Duckling Death, Panting

[Sara Ranch]

Sand is awesome!

It's so easy to clean.

It doesn't "smell."

Animal waste dries VERY quickly.

It dries relatively quickly.

It provides the "grit" for the animals.

The animals keep it clean, and dig through it to get any insects that might be trespassing. (Added benefit - it keeps the sand from being hard packed in place.)

It is a good place for them to dust bath, if they want to. Mostly my chickens & guineas do that. Sometimes the turkeys.

I seldom have to add more sand. If I did hay, pine shavings, straw, etc, I would have to add more stuff weekly.

There are drawbacks. You have to put up a piece of wood or something as a "lip" at the doorways to keep the sand from spilling out. This winter my area had an "extreme" winter. Temps were below zero, not counting wind chill. There were some days that the poop just froze in the sand and it was impossible to clean. When it thawed, it wasn't that pleasant. Once it dried out, so easy to clean!

 

[Miss Lydia]

What about tiny newly hatched ducklings eating the sand and getting blocked up? I have never used sand but wonder about things.

 

[CayugaJana]

If you have Pekins, they can get hot really easy. I would try removing the heat lamp. I honestly doubt if it was the pine shavings or feed that killed it. Don’t beat yourself up. My ducklings have all had the small pine shavings. And I know they have ate some too. And none of them have died. You seem like you are doing everything right. Unfortunately it just happens.

 

[Lil Drake40]

So sorry for your loss

 

[Urban Waddler]

Thank you everyone for the advice and messages of support. It’s a tough learning curve, but I’m doing my best.

 

[Duckstail]

Thank you everyone for the advice and messages of support. It’s a tough learning curve, but I’m doing my best.

Really sorry to hear that!!

Just use large pine shavings. They will forage through it but will not eat any. They can eat too much sand because it will slid down their throats much easier then big peices of pine shavings. Imo

Keep in mind jobs that pay min wage will typically result in minimal effort.

Ultimately these are you ducks (kids) so its your job to google these things and not take the advice of some idiot at the store. Quick google search never hurts!!

I can't tell you how many times I was atTractor Supply trying to buy duck feed asking them what is the niacin or this or that in the ingredients.. One person was and them telling me Oh it's fine you don't need that, and i dont know what im talking about... I almost smacked the s*** out of them.

Really sorry to hear this ..

 

[Urban Waddler]

Really sorry to hear that!
Just use large pine shavings. They will forage through it but will not eat any. They can eat too much sand because it will slid down their throats much easier then big peices of pine shavings. Imo

Keep in mind jobs that pay min wage will typically result in minimal effort.

Ultimately these are you ducks (kids) so its your job to google these things and not take the advice of some idiot at the store. Quick google search never hurts!!

I can't tell you how many times I was atTractor Supply trying to buy duck feed asking them what is the niacin or this or that in the ingredients.. One person was and them telling me Oh it's fine you don't need that, and i dont know what im talking about... I almost smacked the s*** out of them.

Really sorry to hear this ..

Really sorry to hear that!!

Just use large pine shavings. They will forage through it but will not eat any. They can eat too much sand because it will slid down their throats much easier then big peices of pine shavings. Imo

Keep in mind jobs that pay min wage will typically result in minimal effort.

Ultimately these are you ducks (kids) so its your job to google these things and not take the advice of some idiot at the store. Quick google search never hurts!!

I can't tell you how many times I was atTractor Supply trying to buy duck feed asking them what is the niacin or this or that in the ingredients.. One person was and them telling me Oh it's fine you don't need that, and i dont know what im talking about... I almost smacked the s*** out of them.

Really sorry to hear this ..

Thanks for your message. I don’t blame the employee. I realize she is not paid enough to be an expert. I think I had just read so much about people using pine shavings safely, that the only intuitive risk I thought of when she recommended the smaller ones was that they could eat it, to which the comment about being non-toxic assuaged my concern. I just didn’t think about it expanding in their stomachs or anything like that. You are definitely right that I should have done a quick google search. I have spent so much time researching tre best practices for ducks and ducklings that a few more seconds of work may have saved my little guy. I am not certain that’s what did it, but I won’t take any more risks from here on out. So far my other ducklings seem to be well. I just hope it stays that way. It’s so easy to fall in love with these little guys, and i think they must be designed that way so we forget what little slobs they are. Nesting hay is tougher to clean, but I think I’ll just stick with that for now to be on the safe side. Thanks again.

 

[house.of.ducks]

I think that it was probably the stupid lady at the counters fault that your babies to die. It wasn’t by any means all your fault, you just got some very awful advice by someone who should have known better if they were going to suggest it. I think that the best thing you can do in this situation to save your remaining duckies is to make sure you use the original bedding and that they have plenty of water, maybe add some save a chick electrolyte and vitamin supplement to their water as that has helped perk my duck up when she was egg bound and always perks my ducklings up when they seem a bit lethargic and it also helps keep them hydrated. I’m very sorry that you have to go through all of this and I wish you the best of luck.

 

[Ducksandchickens]

I’m not saying the lady should of said what she said but I don’t think she was informed enough. I don’t believe it was your fault but I don’t think it was the lady at the counters fault either.

 

[Urban Waddler]

I think that it was probably the stupid lady at the counters fault that your babies to die. It wasn’t by any means all your fault, you just got some very awful advice by someone who should have known better if they were going to suggest it. I think that the best thing you can do in this situation to save your remaining duckies is to make sure you use the original bedding and that they have plenty of water, maybe add some save a chick electrolyte and vitamin supplement to their water as that has helped perk my duck up when she was egg bound and always perks my ducklings up when they seem a bit lethargic and it also helps keep them hydrated. I’m very sorry that you have to go through all of this and I wish you the best of luck.

Haha, yeah. Feels better to call her a stupid lady. I will try the electrolytes and vitamins. Thank you!