Mad Mag
Chirping
- Mar 6, 2022
- 35
- 106
- 74
We've been raising ducklings (two Pekins and two that look like mallards) for about a week and a half now (they're about three weeks old), and recently things have been off in our flock.
It all started Thursday (It's Sunday now), and throughout the day everything had been fine and good. That evening, however, my mother and stepfather had made cheeseburgers and fries, and despite the fact that I told them not to feed them those things, they fed them small pieces of each. One of my ducklings (a mallard (male)) got choked on a piece of bread that was too big, but was saved by my stepfather (he coughed it up). For the remainder of the evening, he was shaky (especially in his wings) and refused to eat or drink at first. Hours later, he started eating and drinking a little bit, and I thought that maybe he was recovering from some sort of shock from having almost died, and was going to be fine.
On Friday morning, around 5:33 AM, I walk up to the ducks and they all get up and stretch since they know that food is coming. The duckling that choked also started to get up and slowly started to stretch his legs out behind him. He was midstretch when his neck started to slowly fall to the side, and he was gone, just like that. When I picked him up to examine him, some translucent white ooze came out from underneath him. I assume that it was half-formed fecal matter, but I don't know.
Later that day, I noticed that the rest of the ducks seemed pretty much okay, with one (the mallard female) seeming a TEENY bit more lethargic than the others. We got another mallard male (around the same age) that looked a lot like the previous one.
Saturday morning rolls around, and I notice that the female mallard seemed more lethargic (lots of sitting and resting, with occasional signs of difficulty in being able to hold her head/neck up). She had a patch of rough feathers on the back of her neck, but after a quick swim in a bin filled with water, they were fluffy again. She was able to eat and drink, but not as often as usual. The Pekins seemed more energetic, but they were also a sitting down a lot. As the day progresses, I notice that the female mallard is becoming less and less energetic, with increasing difficulty in holding her head up (lowering to the side a lot). She seemed very tired, yet still ate and drank a little bit. All of the ducks (except the new mallard male) seemed to not care as much whenever I put my hand in the container next to them (they would usually move/run away from it. The pekins seemed to be more responsive to it, but the mallard female was a lot less so. She kept leaning her head against the side of the container a lot. I knew things weren't going too good.
(I also want to note that a younger relative of mine - about 5 years old - visited us on Saturday and stayed until Sunday morning. They played with the female pekin a lot and frequently kept trying to touch the ducklings.)
On Sunday morning (today), I find the female mallard dead as well. The pekins seem even more lethargic and are acting like she did. The male's neck is lowering to the side more than the female's (he seems more tired than the female, his head is slightly shaky, and he's resting the tip of his beak on the floor of the container a lot), but they still seem to stand up and move a little (at least) whenever I put my hand in the container next to them. The new duck just seems to be doing whatever they're doing, but is still pretty okay, from what I can tell. I have at least seen the new one eat and drink, but if the pekins have eaten or drunk anything, I haven't seen it (they could've when I wasn't watching, but I'm not sure). We switched out their bedding for finer stuff since we were concerned that the TSC fine pine shavings we were using could be a choking hazard (on previous days, all of the ducks seemed to like to peck at it and try to eat it).
Throughout all of these days, we've been using a clear glass bowl (with sides at about chest height) as their water dish, a heat lamp for warmth, a clear plastic container with a hole in the side as their food dish, and a clear plastic container (about 2 ft x 3ft) as their brooder. We change the bedding and clean the brooder once every day (sometimes twice) using dish soap and the hose out back. Whenever we do that, we put the ducks in a cardboard box and then put them back afterward. We clean the food container and water dish regularly throughout the day. I try not to let the water sit as it gets used more and more, and change it out frequently (at least 3-5 times a day). I change out the food in the food container about twice a day.
I don't know if the pekins are able to be saved (hopefully so), but I just want to try to do whatever I can to possibly help them. If you have any idea what might be wrong and how I might be able to help them, please let me know.
It all started Thursday (It's Sunday now), and throughout the day everything had been fine and good. That evening, however, my mother and stepfather had made cheeseburgers and fries, and despite the fact that I told them not to feed them those things, they fed them small pieces of each. One of my ducklings (a mallard (male)) got choked on a piece of bread that was too big, but was saved by my stepfather (he coughed it up). For the remainder of the evening, he was shaky (especially in his wings) and refused to eat or drink at first. Hours later, he started eating and drinking a little bit, and I thought that maybe he was recovering from some sort of shock from having almost died, and was going to be fine.
On Friday morning, around 5:33 AM, I walk up to the ducks and they all get up and stretch since they know that food is coming. The duckling that choked also started to get up and slowly started to stretch his legs out behind him. He was midstretch when his neck started to slowly fall to the side, and he was gone, just like that. When I picked him up to examine him, some translucent white ooze came out from underneath him. I assume that it was half-formed fecal matter, but I don't know.
Later that day, I noticed that the rest of the ducks seemed pretty much okay, with one (the mallard female) seeming a TEENY bit more lethargic than the others. We got another mallard male (around the same age) that looked a lot like the previous one.
Saturday morning rolls around, and I notice that the female mallard seemed more lethargic (lots of sitting and resting, with occasional signs of difficulty in being able to hold her head/neck up). She had a patch of rough feathers on the back of her neck, but after a quick swim in a bin filled with water, they were fluffy again. She was able to eat and drink, but not as often as usual. The Pekins seemed more energetic, but they were also a sitting down a lot. As the day progresses, I notice that the female mallard is becoming less and less energetic, with increasing difficulty in holding her head up (lowering to the side a lot). She seemed very tired, yet still ate and drank a little bit. All of the ducks (except the new mallard male) seemed to not care as much whenever I put my hand in the container next to them (they would usually move/run away from it. The pekins seemed to be more responsive to it, but the mallard female was a lot less so. She kept leaning her head against the side of the container a lot. I knew things weren't going too good.
(I also want to note that a younger relative of mine - about 5 years old - visited us on Saturday and stayed until Sunday morning. They played with the female pekin a lot and frequently kept trying to touch the ducklings.)
On Sunday morning (today), I find the female mallard dead as well. The pekins seem even more lethargic and are acting like she did. The male's neck is lowering to the side more than the female's (he seems more tired than the female, his head is slightly shaky, and he's resting the tip of his beak on the floor of the container a lot), but they still seem to stand up and move a little (at least) whenever I put my hand in the container next to them. The new duck just seems to be doing whatever they're doing, but is still pretty okay, from what I can tell. I have at least seen the new one eat and drink, but if the pekins have eaten or drunk anything, I haven't seen it (they could've when I wasn't watching, but I'm not sure). We switched out their bedding for finer stuff since we were concerned that the TSC fine pine shavings we were using could be a choking hazard (on previous days, all of the ducks seemed to like to peck at it and try to eat it).
Throughout all of these days, we've been using a clear glass bowl (with sides at about chest height) as their water dish, a heat lamp for warmth, a clear plastic container with a hole in the side as their food dish, and a clear plastic container (about 2 ft x 3ft) as their brooder. We change the bedding and clean the brooder once every day (sometimes twice) using dish soap and the hose out back. Whenever we do that, we put the ducks in a cardboard box and then put them back afterward. We clean the food container and water dish regularly throughout the day. I try not to let the water sit as it gets used more and more, and change it out frequently (at least 3-5 times a day). I change out the food in the food container about twice a day.
I don't know if the pekins are able to be saved (hopefully so), but I just want to try to do whatever I can to possibly help them. If you have any idea what might be wrong and how I might be able to help them, please let me know.
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