Help!!! Newly hatched duckling

[tloibl54]

First let me say that I didn't want babies. I pull the eggs as soon as I see them. My husband and I just got back from a 8 day cruise. My 22 year old has been taking care of my ducks and pulling eggs. Anyways, we get home today and I see 5 ducking with their mom. I start searching for where on earth she had eggs. I see a ducking inside the duck house and mom wanted no part of him/her. The ducking looked like there is something wrong with it. It just rolls and isn't standing like the others. It can't hold its head up. I brought the baby inside but I have a feeling it's not going to make it. I dnot have experience with newly hatched babies. What should I feed it? It can't hold its head up. I don't know what to do.

 

[tloibl54]

Oh and he/she can roll and moves it's legs and feet. I held the baby up and he/she drank water out of my hand. My husband is preparing me that the baby probably isn't going to make it and mom knew there was something wrong and that's why she abandoned it. I'm prepared but Im a mess. I feel guilty for missing the eggs and now I have babies I didn't want nor have room for and now this ducking probably won't make it. Even though I doubt this is the case but I'm hoping it's just born and weak and one it's gets some strength, it can stand and hold his/her head up. If this baby makes it, I'm keeping him/her.

 

[Amiga]

Newly hatched ducklings need to rest for several hours....

It may have a nutrient deficiency, so putting vitamins in the water may help.

Often especially B vitamins are missing, so if you can put some B Complex in water, I would try that.

The amount of B Complex I would use would depend on how much niacin-B3 is in the vitamin. Storey's Guide to Raising Ducks recommends 100 to 150 mg niacin per gallon of water for niacin-deficient ducklings, so I would use the B3 as a guide.

Example: If there were 25 mg B3-niacin in each tablet, I would put one to one and a half tablets in a quart of water.

 

[shellywelly]

How much food do u feed 4 ducks in a day? And do u do others food besides just duck food or just duck food. I know fruit and vegetables r ok but not sure the amount I should give in one day

 

[Amiga]

How much food do u feed 4 ducks in a day? And do u do others food besides just duck food or just duck food. I know fruit and vegetables r ok but not sure the amount I should give in one day

For my flock, I have found that they eat different amounts depending on the weather, and if they are laying, or molting.

So, I keep food with my flock 24/7 - and refill as needed. There is a table in Storey's Guide to Raising Ducks that estimates how much food is needed.

For example, for 8 to 9 pound ducks, laying, they need 0.45 to 0.60 pounds of 16% protein feed per duck per day, and there is this note from the table - I think it is an important note:

"The quantities of feed that you need to supply to ducks are highly dependent on the availability of natural foods, the climate conditions, and the quality of feed (e.g. birds require larger amounts of high-fiber foods than low-fiber foods to meet their energy requirements)."

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