Ducks huddled and panting

[Garden Bird]

I'm very confused. I thought panting meant a duck is cold. But my ducks are huddled together and one of them is panting. The ducks are two weeks old. They are in my house which is 86 degrees right now because the air conditioner went out this morning. We turned off the heat lamp as soon as we realized we would have no ability to cool the house. So the ducks have been without a heat lamp for several hours now. I just noticed one of the ducks panting and he is sitting in the middle of the other two ducks. Why would they huddle together and pant? They shouldn't be too warm at 86 degrees and I wouldn't think that would be too cold for them after two weeks of life. Should I direct a fan over their box?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Have you been using a heat lamp with them full time for the past 2 weeks? Sometimes when the light goes out they get stressed. You could try shining a regular light on them and see if it helps. They end up treating the light like it's their mom sometimes.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I'm glad it worked. My turkeys do the same thing when the light goes out, they pile and complain, it's their mom. I slowly wean mine off it, leaving it off at times, and turning it on later each evening.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I would set them up in a shady area of the yard with some pans so they can start swimming in to stay cooler, but it's been a few years since I brooder ducks, perhaps @chickens really has some better advice.

 

[Garden Bird]

Yes. I'll go get a flashlight or something. She might be stressed. A lot has changed today with the light off and the sound of multiple fans.

 

[Garden Bird]

When I brought the light over, I noticed she had already moved away from the other two ducks and was no longer panting. I now have the light shining into their box and we will see how she handles the rest of the evening. I will leave the light on tonight as they sleep too in case that is what was bothering her. Poor little babies...afraid of the duck. So sweet. I sure like these little sweeties.

 

[Garden Bird]

OK. For anyone new to ducks that comes across this thread, I'd like to state that oldhenlikesdogs was spot on with this reply. Ever since I put the light shining into their box (it is a fluorescent light with barely any heat coming off of it), the ducklings hopped and and started interacting, eating and responding normally again. I never would have guessed they would have bonded so well with light.

 

[Garden Bird]

OK. So a few days later, the ducks are all doing well except for one that is still panting. Is there any other reason a duck would pant when all the other ducks are fine?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Perhaps a slight respiratory problem, or even blocked nostrils come to mind.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Do they have a water container deep enough to submerge their bills to clean out the nostrils?