HELP Mum isn’t sitting on ducklings

[nao57]

I’ve got 7 3 day olds in a reasonably sized storage box (plastic container) with larger sized wood shavings for bedding. I’ve covered half the box with a towel and provided them with food and water. I’ve got a 250W red heat lamp hanging about 70cm above the floor (like double the height of the box). The box is in the laundry (fairly small) and I have the door to the rest of the house open for a little airflow for if it gets hot. I’m so glad your babies do that too! I was so worried that he was dying or something and I couldn’t find anything to ‘fix’ it online so I got so scared! quick question: should I be waking up every few hours of the night to check on them? And can I leave the lamp on overnight? Thank you so much for replying, it’s only my second batch of ducklings (the first batch was 2 years ago) and I’m sooo inexperienced. Again, thank you kind person, I really really appreciate it!!

I do think when they spontaneously just drop their heads they are stressed out, like fall asleep exhausted kind of thing.

But yeah it scared me too seeing this.

People say they are most fragile their first week of life. So I don't think its a bad thing to get up in the night to check them in this period. In the end, you'll just be glad you kept them alive. And you don't have to stay up long when you check them, just do it for a minute and then go back to sleep. And after the first 7 days their survival rate jumps a lot.

 

[IHaveADuckCalledDonald]

One just suddenly died. It was eating and drinking and then I looked down and it died. I’m so confused? Why? Was it too hot/cold

 

[nao57]

One just suddenly died. It was eating and drinking and then I looked down and it died. I’m so confused? Why? Was it too hot/cold

How long ago did it die?

If it was only a few minutes ago, you can quickly pick it up while its still warm. Are the legs really cold?

To a point duck legs are a bit cooler than the rest of the duck. But you can feel their legs to know if they are too cold, precisely because they will be more cold than normal. You can feel the rest of them this way to also check them. (Although maybe wash hands after handling the dead duck and before doing this.)

Check the rest of the ducklings and feel how cold their legs are. This can help. If their legs feel cold then warm them up.

What's the distance between the ground and the ducks and how low the heat lamp is? You can reduce the distance if you don't feel the warmth is getting all the way to the ground where they are. (I'd check this also.)

Please consider making the lamp closer to them if their legs felt really cold.

 

[IHaveADuckCalledDonald]

The baby died a few mins ago but there was no heart beat. And he went stiff quite quickly. It’s so sad and now I can’t leave the ducklings for even a few mins without getting worried. What might he have died from do you know?

 

[nao57]

Very likely you can shorten the distance to the ground on your heat lamp.

Now if your pen is big enough, and if they are too warm, you'll know because they will go towards the edges of the pen outside the core warming central area. (But very likely this isn't the case.)

I'm so sorry you lost a chic. That's sad.

 

[nao57]

I would make a mix of egg yolk and egg, with sugar in it. Mix it up. And then give it to them, to give them a quick boost. Try the other things I said also.

Now you can give the egg yolk sugar mixture to them just mixed up as liquid. But its much less messy to do it scrambled.

But it may be that you won't want to wait that long because you want to make sure you don't lose the rest of them. You could give them some of the liquid egg yolk with sugar to boost them, and then go cook the rest. Then give it to them after its not too hot.

I think this is worth doing because it may be that even if you did everything right, that they'd had all of the last 24 hours already under exposure and being cold so long that it may have just worn them out. (So this is the fix.)

 

[IHaveADuckCalledDonald]

I would make a mix of egg yolk and egg, with sugar in it. Mix it up. And then give it to them, to give them a quick boost. Try the other things I said also.

Now you can give the egg yolk sugar mixture to them just mixed up as liquid. But its much less messy to do it scrambled.

But it may be that you won't want to wait that long because you want to make sure you don't lose the rest of them. You could give them some of the liquid egg yolk with sugar to boost them, and then go cook the rest. Then give it to them after its not too hot.

I think this is worth doing because it may be that even if you did everything right, that they'd had all of the last 24 hours already under exposure and being cold so long that it may have just worn them out. (So this is the fix.)

