(I apologize for the long post, I hope I get some good advice though, in a nut shell, what can I feed to starved neglected ducks?)
We fell into a position that I had to re-home or home for a period of time (until we found housing), my pet birds. We abruptly lost our acre and land we lived on for 21 years and things were moving fast. I was heart broken and devastated, most of my flock was older and also my anxiety relief. I realized in the end I wouldn't be able to find a home again/quickly that I could take all of them with me. I made the hard decision to re-home a large portion of my flock and then house a small portion with a "good friend" who had a few of his own (3). I took over my hens, roo, and my old man duck. We found a lovely house to buy 2 months later and moved in. It wasn't ideal for size of lot for the birds, even the few I kept, so I decided for their sake and well being to only keep my old man duck and let the others go back to the rest of their flock since that home turned out to be great.
Tonight I go to get my birds and it is unreal... absolutely unreal... and I had been getting weekly updates of them being in such great condition, care, and doing well. Two died, that I was unaware of until tonight. One is presumed dead (actually stolen, but besides the point). The rest are completely malnourished and in bad shape. I am heart broken. I have been crying so hard and so much tonight I can barely see. I did the best I could for them and under no circumstances would have ever had someone else care for them but I had to... I thought I did what was right, I completely trusted this person, completely. I am horrified. They are literally just bones. I don't know what was being done with the food I was buying. I should have known the red flags when there was excuses when I would try to actually go see them or drop the food off directly. I was always told, no, it was fine I could drop it off at the place of work instead of with my actual birds. I thought my friend was being nice since the work was closer than the house.
The ducks waterer had never been cleaned since I dropped them off, literally. The pool like waterer was absolutely filled to the top with poop. There was no room for water and this was a 20 gallon waterer... no room... just poop. Solid bird waste! I sat in my backyard with the flashlight when I got off work at 1am cleaning out his nares with warm water, saline, and cleaning his eyes. Cleaning his bill. He is bones. He drank and drank and drank and drank from me, let alone when he first got home. The other birds earlier in the evening went off to their home with a family friend who I re-homed my first bunch too. I plan on calling her in the morning and letting her know I didn't realize what shape they were in and seeing if she needs any supplies. But what I have done for now is... a bucket of clean fresh water, a bucket of electrolytes, and a bucket of probiotics. What can I do food wise? Besides just their usual grain... to slowly add GOOD nutrients back into them... to help them... they aren't active, they are thin, lethargic, starving. Specially for my old man duck... what can I feed him to bulk him back up? He use to love oatmeal... would that be okay for breakfast again?
I feel so guilty and heart broken. I cannot believe someone could be this cruel!
We fell into a position that I had to re-home or home for a period of time (until we found housing), my pet birds. We abruptly lost our acre and land we lived on for 21 years and things were moving fast. I was heart broken and devastated, most of my flock was older and also my anxiety relief. I realized in the end I wouldn't be able to find a home again/quickly that I could take all of them with me. I made the hard decision to re-home a large portion of my flock and then house a small portion with a "good friend" who had a few of his own (3). I took over my hens, roo, and my old man duck. We found a lovely house to buy 2 months later and moved in. It wasn't ideal for size of lot for the birds, even the few I kept, so I decided for their sake and well being to only keep my old man duck and let the others go back to the rest of their flock since that home turned out to be great.
Tonight I go to get my birds and it is unreal... absolutely unreal... and I had been getting weekly updates of them being in such great condition, care, and doing well. Two died, that I was unaware of until tonight. One is presumed dead (actually stolen, but besides the point). The rest are completely malnourished and in bad shape. I am heart broken. I have been crying so hard and so much tonight I can barely see. I did the best I could for them and under no circumstances would have ever had someone else care for them but I had to... I thought I did what was right, I completely trusted this person, completely. I am horrified. They are literally just bones. I don't know what was being done with the food I was buying. I should have known the red flags when there was excuses when I would try to actually go see them or drop the food off directly. I was always told, no, it was fine I could drop it off at the place of work instead of with my actual birds. I thought my friend was being nice since the work was closer than the house.
The ducks waterer had never been cleaned since I dropped them off, literally. The pool like waterer was absolutely filled to the top with poop. There was no room for water and this was a 20 gallon waterer... no room... just poop. Solid bird waste! I sat in my backyard with the flashlight when I got off work at 1am cleaning out his nares with warm water, saline, and cleaning his eyes. Cleaning his bill. He is bones. He drank and drank and drank and drank from me, let alone when he first got home. The other birds earlier in the evening went off to their home with a family friend who I re-homed my first bunch too. I plan on calling her in the morning and letting her know I didn't realize what shape they were in and seeing if she needs any supplies. But what I have done for now is... a bucket of clean fresh water, a bucket of electrolytes, and a bucket of probiotics. What can I do food wise? Besides just their usual grain... to slowly add GOOD nutrients back into them... to help them... they aren't active, they are thin, lethargic, starving. Specially for my old man duck... what can I feed him to bulk him back up? He use to love oatmeal... would that be okay for breakfast again?
I feel so guilty and heart broken. I cannot believe someone could be this cruel!
I can't believe when people are so neglectful! It is a crime! I wish you luck with your birds. Black oil sunflower seeds are high in protein and calories. I just bought a 20 pound bag at 
