Duckling has spells of walking back, shaking head...

[Dodgegal79]

What I do with my little ones for the first week or two is soak the pellets or crumb so its already damp, that way they usually don't have a problem getting enough water down to wash it down. Just make sure to change it once or twice a day so it doesnot get moldy.

 

[zalea]

Swimming sounds like a good adventure for tomorrow.

I've been keeping a little scrapbook of all the different little things they get to do, so we have a nice little record of everything and a reference to go back to. I'm calling it "The Adventures of Nny and Squee", which are their names of course (I got the names from a couple of comic book characters my boyfriend and I are fond of). We've had them about 4 days now, so they're almost a week old, so if 2-3 days is the case age-wise they're old enough. I think swimming is something we can definitely set-up for tomorrow's adventure.

The duckling is doing much better today, by the way. I've only seen it have one of those spells once or twice, and they aren't nearly as bad as before. The deeper waterbowl really seemed to help. Hopefully in the next few days, those spells will totally disappear!

 

[greyfields]

Keep a very good eye on them. I've lost goslings which were many weeks old in tanks. I even put bricks in the bottom and ramps in and out. It's very sad to lose one to drowning.

 

[zalea]

Awww. I'm sorry to hear that.

That's so sad. I wish the best to your future goslings!
With our ducklings, we'll probably just use a little water in the bathtub, or even just get a little pan like you can soak your feet in. We will definitely be closely supervising them, though. And taking lots of pictures!

I think they're the cutest, so they are getting royally spoiled. It'll be some time before they can swim freely, since we're waiting for warmer weather to even consider taking them outside. It snowed here yesterday! I want some 60 degree weather (at least!) back, personally. But yes, they will definitely be well supervised when they swim.

 

[Dodgegal79]

I'm glad they are doing better. Even a small pan or something is good enough for their first swim. They will just like to splash and run around in it mostly. I just got a bunch of babies yesterday, a few Calls, Runners, Pekins and Khakis. I think I have about 28 and I have some more hatching. I think tomorrow I will let them have their first swim, it is very cold here today.

I love their names!

 

[zalea]

We just used a small pan like you can soak your feet in. They loved it! They were splashing around like crazy and just having a grand time.

Nny (pronounced "Knee"; short for Johnny) is the darker one. It's the energetic one that likes to cause trouble. We're pretty sure it's a mallard, and we think it's male but we aren't sure yet.

Squee is the yellow one. It was the one who was having problems. It's doing great now, though. And the swimming really helped it to figure out how to clear its sinuses. That was the first thing both of them did.

But yeah, we think Squee is a female.

This was when we first put them in. Nny was getting a little over-excited.

Here's another.

The pictures are a bit blurry because they didn't want to stop moving around, of course. But I still think they're pretty cute.

 

[Katy]

I'm glad to hear he/she is doing better. Ducklings, despite being the messiest critters around are just too darn cute!!

 

[DuckTuckandRole]

My duck is now 4 weeks old and she's still walking backwards with a little nod of her head to the ground. Is she ok? She's been doing this since she was little, I've usually thought nothing of it...

 

[Amiga]

Could be a niacin deficiency. Here is what I have written, based on my reading here and elsewhere:

Response for ducklings with likely niacin deficiency
People often get confused about what to use, so please stick with me here

.

You have some options.

I would go with brewer's yeast. Forgive me for using capital letters, but for anyone else who may casually look over this thread, NOT baking yeast, NOT winemaking yeast. Brewer's yeast is a nutritional supplement and it provides niacin and a few other vitamins.

Generally, folks who supplement with brewer’s yeast use a tablespoon per cup of food.

Ducklings need about three times the niacin chicks do. And some ducklings get leg problems or seizures if they don't have enough niacin.

If you cannot find the brewer's yeast, or if you happen to have (here come the capital letters again, please forgive me) PLAIN niacin - NOT no-flush, NOT timed release, then dissolve 150 mg niacin per gallon of water for the duckling’s drinking water.

Another approach is to use B Complex capsules, and use the B3 - niacin - levels as a guide. Again, 150 mg B3 per gallon of drinking water.


Keep the little one on the supplements for about 8 weeks.

Sometimes it only takes a few days to see improvement.

You can also see how it went for Qwackers and Bentley from these threads.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/857143/treating-wry-neck-in-crested-duckling-edited-title

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/761308/peking-duckling-with-crooked-neck-help

 

[DuckTuckandRole]

Thank you!! Is it ok is she's not a duckling though? She's over 4 weeks old. Is it too late?!