Vennessa0217
In the Brooder
- Aug 14, 2019
- 5
- 20
- 36
I usually just read though most of the posts here, but yesterday we went through a horrible episode. Last week we moved our two month old ducklings from our hatchery (in basement) to the barn. They are in a large pen that has much more room to run and play. They did wonderful with the move. Yesterday my husband decided to cut a hole in the barn wall and make an outside pen for them to go out and enjoy the weather. We usually free range, but have had to start locking up our little ones due to 2 eagle pairs that have decided our farm is a yummy place to stop for dinner.
They all came out and loved it! the temp was around 60. After about 2 hours I thought it would be good to have water outside the pen as well as inside. Wellllll....we all know how ducks are....slop, slop, slop....honestly I LOVED watching them have fun......unfortunately a few min later, they started dropping over. I lost a total of 5! I was devastated. As soon as I noticed any distress, I got them inside the barn. My guess is the they got to cold after getting wet? They symptoms were flipping over on their sides, not able to right themselves, if i intervened and sat them up, their necks would wiggle into circle shapes and flop right over again. I had 5 more doing this, but they lived through it. Anyone have any idea what we did wrong? Please keep in mind, this is only my second year with ducklings. My husband and father-in-law have been on the farm for many years, but we seem to run things a little differently. Any advice would help. Thank you so much!
They all came out and loved it! the temp was around 60. After about 2 hours I thought it would be good to have water outside the pen as well as inside. Wellllll....we all know how ducks are....slop, slop, slop....honestly I LOVED watching them have fun......unfortunately a few min later, they started dropping over. I lost a total of 5! I was devastated. As soon as I noticed any distress, I got them inside the barn. My guess is the they got to cold after getting wet? They symptoms were flipping over on their sides, not able to right themselves, if i intervened and sat them up, their necks would wiggle into circle shapes and flop right over again. I had 5 more doing this, but they lived through it. Anyone have any idea what we did wrong? Please keep in mind, this is only my second year with ducklings. My husband and father-in-law have been on the farm for many years, but we seem to run things a little differently. Any advice would help. Thank you so much!
Did they drink a bunch of water 10-30 minutes before they died? I have noticed that sometimes the young ones will drink a bunch of cold water, then 10-30 minutes later they start behaving like you described.
