Still absorbing his yolk. Get the others to the Brooder and keep him in a margarine container in the incubator till it finds its legs.
Give it nothing as far as feed and water. It will on its own once its absorbed its yolk.
 

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