sscaria
Songster
- Mar 8, 2021
- 216
- 401
- 151
Alright, there seems to be something wrong with my duckling, but I can't quite figure out what. Maybe the BYC Community can help.
It all started when we had a broody chicken. We have ducks along with the chickens (we bought the ducks August 2020, a few months old around the time) and they were siblings. Not sure if that can contribute to any sicknesses because most of us know that when siblings mate there is bound to be some gene mutation causing something to be off about the child. Disorders will have a higher chance of happening. I'm not sure if this rule applies to animals like ducks, though. Anyways, we knew they mated so we put the eggs under the hen and bam! 3 baby ducklings. 2 are females and the sick one is a male. They are pure-bred Cayuga from what I can tell. During hatching the male did take the longest to hatch even though it had cracked earlier than one of them, but came out as healthy. Now about a month or two old, they have been growing. Except for the male. The male is probably half the size of the other two females and he is always sleepy and never energetic. We assumed it might be from the food as the flock eats scratch grains as well as egg layer mix mixed in. Perhaps it was that. We gave electrolyte water and chick food after separating him. He didn't have an appetite, not even for mealworms! We had to force-feed him. Although he didn't enjoy it, he seemed to get better. We released him back. Next day or so, he can't walk! Force-fed him again and he's more energetic and now eats/drinks on his own as far as I can tell. But there is another issue. I think. It may be a sickness and I worry it is because it's quite strange. When we first got him, there were very very small missing patches of fur on his head/face. We thought it was fine because we noticed that the big ol' male Cayuga was pecking and taking out feathers of the young ones. He's taken care of, by the way. Can't hurt anyone, he's in his own lil space now. Anyways I noticed on one eye (yesterday i think) that the missing feather path was pretty big. and gray... Duck skin is pink from what I see on their necks after showering. Seeing that grey skin worried me. I don't think it was like dead skin, it was smooth. looked like a fish scale almost. But what worries me is that the patch grew, not heal. The other patches are still there, but the same size from what they started as. Last but not least, an issue that's most likely not an issue but might help- there's a small bump on his beak. it looks like it a scratch on his beak that never healed and the beak grew over it. Probably not an issue, but ya never know.
*these my first hatchling ever*
that's about all the issues. what do you think is wrong?
I'll attach pics later if I remember.
It all started when we had a broody chicken. We have ducks along with the chickens (we bought the ducks August 2020, a few months old around the time) and they were siblings. Not sure if that can contribute to any sicknesses because most of us know that when siblings mate there is bound to be some gene mutation causing something to be off about the child. Disorders will have a higher chance of happening. I'm not sure if this rule applies to animals like ducks, though. Anyways, we knew they mated so we put the eggs under the hen and bam! 3 baby ducklings. 2 are females and the sick one is a male. They are pure-bred Cayuga from what I can tell. During hatching the male did take the longest to hatch even though it had cracked earlier than one of them, but came out as healthy. Now about a month or two old, they have been growing. Except for the male. The male is probably half the size of the other two females and he is always sleepy and never energetic. We assumed it might be from the food as the flock eats scratch grains as well as egg layer mix mixed in. Perhaps it was that. We gave electrolyte water and chick food after separating him. He didn't have an appetite, not even for mealworms! We had to force-feed him. Although he didn't enjoy it, he seemed to get better. We released him back. Next day or so, he can't walk! Force-fed him again and he's more energetic and now eats/drinks on his own as far as I can tell. But there is another issue. I think. It may be a sickness and I worry it is because it's quite strange. When we first got him, there were very very small missing patches of fur on his head/face. We thought it was fine because we noticed that the big ol' male Cayuga was pecking and taking out feathers of the young ones. He's taken care of, by the way. Can't hurt anyone, he's in his own lil space now. Anyways I noticed on one eye (yesterday i think) that the missing feather path was pretty big. and gray... Duck skin is pink from what I see on their necks after showering. Seeing that grey skin worried me. I don't think it was like dead skin, it was smooth. looked like a fish scale almost. But what worries me is that the patch grew, not heal. The other patches are still there, but the same size from what they started as. Last but not least, an issue that's most likely not an issue but might help- there's a small bump on his beak. it looks like it a scratch on his beak that never healed and the beak grew over it. Probably not an issue, but ya never know.
*these my first hatchling ever*
that's about all the issues. what do you think is wrong?
I'll attach pics later if I remember.