How much sugar? Thank you so much I’ll make it now

 

[IHaveADuckCalledDonald]

I would make a mix of egg yolk and egg, with sugar in it. Mix it up. And then give it to them, to give them a quick boost. Try the other things I said also.

Now you can give the egg yolk sugar mixture to them just mixed up as liquid. But its much less messy to do it scrambled.

But it may be that you won't want to wait that long because you want to make sure you don't lose the rest of them. You could give them some of the liquid egg yolk with sugar to boost them, and then go cook the rest. Then give it to them after its not too hot.

I think this is worth doing because it may be that even if you did everything right, that they'd had all of the last 24 hours already under exposure and being cold so long that it may have just worn them out. (So this is the fix.)

Just gave them some and they’re very awake now. I’m hoping it works. Does having it cooked work better? Or is it just less messy. I gave them the yolk and sugar but they only had a little bit. How much should they have had?

 

[nao57]

Just gave them some and they’re very awake now. I’m hoping it works. Does having it cooked work better? Or is it just less messy. I gave them the yolk and sugar but they only had a little bit. How much should they have had?

I think cooked but soft works better for many reasons.

For example; when I gave it to them in liquid form one of them got even colder because he was so famished he jumped in the bowl with it soaking himself. That didn't help any. (He was fine though.)

And another batch of ducklings I did this with they would splash around in the liquid yolk and got so sticky that it stayed in their feathers and on them for days.

So there's a lot of reasons why the cooked form is easier.

But the liquid form can be absorbed faster, which is good especially if you are really worried about them, and if it looks dire.

If they only had a little bit that's OK. The point was that you got them through things when it looked really bad. There's a lot of nutrition in the yolk mixture, so even a little is good. And with sugar even better.

Just keep it there with them and let them eat it all up. I'd continue to do this for at least a full day after you think they've gone through massive exposure and cold. (The heart needs more calories to cope with the cold, etc. So they've lost a lot of nutrition. Sled dogs go through something similar where they need more calories than normal dogs.)

They will very likely start eating again in bits. This is normal. Just keep it there for them.

I would still check on them often for the next 2 days.

Also how is the height on your heat lamp?

With the heat lamp now you can feel with your hand if it feels warm or cold. You can also feel the ground away from the lamp and under the lamp, if its too similar then the lamp might still be too far away.

I'm glad we could help you through this.

 

[IHaveADuckCalledDonald]

I think cooked but soft works better for many reasons.

For example; when I gave it to them in liquid form one of them got even colder because he was so famished he jumped in the bowl with it soaking himself. That didn't help any. (He was fine though.)

And another batch of ducklings I did this with they would splash around in the liquid yolk and got so sticky that it stayed in their feathers and on them for days.

So there's a lot of reasons why the cooked form is easier.

But the liquid form can be absorbed faster, which is good especially if you are really worried about them, and if it looks dire.

If they only had a little bit that's OK. The point was that you got them through things when it looked really bad. There's a lot of nutrition in the yolk mixture, so even a little is good. And with sugar even better.

Just keep it there with them and let them eat it all up. I'd continue to do this for at least a full day after you think they've gone through massive exposure and cold. (The heart needs more calories to cope with the cold, etc. So they've lost a lot of nutrition. Sled dogs go through something similar where they need more calories than normal dogs.)

They will very likely start eating again in bits. This is normal. Just keep it there for them.

I would still check on them often for the next 2 days.

Also how is the height on your heat lamp?

With the heat lamp now you can feel with your hand if it feels warm or cold. You can also feel the ground away from the lamp and under the lamp, if its too similar then the lamp might still be too far away.

I'm glad we could help you through this.

I go and give them a little every few hours instead of leaving it in there. They all ate some and I think it’s helped one of the babies to make it through thankfully. He was very weak for a little bit but is making a recovery. Me and my mum are going to wake up every 2 hours and check on them (where I live it’s 11pm). Hope they go well. I’m going to just have to hope they make it because there isn’t really anything else I can do really?