Ducklings

[sophiesocks]

Hello I am a newbie here,
Hope someone can help, I've recently adopted 3 babies who's feathered mumma got killed by a fox,
I've had them a few weeks now, not sure how old they are but they have chick crumb changed 4 times a daily and fresh water,
One little boy/girl has a bauld patch on her side.
Any ideas please

 

[6sablehens]

Hi, they look like they're doing well! A good idea for a brooder is a bathtub with a heat lamp on one end so if they get cold they can warm up as they don't have their mum. We used a bathtub as our brooder! We put tarp over it (except for the drain area) so they wouldn't slip over. We then put hay below the heat lamp, at the opposite end of the plug. Because ducks are so messy with their water we put their food and water near the drain so when they spilt their water it would run down. To clean we lifted the tarp and rinsed it.

Make sure the chick starter isn't medicated. If you can get duckling crumbles that would be better because it has the right amount of protein needed for ducks but if not I think you can use unmediated chick starter. For their water you can use a dish or lid. Ducklings love playing in their water so you could use a deeper container but make sure don't get stuck. You can let them swim in a kid pool or sink but always watch them and make sure they can get out. An old paint tray is good for water because it has a deep end and a shallow end.

You can give them small pieces of lettuce as a treat but not too much - It doesn't have a lot of nutritional value.
Another treat they love corn and peas, you can give this to them when they get bigger.
You can also give them kale, pak choy, watercress, berries, grapes, banana, cabbage.
Don't give them any avocado, citrus, nuts or salty food.

As they get older, move them onto duck grower and then a pellet for adult ducks.
Plastic kid pools work well for them to swim in, ducks need to be able to swim to keep their feathers in good condition and the water should also be deep enough for them to clean their beak.

The duckling with the bald patch on its side could just be moulting.

Good luck with your ducklings! Glad you saved them

 

[sophiesocks]

Thankyou so much for replying, I've been going out of my mind with worry,
At the min they go outside during the day where we have the hose on for running water, they have the kids old sandpit for a pool which they don't use at the min but also have a bowl of water which they can paddle in.
In the evening they come inside in a dog crate where they lay on a warm water bottle with a cuddly toy.
And again have a water casserole dish
There food is called small holder range baby chick crumbs which says on he bag no hexane extract
Any idea ?
I'm so confused.

 

[6sablehens]

No worries, you seem to be looking after them well.
Duckling crumbles are ideal but I have heard you can use unmediated chick crumbles. I assume the feed isn't medicated as it doesn't mention it on the package, and hexane extract is something that is used to cheaply separate soy oil from soy protein. It is highly pollutant so it's a good thing the food doesn't contain it.
You may find some duckling starter feed at different pet shops of feed stores.
Since ducklings generally need more protein than chicks you could give them some hard boiled egg occasionally or mix some in their feed.

 

[sophiesocks]

Ok thankyou that's brilliant.
I'll go over to a different pet shop and see what they have, this bad was literally a crisis bag when I was suddenly given the babies

.
They seem to be growing so quickly so hopefully they will survive now and become adults and do what ducks do.
What ever that maybe

Again thankyou so much for your help

 

[Ducks4us]

The most important thing is to make sure ducklings recieve enough niacin.
Chick starter doesnt contain what they need. Duck specific feed is not available here so we feed-' nutrena all flock'
And add niacin in the form of - nutritional yeast- 1 tablespoon per cup of feed.
So if you dont find duck food be sure you find some
Either brewers yeast or nutrtional yeast works.
Just NO bread yeast

A bald spot isnt normal at this age.
they should be growing in thick down feathers. Not molting yet.
Its most likely one of the other ducklings is nibbling on that spot.
May want to make sure they have enough to do and are not bored.
A little clump of dirt/grass from the yard will work
But this is the age where they start having leg troubles if not getting proper nutrition.
Protein should be 15-18 % right now and you can add raw oats- to the feed to help lower the protein if needed.
Ducklings grow so fast and too high of protein and not enough niacin can cause many problems.
They look very like healthy ducklings so far
Thats great your already taking them outside ! They love time outside !

 

[6sablehens]

Thank you, I'm glad to help! That's a good point about the brewers yeast - You should be able to get it from a feed store. As for the protien, the back of the bag should say how much is in the feed so you may want to use oats as Ducks4us suggested (to lower protien) or egg (to add protein) if necessary, depending on the amount in the chick starter.
Just remembered ducks don't moult until their older! Have been keeping chickens lately and young ones sometimes loose patches of down from moulting.

 

[sophiesocks]

I have been googling and didn't think it was right to be a mault but wasn't sure how old they were,
It's been a long time since I had ducks I hand rested one many years ago after a rat got hold of it and it's mother didn't want to know, but this was 8 years ago, so I'm now back to basics.
We are hoping to get a run soon so they can go onto the grass because at the moment there on my patio

I have just found the label as to what's in the feed
Hopefully one of you lovely people can tell me if this is right, this is what they gave me at my farm pet shop

 

[sophiesocks]

6sabelhens sorry just re read your post, yes I have 14 chickens but they haven't been near the ducklings,
They have the own fenced off area at the bottom of the garden

 

[sophiesocks]

Thankyou so much ducks for us, will be trying another pet shop tom to purchase the duck feed you suggested if not the supliment