HELP-What is the most nutritious feed for a duckling that.....

[chickensioux]

I have a call duck that is 1 month old and not growing. Her crop is malformed and possibly does not function properly. She has been to the vet and is fine in every way but growth. Others have said to switch her feed from Gamebird chick starter to...what???

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

duck grower??? what does your feed store have? you might also try turkey starter/grower - the protein may be high

lets see what others say..

 

[TennesseeTruly]

I would suggest you get waterfowl food. Purina has a good one. Your baby should be on the Purina Duck Grower at her age.

Mazuri also has Mazuri Maintenance for ducks her age. I've used both.

I see you're in NC. You probably won't be able to get the Purina here. But Mazuri is available and is made by Purina. Check your local feed stores. If they don't have it, ask them to order it.

I've been following your posts on your little FTT duckling. I hope everything goes well with her.

Laurie

 

[goosedragon]

I am in Central NC and the Southern States feed stores carry a Floating Waterfowl Pellet, 20% that I think is really good. The pellets may be too big for your tiny call but they can be crushed down to a crumble that it can handle.

 

[chickensioux]

Thanks for the suggestions. I will check with our local feed store and see of they carry waterfowl feed or can get it.
I love this little duckling so much and want to do everything I can to keep her around as long as possible.

 

[CityChicker]

I would think whatever is going on with your duckling is genetic, not feed related. Ducks don't have crops. I think the suggestion of waterfowl food is good in general even if this is not a feed related issue. Are you feeding any grit at all? You might try that and plenty of soft foods like greens and maybe even hard boiled eggs.

Unfortunately, I suspect you will lose this one. I wonder if she might have some rare form of achondroplasia (dwarfism basically). I know I have read that it has affected birds before, but I am not sure about with ducks.

Anyway, I hope she pulls through!

 

[chickensioux]

Digestive System of the Duck

The digestive system in the duck is more specialized. The duck lacks teeth, and the bottom of its mouth is not firm so it can flex out somewhat to allow the duck to take in and sift through water to obtain food particles. Food is moved into the esophagus, which in most birds including the duck leads into a specialized expansion of the esophagus known as the crop, which aids in the temporary storage of food. From the esophagus, the food enters into a thin-walled structure of the glandular section of the stomach called the proventriculus. The proventriculus connects to the ventriculus, which is known as the gizzard. The gizzard leads into the small intestine. The pancreas is located on the small intestine. The small intestine leads into the large intestine, which leads into the rectum, then the colon. The colon empties into the cloaca, thru which waste products are excreted. The gallbladder is located within the lobes of the liver.

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Duck do have crops. This one is getting grit and everything else I can think of the ensure good health and survival. I have had her for a month and I am contantly researching to learn more. I do agree this is something either genetic or a physiological malformation. I will read up on dwarfism to see if I can learn from it. Shhhhhh, we don't discus losing her.....

 

[Sweetfolly]

I have read a lot of posts lately (including one of my own) about ducklings who are abnormally small and not growing. Perhaps there's some new genetic mutation/bacteria/egg nutrition deficiency going around out there - maybe some sort of chemical is getting into eggs that later affects the duckling's growth hormones or something.

I don't know - that's just my high school AP Biology for you. I do know that there is an answer out there, but ducks just aren't deemed "important" enough for anyone to strain themselves too hard to find it.

As far as feeds go - my abnormally small little girl won't touch her waterfowl feed, she'll only eat live worms. I give her a mixture of mealworms, red worms, and wax worms (as well as some slugs from the garden) and LOTS of greens like dandelions and spinach. She's been showing some really promising growth on that diet.

I hope you figure something out! Good luck!

 

[chickensioux]

Quote:
Thanks, I'll try those in the diet as well. I just read that Riboflavin (Vit B) and manganese deficiencies during incubation can cause dwarfism in poultry and waterfowl.

 

[CityChicker]

I am sorry, I am only trying to help so please do not take offense, but ducks absolutely do *not* have crops. I don't care where you read that or even if you heard that from a vet. They do not. I am a poultry science major and have necropsied probably at least a hundred of them (as well as other species including several birds that had proventricular dilation disease so I have seen a lot of digestive tracts) Please keep in mind, Avian medicine is a very small field that is really just coming into its own. There is a lot of incorrect information out there as this is a very specialized field that has not gotten a lot of attention in the past.

Again, I am trying to help, not offend you. I was just curious why you thought the bird had a malformed crop? Is it because you can feel something or is something visible like a lump? If this is why you suspected a malformed "crop", it could very well be that the bird has an impaction. If so, there may be a way to fix it.

I have never heard of a bird with an impaction living for so long with no other symptoms other then stunted growth. Usually they die rather quickly if the impaction is not removed, either manually or surgically. That is why I would suspect something genetic.

A key bit of information though before I give any more advice (if you want it and I haven't irritated you by insisting ducks have no crops, LOL) is why you think it has a malformed crop. If you want to give more information, please do and either way, I hope your baby pulls through!