Duck in horrible shape! Help!

[FernbergFarms]

Well.. I’m duck sitting for my neighbors again. Last time (some of you might remember) they left me 2 pekin ducklings in the brink of dying and they’ve done it again. The Pekin ducks are now about 2 months old. They’ve been keeping them in a rubber main tote (small) for their whole life. If they were a week or two it would be okay but they are two months old... so I get to their house and the neighbors said tonight is the first night outside with the other drakes. (they have two drakes and their other duck they didn’t know if they were boys or girls but I knew right away they had one girl and one boy. So 3 drakes and 1 hen) so I get to their house and both pekins are trapped in this dirty water and they can’t get out! So I get in the coop and take them out (they are very calm) and they were shivering and cold they race right to the food (which was grain and seeds. Almost look like bird seed) and the drakes immediately race to the girl and GRAB HER NECK. This poor duck is still young and not even feathered out! They won’t let her eat and they are being very mean. So the Pekin drake (he was nice and calm not going after his sister) was in the toughest shape. It’s legs were EXTREMELY bow legged and it could barely walk. He was scared of the other drakes but had no problem hiding behind me and sitting under me to protect him. They were also extremely small for pekins like I could see their wings and bones. They were missing a lot of feathers on their wings ( they aren’t completely feathered so maybe the water just made them look so small. But they were under averaged a lot I could still tell) so this drake was cold, small, getting beat up, eyes red, bow legged, and just so sad looking. I’m most concerned about their size and their bow legs. So I separated them and put them in the other side of their chicken coop so that they would be outside. They got fresh food and water and nice warm hay. I’ve never seen a duck worst than this! Please help me get this duck better! We are watching them for a week or so. (Almost thought about saying it died and taking it to my place to nurse it back to health. Maybe that’s still an option idk) I know if I don’t do anything this duck will die. I plan to bring them to my house in the morning and let them eat actual duck food.
Any advice is welcome! Thank you, Alli
(I’ll get pic tomorrow )

 

[RosemaryDuck]

Well.. I’m duck sitting for my neighbors again. Last time (some of you might remember) they left me 2 pekin ducklings in the brink of dying and they’ve done it again. The Pekin ducks are now about 2 months old. They’ve been keeping them in a rubber main tote (small) for their whole life. If they were a week or two it would be okay but they are two months old... so I get to their house and the neighbors said tonight is the first night outside with the other drakes. (they have two drakes and their other duck they didn’t know if they were boys or girls but I knew right away they had one girl and one boy. So 3 drakes and 1 hen) so I get to their house and both pekins are trapped in this dirty water and they can’t get out! So I get in the coop and take them out (they are very calm) and they were shivering and cold they race right to the food (which was grain and seeds. Almost look like bird seed) and the drakes immediately race to the girl and GRAB HER NECK. This poor duck is still young and not even feathered out! They won’t let her eat and they are being very mean. So the Pekin drake (he was nice and calm not going after his sister) was in the toughest shape. It’s legs were EXTREMELY bow legged and it could barely walk. He was scared of the other drakes but had no problem hiding behind me and sitting under me to protect him. They were also extremely small for pekins like I could see their wings and bones. They were missing a lot of feathers on their wings ( they aren’t completely feathered so maybe the water just made them look so small. But they were under averaged a lot I could still tell) so this drake was cold, small, getting beat up, eyes red, bow legged, and just so sad looking. I’m most concerned about their size and their bow legs. So I separated them and put them in the other side of their chicken coop so that they would be outside. They got fresh food and water and nice warm hay. I’ve never seen a duck worst than this! Please help me get this duck better! We are watching them for a week or so. (Almost thought about saying it died and taking it to my place to nurse it back to health. Maybe that’s still an option idk) I know if I don’t do anything this duck will die. I plan to bring them to my house in the morning and let them eat actual duck food.
Any advice is welcome! Thank you, Alli
(I’ll get pic tomorrow )

So I know a lot of people don't like to, but in this case, please please report these people to animal control. If they've done this twice already they likely will continue to mistreat and torture their future animals like this. Take pictures of the conditions, the ducks, everything (as evidence).

As for the ducks currently in your care, I would get them to an avian vet ASAP if you can. If they are in as bad a shape as you say, basic TLC may not be enough. They likely have a lot worse going on if they've only been on grain/seed and have been treated like that their whole lives.

I hope they get better soon and things improve. Please give us updates if you can on how they are!

(Also tagging @Isaac 0 here so they can give you more info!)

 

[FernbergFarms]

Okay. Is there anything I can do for them at home?

 

[FernbergFarms]

Also if I brought it to my house do you think it could have a disease that could transfer to my ducks? I don’t think it has a disease I think it’s just bow legged and starving. But that’s the only other thing I could think of why I shouldn’t bring them to my house. I have new ducklings and I think they’d enjoy being together. My neighbors ducks are so calm that I don’t think they’d do anything.

 

[FernbergFarms]

Here they are. We brought them up to our house and gave them duck food and vitamins. Idk what else to do..

 

[Butchers Wife]

Okay. Is there anything I can do for them at home?

Put them on grass in the sun, with a shady spot to retreat to. If you must keep them inside open the windows and bring them fresh cut grass or hay. Clean water to drink. Clean and nutritious feed. Space to walk around. A swim in a tub of the bathtub once a day. You know, all the things they should've had all this time. I hatched 2 dozen ducks just a few weeks ago. I've fed them Purina Flock Raiser and added vitamins with Niacin to every gallon of water. They are definitely not starving. 1 of my ducklings has the same twisted foot. It also has a weird little lump on it's head that looks like it's skull never closed or something. It was the one I helped out of it's shell, the last to hatch. I swear I only helped a little. The 100% hatch rate was too much to resist. I know why experts say not to help them hatch, I even believe them, but I can't help trying when their little clocks are running out. I'd be tempted to build my neighbors a run. I have my ducklings in a repurposed trampoline run with an upturned half barrel for a coop. Plastic mesh (gifted by a friend after I told them it won't stop a fox from breaking into their coop) wrapped up and over the whole thing. Scraps of hardware cloth around at ground level, scraps of chicken wire as no dig flare out. It's all held together with zip ties. I have a line of carabiners holding an overlapped seam together. I tell you, it's hard for me to get into, but it's good enough for brooding, it was free, and it only took a couple hours to assemble. It's not front yard pretty but my ducklings are happy. Ask your neighbors where they're planning for their adult ducks to live. Maybe you can help them turn a picnic table or a second hand coffee table into a tarped and wire wrapped coop. I make mine with frames of scrapped and scrounged pvc. Throw a scrapped broken chain link garden gate over it for weight. Tarp over all that. Rocks to hold the tarp down. Hasn't blown away yet. I can move it and the electric fence on a whim, all by myself. I bet I'm a little like your neighbor in that if it's not easy and quick it might never get done. Right now I'm keeping my ducklings close to the house where I can see them from the kitchen window but they'll move up to greener pastures soon.