Is my ducklings ok??

[MikaylaLeslie]

6 day old welsh harlequin duckling. All seemed fine but one of them started jerking its head like crazy and foaming at the mouth. Any suggestions?? Is food caught? We’re holding her and letting her drink water when she wants.

 

[MikaylaLeslie]

She still moving around like crazy and is making noise. But still jerking her head and foaming.

 

[333113]

Okay, think first about the food you are giving them. If it's not soft enough, a duckling can think it's choking on a chunk of food.

So, don't hold her. That's stressful for ducks. Their parents don't hold them, only predators hold a duckling. (As she grows up, you can get her accustomed to being held as a good experience. Right now is not the time to teach her that.)

if she's making noise she is breathing, so she will be able to get over the feeling of food stuck, in a little while. Just give her some quiet time, and make sure water is available to her.

i just had this happen, my nephew poured in some Mazuri duckling feed without soaking it in water first. I don't know why I videoed it--it must have been for you! (It's not a great video, sorry.)

 

[MikaylaLeslie]

Okay, think first about the food you are giving them. If it's not soft enough, a duckling can think it's choking on a chunk of food.

So, don't hold her. That's stressful for ducks. Their parents don't hold them, only predators hold a duckling. (As she grows up, you can get her accustomed to being held as a good experience. Right now is not the time to teach her that.)

if she's making noise she is breathing, so she will be able to get over the feeling of food stuck, in a little while. Just give her some quiet time, and make sure water is available to her.

i just had this happen, my nephew poured in some Mazuri duckling feed without soaking it in water first. I don't know why I videoed it--it must have been for you! (It's not a great video, sorry.)

Just saw this. Thank you! We were terrified that we were going to loose her. We’ve been holding them like crazy and they’re much sweeter then the other ducks we have. She started drinking more water and eventually seemed ok. Held her for a while and she curled up, went to sleep and she seemed relaxed. Put her back with her siblings and now we can’t tell her apart! Is she ok now? Or if she was chocking could it have a bad long term effect? I feed them flock raiser crumbles and have never had an issue. Should I be soaking them in water?

 

[Abigail Joanna]

Just saw this. Thank you! We were terrified that we were going to loose her. We’ve been holding them like crazy and they’re much sweeter then the other ducks we have. She started drinking more water and eventually seemed ok. Held her for a while and she curled up, went to sleep and she seemed relaxed. Put her back with her siblings and now we can’t tell her apart! Is she ok now? Or if she was chocking could it have a bad long term effect? I feed them flock raiser crumbles and have never had an issue. Should I be soaking them in water?

Likely the duckling just thought it was choking. Some chickens do similar things when swallowing huge chunks of food/mice, but once they work it down it's fine.

 

[333113]

There's no long-term effects from choking on food, same as for all of us. (Thank goodness!)

I would soak the feed in water. Flock raiser is okay as a feed. You will want to stay away from medicated feed, if you can, since ducks aren't able to process all medications out if their bodies. I use Mazuri Waterfowl starter, which most feed stores will order for you. It lasts a long time, since you are soaking it in water, and it has the extra nutrients that waterfowl need.

Extra protein in the feed can lead to angel wing. You can search this site for lots of excellent advice on feeding and caring for ducklings.

 

[Abigail Joanna]

Always, too! Supply niacin to ALL waterfowl.

 

[Isaac 0]

Medicated Feed is fine for ducks/ducklings.

 

[333113]

Medicated Feed is fine for ducks/ducklings.

I still cannot recommend medicated feed for ducks, and this is why.

Most medicated feed since 2012 contains coccidostats. Ducks are not as susceptible to coccidiosis as chickens are, so this medicine is not really needed for ducks.

In industrial settings, this type of medicated feed is only allowed during the early growth stage, to avoid build-up in meat-producing and laying poultry, and to prevent over-use of coccidostats that leads to resistance in the coccidiosis-causing organisms. Then poultry are switched to non-medicated feed. For an overview of these practices, see https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/coccidiostat

However, a backyard duck is usually not raised by an industrial organization, and it's pretty common to find that ducks are fed the entire bag of feed before a new one is purchased. Or, they are switched to maintenance or layer feed at the suggested age, and the medicated bag is kept as a backup, and fed out intermittently until it's gone. Typically the backyard duck raiser has fewer ducks to feed, so the bag lasts longer into the duck's life. There can be buildup in their systems of the coccidostats that can still be present when the duck starts laying or is used for meat. BTW, coccidostats are not approved for human use in this country, and the Merck Veterinary manual suggests that vaccination is more effective than medicated feeds. (https://www.merckvetmanual.com/poultry/coccidiosis/overview-of-coccidiosis-in-poultry)

Also, overuse of coccidostats can and has caused drug-resistance, and some people will honestly tell you that Corrid, Amprolium, and the other coccidostats no longer work for them at all.

In a nutshell:
A) ducks don't need medicated feed
B) overuse of medicated feed leads to drug resistance for all
C) common backyard practices don't support withdrawal
D) safety of poultry coccidostats for humans is not established.

 

[MikaylaLeslie]

Good to know!! Thank you everyone for your replies. I make sure never to feed them medicated chick starter. Tractor supply recommended Purina flock raiser so that’s what we’ve used since them. Never had a problem with our other ducks but maybe these new ones are a little smaller then our other ones. I’ve been spraying their food with some water and so far so good!