New Duckling doesn't look "right"...

Crayonsmom

Songster
10 Years
Jun 29, 2009
308
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MA
Well, Scuttle started laying GIANT eggs awhile ago and I guess Dad put four of them in the bator. Today I came home and the one that was still alive hatched. But there's a problem...

His/her third eyelid on the left side is "stuck" so that it's covering a large part of the eye when it's open. S/he also cannot stand up independantly at all because his/her neck seems to be "craned' and stuck that way. I can gently change the position of the neck, but it goes right back to the way it was after. What's wrong with my duckling? Should I wait awhile to see if the problems get better with some growing or what?
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I can't tell from you picture exactly what you mean by the neck being craned but I have a similar issue. I hatched a muscovy duckling a few weeks back because it was the lone egg left on the nest after the mother left with the rest. He didnt have good neck control and couldnt stand. He progressivly got better at standing and walking but his neck never straightened out. I would call it crooked but it's kind of just tucked back and kind of to the side I guess. He functions just fine, he can straighten it to eat or drink but any other time its crooked. He will forever be a pet (along with his buddy that I "borrowed" from the mom for him and another duckling that survived a hawk attack). So if that helps you figure out what is up with yours great, otherwise I guess I'm just sharing a story
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Well, hopefully my little duck will continue to get better as well!

It's hardforme to describe the neck. It's like if a personwere to tilt their head back to look up at the ceiling. The poor thing finally fell asleep after hours of tryingto stand up, but is sleeping with his/her neck bent all the way backwards like that.
 
Here are some guesses and ideas. First, though, sorry to see the little one is starting out with such difficulty.

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Could just be a congenital neurological defect, or could be a nutritional deficiency (maybe the yolk was low in some vitamin?).

In either case, I'd give vitamins/electrolytes/probiotics and give as much opportunity to swim in clean warm water (closely supervised, since he or she's just a little baby). Gentle massage may help, as it stimulates the nervous system.

And sing. Many ducks I know of like singing. They don't seem to care whether one can carry a tune or not, they just like the sound.
 
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and you might try rinsing the eye with some saline wash for eyes to keep it moistened till the 3rd eyelid retracts. or a small neosporin to the eye lid. all the best to you and your duckling. its precious.
 
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My ducklings that I've always hand raised love things like that too! They usually get excited when I come up and say "hi baby ducks" in an excited tone. I didn't know if that was just a muscovy thing or not tho. I was just out by the ones I mentioned and they "talked" back to me. So cute!
 
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My ducklings that I've always hand raised love things like that too! They usually get excited when I come up and say "hi baby ducks" in an excited tone. I didn't know if that was just a muscovy thing or not tho. I was just out by the ones I mentioned and they "talked" back to me. So cute!

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Thanks for all the suggestions! Tomorrow after school I'll see how the babies are doing (another one of the eggs that I though was a quitter hatched tonight too!) and do what I can to help.
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Well, unfortunately the second duckling was a premature hatcher and didn't make it, but the first one's eye is better today. nochange in the neck or standing/balance problem though. S/he can at least sit upright on a towel without falling over. We'll hope for the best!
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Glad the eye is better, now you'll need to keep it on vitamins for quite awhile to fix the neck problem, this isn't an over night fix. If I was buying I'd get the nutri drench because it gets straight into the system really fast. use it only half strength to start with and gradually full strength. Sorry you lost the second one.
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