Duckling alive and well… now dead ?! help

[cat1994]

What type of bird, age and weight
Call duckling, like 22 days old, small lil guy
What is the behavior
Was fine and bathing, then I moved it to a new pen and it started drinking a lot and water seemed to be coming out of its nose
How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
I moved it and then less than 10 min later it was dead
Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?
the other ducklings from either pen this one was in are doing just fine
Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
Nothing but drinking a lot after I moved it and it seemed like water was coming out of his nose
What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
The duckling was taking a bath I picked it up and moved it a few feet to another pen then it started drinking a lot
What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
It was fine before just acting like all the other ducklings in it pen
Describe the housing/bedding in use
It was in a larger outdoor brooder with larger duckling then I moved it into an indoor smaller brooder with smaller ducklings

 

[Haunted55]

I have never had Call Ducks but do have standards. I have never seen anything like this but from your description, it almost sounds like it drowned itself drinking. Let me ask you a couple more questions, if I may. Is there any chance it could have swallowed something either in the bath or before? How did it appear in the water? Was it drinking a lot then?

 

[cat1994]

That is what I was thinking... maybe it got water in its lungs from me picking it up or something and drowned… I don’t know… this has never happened in the four years I’ve had ducks, three of those years breeding Calls. It was playing and swimming around with the other ducklings in its shallow water bowl, getting in and out and splashing just fine. I left it there… then I decided to move the duckling from that pen to another with newly hatched ducklings, hoping the older duckling could show the new ones how to drink and eat. It was only a few feet away… I just picked it up and held it in my hands; put it down in the other pen with the new ducklings. I watched it for a while, coming back to look in on them to make sure that the older one wasn’t hurting the new babies… it seemed to be drinking a lot once I put it down and shaking its head… but when I came back a few times it was eating and the new ducklings were learning to do the same, next it was laying down with the babies and they were all dozing off… I thought it was so cute to see them getting along so well... next thing I know it’s dead

 

[Haunted55]

It really could have been a number of things, something caught in it's throat...I'm just sorry to hear it happened to you. One question, are you keeping these birds in a barn or something? This time of year, especially with ducks not fully feathered, you can have problems with Black Fly or Mosquito bites. Unless you've seen it and know the subtleties of a disease they can get from Black Flies especially, the first symptom of it is usually death. I have never seen it here but I know that I have to be extremely careful as we are right at the height of Black Fly season. That's why I have 10 geese and baby ducks in my living room right now. I just don't dare put them outside in their house and pen.

I have no idea if this is what happened or not, I am just giving you a heads up about something that could also affect them.

 

[cat1994]

Yeah I’m just shocked by how sudden it was… the fact that I have no idea what went wrong just makes it worse. We don’t have a black fly problem around here just buffalo gnats (not really sure if those are one and the same though…) but the buffalo gnats only suck the blood from our chickens from the skin around the head… they don’t bother the ducks… thankfully

 

[Haunted55]

Yeah I’m just shocked by how sudden it was… the fact that I have no idea what went wrong just makes it worse. We don’t have a black fly problem around here just buffalo gnats (not really sure if those are one and the same though…) but the buffalo gnats only suck the blood from our chickens from the skin around the head… they don’t bother the ducks… thankfully

Same thing and they will bother them if they aren't fully feathered.

 

[cat1994]

really? huh we have been having them come around for a few years now and never have they bothered the ducklings... but now that I think about it we do useally keep our newest babies indoors for a while but we put them outdoors before they are fully feathered... thanks for the heads up though I'll keep my eyes open

 

[Haunted55]

Something I've ben trying with my own this year, as the flies are truely miserable this year. I've been mixing white vinegar and 3-4 garlic capsules with water in a spray bottle and giving my adults, ducks and geese, a quick misting as they run by me on their way out in the morning. I haven't noticed any on them at all since I started doing this and before they were going after their eyes and such. Quick, cheap and it seems to be very effective.

I wish you the best of luck and hopefully you won't have any more problems. Again, I am truly sorry you had this happen. Ducks are wonderful little creatures and they tend to leave a big hole when we lose them.