My duckling drowned!

[pishposh]

My adult pekin, Mango, got water logged after she wasn't able to get out of her pond. I guess she was in so long, her feathers got saturated. She was just sitting there, on the bottom with her head poking out. Such a sad sight. I scooped her right out and kept my eye on her for a few days. She got all cleaned up and re-oiled her feathers. I placed a few cinder blocks so she is now able to get in and out with no issues.

Sorry about your loss, but I think this can happen at any age!

 

[bargain]

I'm so sorry for your loss.

I'll never forget looking out the kitchen window and seeing my mother goose just going crazy and I ran to see one of her babies struggling in the water.....Mom apparently couldn't get the baby out of the shallow pond....I was able to save her .....at the last moment.


And then I moved away the ramp which the adults walked up to go swim...Apparently baby had followed by couldnt' get out....


Take great care.

 

[PandoraTaylor]

So Sorry for your loss.

 

[MDC]

Ducklings can swim the very day they come off the nest. The problem occurs when they can't get out of their water. There is a big misconception that they shouldn't be allowed to swim 'until', my ducklings have water from the day they're hatched and the only times I have had a problem is when I have failed to either alter the container to fit the bird so that they can get in and out easily, or when they've managed to get into an adult pool and not be able to get out. It's definitely sad to lose one but it happens to the best of us.

 

[chickensioux]

Oh I know you feel terrible. So sorry for loss of your little ducky.

 

[Bring]

When I pulled her from the water she was drenched.

Now I'm afraid to let the other two swim. How do they get their oils in? They are almost completely feathered but they get water logged too. I need to move them outside. They are getting way to big for the brooder they are in but again I'm scared. It gets pretty cold out here. Today's high is only 32*F. My chickens are outside so my ducks should be able to handle it, right??

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

if they are feathered up, then they are fine, ducks can handle the coldest weather you can throw at them.

As for the above post, they are correct about swimming at birth, the deal is, they have to be hatched my the mother to be waterproof at birth, her oily feathers gets on the ducklings down while they are under her, thus waterproofing them. I have raised over 110 types of migratory /ornamental waterfowl for decades, so kinda know a thing or two about them. The oils come from the normal preening and cleaning of their feathers, the more exposure to water they get, the more they'll do it, so short trips once a day are great, doesn't take long, but if their feathers were soaked, that's what the problem was, they didn't really drown, just got waterlogged, and chilled....When they are cleaning themselves, watch them, you'll notice they keep going to a gland found just above the tail bone( center lower back) that's where they get their oils from. They will take it and smear it all over themselves..
But you do need to expose them to short trips to water just to speed up the process, if they are already feathered, they usually are okay, but some just need a little more time. Also, if they are in that "ugly duckling"stage, between down and feathers, they are more susceptible to this, as the oily down is falling out, and new , unoiled feathers are coming in. This too, allows them to be more prone to holding water...
But don't get discouraged, they are relatively easily kept, and once you know what all to watch for, you'll be just fine with them, once fully feathered, you shouldn't have any more problems..
Good luck
Aubrey

 

[MDC]

Any duck that can't get out of water can get waterlogged and drown regardless of the age. As far as ducklings, there is little if any transfer of oil from the mother to the ducklings, they are naturally buoyant by design. Air gets trapped in the down (and feathers of adults) and, along with their 'boat-like' shape, creates the ability to float.

I Emailed a waterfowl biologist about this back in 2007 after debating this issue on numerous occasions and this is his reply:

The idea that duckling need the oil from their mother is wrong, because the oil on ducks feathers has nothing to do with buoyancy. The oil maintains feather quality, which assists with buoyancy, but it's the air trapped in the plumage that provides the buoyancy. It's the contact angle formed between water and the feather surface which produces water repellancy. There's an optimal contact angle, which the more aquatic ducks, like eiders, approach. That's the principle behind Gortex being water repellent, the cloth fibers create the contact angle which creates water repellancy. There are several papers on adult birds, few on ducklings. I certainly believe ducklings do better when provided wet brooders as soon as possible. You are correct that the problem usually comes from a duckling being trapped in the water and unable to get out.

The 'mother's oil transferring to the duckling' is one of the more prominent old wives tales I've seen out there and it's simply inaccurate.​

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

I still say you are wrong there... Had plenty of first hand experience with this, old wives or not, it's just the plain truth!

"The oil maintains feather quality, which assists with buoyancy, but it's the air trapped in the plumage that provides the buoyancy. "

This is very true, but..The air stays trapped in. because the oils are not allowing the water to penetrate them, correct?
There is a great deal of transferred oils actually from mother to offspring.I know that, biologist or not, just based on my tons of incubated eggs, verses self brooded eggs . Shape has little to do with their buoyancy, a day old turkey poult or bantam chick will float too, it's the water proof oil barrier that maintains the ability not to eventually soak up water.
The contact angle does have part to do with it as well in adults birds, but ducklings are all down, no feathers there?? in the long run, waterfowl, that are not properly oiled, will eventually sink...Oh, and I have had the Eiders before too, there is a tremendous feathering difference there, I'll give him that, same with all the divers I've owned, ruddied, goldeneye, bufflehead, merganser ect.

 

[MDC]

The only 'struck nerve' is the spreading of misinformation as fact.