How can you tell if they're sick....or just napping?!?

[maralynn28]

Ok, ducklings been home just 2 hrs and have me worried already. As soon as I stuck them in the brooder they went to work chowing on the bedding. I kept showing them food/water but they kept eating the bedding instead! Came back on here and read the posts about "eating bedding" and put towels over it to prevent any more.
They stopped doing that andnare eating their food and water now...but also noticed that a couple are not as active as before. Based on looks I would say they are napping, I assume as they are babies they do lots of that too...but it worries me because one in particular ate a BIG chunk of bedding before I could intervene and though I did read other threads on the topic, I never saw if any of the babies got sick/ how to "cure" them.

Right now they are on Purina Flock Raiser and water with little lettuce bits. Their bedding is a recycled paper pulp I found at the pet store that I can throw into the composter when they've good and soiled it. Thanks!

 

[duckyfromoz]

I always keep my newly hatched ducklings on a towel for the first few days- They dont poop much at that stage anyway. They will eat and drink- then go for a snooze- wake up and eat and drink again- then more snoozing. Being that they have been transported- They may just be extra tired.

 

[crazyaboutchickens]

if they ate bedding they will need extra grit so they can digest it

 

[Amiga]

Good that you are watching closely! And, at the same time, it gives us more to worry about!.

Since what is done is done, I would just keep an eye on the little ones, and make sure they are drinking and passing food out the other end. I gave my ducklings gro-gel the first week, and vitamins a time or two a week especially after they were stressed. So far, so good.

Does there appear to be any strange lumpiness around the crop of the duckling that ate a big piece of bedding? By the way, mine ate the shavings, too. Then when they were a month old, they didn't, but I had an allergic reaction to the pine.

Sigh.

They are still on towels for now - we will try hardwood shavings when they move outdoors, when the weather cooperates.

If there are digestive troubles, really consider vitamins.

 

[maralynn28]

Thanks all!
I might go get some grit just to keep as "just in case" but good news is, I just checked on them again and they are all running around happy! Cute lil butts. I really appreciate all your input, I tend to be a worryer as it is, but also new at having these lil lives in my hands and I know I (not to mention my young kids!) will be heartbroken if anything happens to them...
Such a relief to have you all to calm my mind.

 

[Amiga]

I have been adding a tiny bit of grit to their food since their first week. Initially, it was perhaps a teaspoon per 6 inch feeder full, then just a pinch more each week as they grew. Not free choice, just a little in the food.

I got the tip from Storey's Guide to Raising Ducks. Letting them have just a little, regularly, from the gitgo removed worries when I started giving them salad, and then let them go outdoors on mild days.