Need Help — duck abandoning eggs after 28 days. The ducklings are about to hatch!

[Galaxyfalcon]

Hello! Pretty quiet day today although my SO took the ducklings outside for some supervised water time which was their first outside adventure. We didn't get them moved into the bigger brooder area but will probably get them moved over tomorrow...they're getting so big so quick!

I think I'm going to steal your idea miss Lydia with the duck waterer...how big is that container for comparison?

No improvement in 5's eye yet but we'll continue with the treatments. I'm wondering how long to continue without improvement if I should take him to a vet or anything.

Sometimes he's more squinty than others, like here, although he can often open the eye more than this. This is just after zoomie water swim time and we applied some ointment right after this.

Here's everyone getting dry and falling asleep before we go back in the warm brooder!

 

[Miss Lydia]

They are so precious. If you can go to the vet by all means do, many of us don't have that option.
I have different depths of waterers. I start out with the one I showed you then I go to deeper bowl and use the same top until I change to these

 

[Galaxyfalcon]

Hello! I just wanted to update on how everyone is doing! @Miss Lydia in your last photo, do your ducks play with the ball you have hanging up? I was thinking about getting ours some toys for them to play with.

Everyone is doing really good! I always forget how quickly they grow. As of Saturday everyone is two weeks old! Most of the little peeps are starting to change into little awkward quacks. They're living outside in the duck run in a fenced off area full time now, although we do provide some heat at night for now. They have lots of supervised yard playtime where they can come out of the duck run area and run around the yard and interact with the other ducks at a distance (the adults are too scared of them to come close).



They don't follow us as well as the other ducks we've raised (too many we think so they're more independent as a flock) but we've already trained them to come to the shake-shake sound of the mealworm can so that helps!

Here's momma duck (Herman, front) and the dad's (we think they both contributed) in the back (Neptune on the left, Cassie 'Cassiopeia' on the right).




And here are some photos of the little ones!

Here's 5; we didn't see any improvements to his eye really, and we don't have good vet services in the area. I talked to an avian wildlife rehab a couple hours away and she said we were doing everything we could. At this point I think the eye may just be a birth defect. Looks 100% normal on the other side. 5 is super friendly and is still usually the first one to come back after play time to sit with/on you.



Here's number 3:



And number 6 who I think is a girl but still not sure:



Here's number 1 lounging a couple of days ago:



Little number 10!


Number 11. He walks around constantly making peeping sounds; he's done it since he was a baby. At first they sounded like "panic peeps" but we just think it's a weird quirk of his now.


I'll try to snap some photos of the rest of the bunch later!

On another note, we've got a massive heat wave coming in. It got up to 98*F today and by Sunday it will be 112*F and we expect multiple days of 100+ weather. Normally when we had our other young ducks we would bring them inside during extreme heat days, but with this brood there's simply too many to do that. Does anyone have any advice on how to keep them cool? They're getting multiple cold water refreshes each day and they've got water they can get in and sit/stand in. They're already panting with temps in the 90s so I'm worried about them in 100+ weather, especially over the weekend and early next week.

@KaleIAm

 

[KaleIAm]

Oh my goodness, they are so adorable! Thank you so much for the tag and the photos!

I'm not sure what to do specifically for young ducks, but for my adult ducks I keep them with regular fresh cool water like you. And I also make sure they are in the shade by putting their water and food in the shade. I bought and put up big shade tarp thing for them. It's pretty warm here, too, and my ducks don't like it!

 

[Miss Lydia]

We don't get that kind of heat but it does get hot. Plenty of cool water and also you can freeze watermelon grapes etc. put it into their water for them to nibble. Lots of shade.
You sure have some adorable ducklings

As for the ball every once in a while one will get the urge to make hit it a few times and get the bell to ring. When mine were that age the chicken treat ball full of meal worms was alot more fun.

 

[Galaxyfalcon]

Oh my goodness, they are so adorable! Thank you so much for the tag and the photos!

Of course!

They're in the duck run which is shaded, but I notice that it's warmer than under the willow tree currently. I came home early from work and let them out for an hour or so, but they're back in the run now and when I checked on them 3 or 4 were panting. They've got a little tub of nice cool water and they're surrounding it, but nobody is getting in to cool down. Is it okay for them to be panting during hot weather? All the adults seem to be doing fine.

Thanks Miss Lydia! They're adorable. I got some bird-rope toys for the duck run area and they seem to play with them every now and then so I was wondering if another toy might help keep them entertained.

The next 7-10 days are going to be 100+ temps so I want to make sure the ducklings don't get heatstroke. We're going to try to put ice/cold foods out for them and let them out as frequently as we can to play in the grass area which seems a bit cooler. Any problem signs to watch out for other than panting?

 

[DukesDucks]

I fill and freeze single size water bottles. I put them in the ducks drinking water and pool to help keep the water cooler longer.

 

[KaleIAm]

Of course!

They're in the duck run which is shaded, but I notice that it's warmer than under the willow tree currently. I came home early from work and let them out for an hour or so, but they're back in the run now and when I checked on them 3 or 4 were panting. They've got a little tub of nice cool water and they're surrounding it, but nobody is getting in to cool down. Is it okay for them to be panting during hot weather? All the adults seem to be doing fine.

Thanks Miss Lydia! They're adorable. I got some bird-rope toys for the duck run area and they seem to play with them every now and then so I was wondering if another toy might help keep them entertained.

The next 7-10 days are going to be 100+ temps so I want to make sure the ducklings don't get heatstroke. We're going to try to put ice/cold foods out for them and let them out as frequently as we can to play in the grass area which seems a bit cooler. Any problem signs to watch out for other than panting?

I googled "avian heat stroke" and learned a few interested things. Some seem completely not applicable, like putting wet cotton balls between their wings and body to keep them cool. Like they would keep them there!! Would any bird keep them there? But other things like misting them with cool tap water from a squirt bottle might work! If they do suffer heat stroke apparently you are not supposed to cool them rapidly with ice, or submerge their entire bodies in cool water. Just put their feet in cool water.

Signs I didn't think of can apparently include: Rapid Breathing, Lethargy, Refusing food, Lack of or decreased droppings, Hyperthermia (increased body temperature), Ataxia (wobbly and unbalanced), and Collapse.

One of my ducks always pants in warmer weather - she's really sensitive, too. I haven't asked our vet about it. She just always has and I assumed it was normal for her. She's 7.5 now. Maybe I should ask about it. I just try to take my ducks foraging in the morning or evening only on warmer days and keep them in the shade with cool water. I'm going to try the misting thing this weekend. We're supposed to get to 107.

 

[Miss Lydia]

My Runners love for me to turn the hose on them with the nozzle set on fine spray. They always have. It's like a light rain shower. As for panting since they like dogs don't have sweat glands, they pant to cool off so panting is a good thing. Also they will raise their wings slightly from their bodies to cool off.

 

[KaleIAm]

My Runners love for me to turn the hose on them with the nozzle set on fine spray. They always have. It's like a light rain shower. As for panting since they like dogs don't have sweat glands, they pant to cool off so panting is a good thing. Also they will raise their wings slightly from their bodies to cool off.

Haha, my cayuga loved it when I set my hose nozzle on shower spray, too. I would stand there holding it for like 15 minutes and she would run in and stand directly in the spray and kind of hunker down facing right into the spray! We have really cold well water. I felt like it was an extreme sport for her, like she was seeing how long she could take it. Finally she would suddenly run out, shake off and preen. I wish I videoed it. None of my other ducks have done it and it was just so funny.