We have a really cute just hatched batch of muscovie ducklings, mama hatched them all by her self, we helped a few stragglers, but one duckling is really slow and has trouble keeping up, but he can walk just fine. He is almost completely black and is about three days old now and it almost looks like he falls asleep every few steps. We have an incubator/brooder to keep them in, he is inside warming back up since he was stranded in the cold this morning. Has any one ever had similar problems?
I don't have ducks of my own, but I have seen this with a wild duckling, recently. He was able to walk and run, but just seemed tired and lagged behind the others. Otherwise, he seemed healthy. The mom ended up losing all her ducklings, eventually. I think she wasn't keeping them warm enough and it was getting cold at night at that time. So, I think warming him up, resting and making sure he is getting enough to eat might help. Others might be along to give you more insight.
I'd make sure the baby was warm and perhaps give a little dish of water with sugar in it to help perk it up. It wouldn't hurt to put a bit of scrambled egg or even finely chopped boiled egg in there for the little one to munch on..would be a good boost. Michelle
