Duckling fell, acting weird now

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Donnadmarie

Hatching
May 27, 2018
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I rescued a newly hatched mallard two days ago. It's been doing well, but this morning the duckling fell about 3-4 feet onto our wood floor. Since then it's been limping, and more worryingly, drinking weird. After it drinks water it will keep shaking its head or pretending to drink. It stops after a minute or so but it's scary. Other than that it's still peeping, nibbling, and behaving normally. How can I help it? Will it be okay?

Any advice is greatly appreciated, thank you
 
EggSighted4Life said:
Hi, welcome to BYC! :frow

What made rescuing this mallard duckling necessary?

Sorry for the fall. Hope it recovers! :fl

What are you feeding?
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It's hard to explain, but our school has an enclosed garden where a mallard mama nests, and her babies have to be manually moved each year since they can't fly out. They had already moved the family when one of the dud eggs began hatching, so I volunteered to take it because we used to raise ducks. It's currently eating duck starter, grass, and a little ground corn.
 
Wow, so cool that you were able to find duck starter.

It does sound scary... but I'm not sure there is anything you can do. The limp is probably a little soreness that will go away with use and time since you DO have the correct feed. Hopefully the drinking thing is random and will also go away. Just making sure all the water went down the pipe right or something. Shaking the head is very often a way to clear things from the throat, it seems like.

I'm not sure the extra ground corn is beneficial, nutrient wise... Do you know if ducklings need grit to digest things like the grass? I presume with mama they may get it from the ground, but not sure your babe has ground access.

I only raised ducklings once, so not a lot of experience here. Sorry I can't be more help, but still hope to support ya. :)

Falls stink, but at least it is good to know the reason behind odd behavior. Hope recovery is quick and nothing else develops. :fl
 
EggSighted4Life said:
Wow, so cool that you were able to find duck starter.

It does sound scary... but I'm not sure there is anything you can do. The limp is probably a little soreness that will go away with use and time since you DO have the correct feed. Hopefully the drinking thing is random and will also go away. Just making sure all the water went down the pipe right or something. Shaking the head is very often a way to clear things from the throat, it seems like.

I'm not sure the extra ground corn is beneficial, nutrient wise... Do you know if ducklings need grit to digest things like the grass? I presume with mama they may get it from the ground, but not sure your babe has ground access.

I only raised ducklings once, so not a lot of experience here. Sorry I can't be more help, but still hope to support ya. :)

Falls stink, but at least it is good to know the reason behind odd behavior. Hope recovery is quick and nothing else develops. :fl
Click to expand...
that makes me feel a lot better :)

I'll take him off corn, but we live on a farm so he's got plenty of access to ground and grit, so I think it'll be okay? I'll stop letting him out if you think otherwise, this is all really helpful!
 
Donnadmarie said:
that makes me feel a lot better :)

I'll take him off corn, but we live on a farm so he's got plenty of access to ground and grit, so I think it'll be okay? I'll stop letting him out if you think otherwise, this is all really helpful!
Click to expand...
Ok I wasn't sure if he was kept in an indoor brooder. So the grit is probably good. But the duck starter will have the best nutrients, where as the ground corn will be about 7% protein but with no added vitamins and minerals. I'm sure it's probably fine as a treat, not to exceed 10% of the total daily ration. With ducks it's is important that they get 55mg/kg minimum of niacin or they will start to have leg issues. That is why most chick starter is not adequate without supplementing niacin for ducklings.

Mind you I'm super nutrition conscious for my birds since I think after genetics it is a key factor in health. I am a treat tight wad... So you might be OK feeding a little ground corn. It wouldn't be my personal choice since most feeds are already corn based... but I know treats are fun... Do what makes sense to you. If I do treats I do it later in the day after I know the formulated ration formed the base.

I wouldn't stop letting him out... I prefer outdoor birds and that's where they like to be also as long as they are warm and safe. :)

Whether the duckling will be OK or not... You are doing your best, it either will or it won't. Without your help, it would have already lost it's life. Of course I hope (and think) it will be OK. :fl

ETA: @chickens really care to share any of your experience here? Thank you
 
Chick starter is not adequate for Ducklings. You can add wheat to the diet, peas, dandelion greens..Corn is not good..Ducklings require extra B3. A Duckling feed is best. Or an all flock feed that shows it's Duck friendly feed.. they require more niacin although that can be provided in vegetation..
 

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