Help ASAP! WHat is up with these ducklings?!?!?!?!

[newchickmom09]

I don't know what i would do if I were in your possition.

 

[4boysmom]

I've not had to cull yet, but haven't I read of some others ways if you can't handle the snooping, which I don't know if I could

 

[Cetawin]

Quote:
Cetawin, I certainly disagree with you. I have seen the vitamins work miracles on what I would have thought were hopeless cases. One of my best ducks and personal pets spent three days hatching and three days in my own intensive care before she was able to get off her back and stand on her own, and I credit those vitamins with giving her what she needed. (I have at least one other large duck breeder who is giving them a run now on my recommendation.) She is a farm and show favorite for our place here. I think if Goat Walker wants to give it a try, she should...nothing ventured, nothing gained. Plus, we all stand to learn something from it, and if these ducks do have to die, then it will not have been in vain. Culling/killing them off the bat teaches no one anything. Others' ducks could benefit from what she finds out.

Good luck, Goat Walker! Here is "Nano", post recovery at under a week old:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/43338_nano3.jpg
She was also Best of Variety Blue Fawn at Top of Ohio, and the judge commented to me afterward that he felt she could hold her own up against almost any blue fawn Calls he has seen. No current pictures...I really do need to get some taken. She is one of my two favorites here.

I stated my opinion and it stands but I have to ask...are you looking at the same pictures I am? This is not a case of wry neck which responds to vitamins...nor is it a case of duckies not being able to stand. For heaven's sake look with your eyes and not your heart. I am by no means heartless and I would have a very hard time dispatching the little ones myself but I would do it. Heck, I spent the past week crying like a baby because my favorite roo died from this horrible heat.

I also did not suggest culling/killing them off the bat! They were hatched 24 hours before she posted and I suggested waiting 24 hours which by the way is equivalent to the 48 hours suggested by someone else.

It absolutely drives me crazy when someone says something as ridiculous as you just did when you stated this

"I think if Goat Walker wants to give it a try, she should...nothing ventured, nothing gained. Plus, we all stand to learn something from it, and if these ducks do have to die, then it will not have been in vain."

What exactly do you hope to learn....how to watch them suffer? If they die after several days of suffering, it was not in vain? You have got to be kidding me? Good grief she has to untangle their necks for them to eat and drink? What sort of existence is that? Can she stand there over them 24 hours a day until they can untangle their necks themselves? Whatever. I am done with it.

Good luck with the duckies!

 

[DuckLady]

Cetawin is right.

Anyone here who knows me know that I am the most softhearted person when it comes to ducks. I have treated many wry necks and this is not it. I have worked with a national rescue organization and have had quite a bit of education and a lot of experience in this.

This is a deformity that if left untreated will be an awful life to live. Why would you want to do that to them if you say you care so much? There is a point when caring for something that is better let go becomes, well, ....you need to think of the ducks and not your own needs and wants.

Goatwalker, aren't you joining the military soon? Do you plan to take these ducks with you? What is going to happen to them? Why even have them hatch?

In the past you have posted that your family is not very caring toward your birds and and indeed you have lost many due to their carelessness. Is this the fate you want for them? To live a while so you can try and treat them and then have them die because they are not cared for when you leave?

Better to die quick than to linger in a suffering state.

Actually I am sorry I even opened this thread.

 

[honeydoll]

Cetawin: I do not think you are heartless at all, just realistic. Kudos for standing your ground. I agree with you. It never feels good to put an animal down, but that is a harsh reality when you raise animals. In my home they'd would already be gone. You are by no means a meanie, you want to end their suffering, sometimes culling is kinder than saving. You have alot of good points and say them very well.

 

[Wynette]

It's not a decision to take lightly; and it should not be a decision made with your heart.

You have a responsibility for these lives. Saying, "my heart is too big..." is just a huge cop-out if you ask me. If your heart was indeed that big, you'd do the right thing & cull. Sorry, but this just sickens me.

I do wish you the very best with these poor duckies.

 

[speckledhen]

It's time, Goat Walker. If they haven't improved by now, you need to get down to the business of doing what is good for the ducklings. I hate it for you, I really, really do, but this is our responsibility as livestock/pet owners. Listen to Terrie! She knows her ducks.

 

[duckluck]

I agree with those that say the right thing should be done when it needs to be done; however, Goat Walker just posted this thread what, yesterday at 5pm? It's been less than 24 hours since she posted. I have been fortunate enough to never have seen this particular problem, but I am a big fan of sleeping on just about any situation at least once. Yes, I am looking at the same pictures, and yes, I think dispatching them right away is jumping the gun. If we learn nothing else, it will be whether or not there even can be any kind of positive response to corrective action being taken on this...different situations can have different outcomes, and some might be similar but not as severe as others. So many of us have had to learn from trial and error and not had the same sort of situation turn out the same way twice that I think it bears the trying. I'm not going to apologize for my opinion; some folks have theirs and I have mine.

Goat Walker, keep us posted on how things turn out, no matter what happens.

 

[katharinad]

I like to add to duckluck's message.

We also need to keep in mind that there are many H-4 kids on this list. For us adults it may be easy to say cull it, but this can be heartbreaking news to a kid. They take these advises very hart regardless of being wrong or right. Adults very often argue that the animals suffer. How do you know? Can you read pain in their faces? Do you have a way of measuring it? I'm thinking of the woman with a duck that was born partial blind. So many screamed kill it, and now months later that duck is the happiest in the world. Disability does not mean suffering, and needs to be assessed on an individual basis. It cannot be done by looking at pictures, perhaps a video, but that is as far I would take it.

Goatwalker, please learn out this that you can question what adults say, because they are not always right.

My advise, and I may be wrong, is to try for a few days and see if they improve in any way. A duck develops so much in the first week alone and there is a real possibility. I have seen it. If the vitamins don't do it then ask your father to discretely take care of it for you. You will feel better knowing that you have tried your best.

 

[Goat_Walker]

Thank you everyone. I am considering all advice - whether it be to cull or try and save. Ive never had to kill my own pet before. ive had two dogs put down that left me in a deep dark depression for months. Ive killed snakes that bother my ducks. Ive lost ducks to snakes and dogs. But Ive never had to make a decision like this - and im not even a legal adult yet.


i did lose one duckling durring the day. So now ive got three to worry about. Two act as if they are normal, as if their necks beign twisted is the way they are supposed to be, while the other is the little black guy. I'll talk to my parents about it tonight, and wee what they think since they hvae both been helping me out with these little guys.

and then I guess I shouldnt say my "heart is too big.. " May be i should have said my heart is irrational at times and even though I may see that something needs to be done one way - i also see all my other options. Im pretty open minded and if there is another way then ill try it - but i wont let it go on for long. these guys have been eating and drinking well all day, and sleeping it off when i take them out for their little neck rubs.