New ducks in quarantine. Advice please!!!

[kangareaux]

Hi everyone. We picked up 3 new ducks this weekend. We drove about an hour and a half one way to get to them (wanted a special breed) and when we got there well, the place was just awful. It was a mud pit with tons of animals. It was just nasty. But...my heart wouldn't let me leave them there. I wanted to take them all, but we aren't set up for too many ducks. So we just took the girls we were there for. (We are short on girls and our guys are turning to the Geese and Chickens for relief. *sigh*) When we get home, we realize we have 2 girls and a young male. DOH!

Anyway, we have them quarantined. (Really wasn't set up to do that either, but thought we were getting them from a good home. As a result our boys and geese will be sleeping in their day pen with no overhead cover. NOT happy about that. We normally coop them at night like we do the chickens. But we are keeping the new ones in the goose/duck coop till we are sure they are *clean*.)

QUESTION TIME! What would you treat them for? No duck vets around here to take them to for a check-up. Given the living conditions, I'm pretty sure we'll treat them for worms. They are underweight. They are filthy compared to our ducks. (I THOUGHT ours were dirty till I saw them about 10 ft apart from ours. Ours look shining white next to these) One poor girl is missing a chunk off the end of her bill. But it appears to be an old injury that has healed and she is eating and drinking fine.

I intend to worm them. What do i use?
Want to treat for mites. Have DE. Anything else I should be using?
What else would you treat for?

One of the ducks was 'breathing loudly'. I did read that can be a stress reaction. Considering they just rode an hour and a half in a car with humans...which they aren't used to being around...I'm sure they are stressed! But I want to be sure it isn't something else. (I'll sneak up on the backside of the coop tomorrow and see if they are still breathing loud)

I was just heartbroken about the animals who lived on this "farm" (for lack of a better word). Everywhere you looked was mud. They had at least 6 breeds of duck. 2 breeds of geese. Many of theducks and geese, of varying ages and breeds, wandering around with their wings sticking out sideways. (angelwing?) Also had goats,turkeys, chickens, chihuahuas, full size horses, ponies, miniature horses, pigs, and god only knows what I DIDN'T see. It was just mud mud and more mud. The horses looked severely underweight also. (First time I've seena SKINNY miniature pony!) When I'm finished with this post, I'm going to look up the county they are in and see if there is a Humane society. No animals should have to live that way.

We put the ducks in my bathtub when we got home. (Didn't want them in our ducks' pool) It took them 10-15 minutes in the water to figure out how to swim and bathe. I seriously think this might be their first time in water!

How would you guys treat these ducks while they are in quarantine? What would you give them?

 

[ChicagoDucks]

You sound like you are pretty concerned about the health of the animals. Trust your instincts.

I'd say keep them quarantined for 6 to 8 weeks, give them antibiotic feed from the feed store, vitamin / electrolyte supplements, and call the state NPIP inspector to test your birds as soon as you think the ducks have reached 4 months of age (and before you integrate them into your flock).

 

[kangareaux]

Wow! That long? Yikes! We aren't set up to quarantine that long. Will have to figure something out.

Also, I didn't mention their ages. One is laying. We were told she was the oldest but weren't told her age. Others were born "in the spring". When we asked age she just kept saying she gotthem from the feed store (as if that would tell me the age??? ACK)

 

[dw613]

I am not a pro on raising and integrating new birds into flocks but I have been raising animals for quite a few years and my feeling is...

Definitely worm them, make sure that they are not dehydrated and have no respiratory problems, which should be dealt with promptly, because when birds develop respiratory problems and show signs/symptoms it is sometimes too late. I would confine them for a minimum of 2 weeks, unless you are confident of where they came from then I just wait about a week, it usually takes 14 to 21 days for something bad to really show signs and at that point hard to fix. Within that time you will have time to deworm them twice and also observe anymore illness that may not seem present at the beginning. You will also be able during that time get an idea of personality(within the new loving environment), temperament and the general well being of each bird. You only have three so I would take this time to try to bond with each of them individually at some point and time over the 2 weeks of quarantine to get an idea of what your role in their lives will become...

As far as introducing the birds to your flock... This too is very stressful on the new birds and your established group, so I would use caution. I introduced a pair of girls recently, an Indian runner hen which I had 2 males and 1 female of already and she was accepted immediately but she came with a Rouen hen(which I have none) and it was almost a week before the rest of my brood stopped trying to push her out of the group. She was persistent thank goodness and now is one of the bunch but I was so afraid for her that I brought her in to sleep with me the first nite so she didn't have to deal with the chickens she also had to contend with... Now she is out and has built her place in the family and life is good but the first week was not only torcher for her but heart breaking for me because she was such a lovable bird!!! \

So you know... Sickly birds should be 1st quarantined, then once well caged separately from other birds but in the same area so that everyone can get to know each others smells, sounds and whatever else birds use to bond up close and personal. But secured enough so that no one gets hurt in the process. A large dog cage(metal) would be great if you have one otherwise a small build 2x2 per bird cage framed with chicken wire or something would work too... Give them a few days to a week to acclimate together, then only allow them all together without barriers while you can keep an eye out. Separate again at nite for approximately 4 days to a week... After all that I just let them figure it all out on for themselves but still checking continuous until the group has determined its new dynamic and who is who in the flock.

Hope this helps, I know how hard it is to find room to do what needs to be done when you don't plan on the unexpected but this too shall pass and once done things, at least around here, usually work out fine.

I don't deal with a lot of birds as I said but I do have dogs, cats, potbellied pigs, chickens and a bunch of wildlife who most all are normally life long enemies but end up best buds as long as given the opportunity to choose for themselves and with patience from us humans are just here to help them all out!!!

 

[kangareaux]

I am not a pro on raising and integrating new birds into flocks but I have been raising animals for quite a few years and my feeling is...

Definitely worm them, make sure that they are not dehydrated and have no respiratory problems, which should be dealt with promptly, because when birds develop respiratory problems and show signs/symptoms it is sometimes too late. I would confine them for a minimum of 2 weeks, unless you are confident of where they came from then I just wait about a week, it usually takes 14 to 21 days for something bad to really show signs and at that point hard to fix. Within that time you will have time to deworm them twice and also observe anymore illness that may not seem present at the beginning. You will also be able during that time get an idea of personality(within the new loving environment), temperament and the general well being of each bird. You only have three so I would take this time to try to bond with each of them individually at some point and time over the 2 weeks of quarantine to get an idea of what your role in their lives will become...

As far as introducing the birds to your flock... This too is very stressful on the new birds and your established group, so I would use caution. I introduced a pair of girls recently, an Indian runner hen which I had 2 males and 1 female of already and she was accepted immediately but she came with a Rouen hen(which I have none) and it was almost a week before the rest of my brood stopped trying to push her out of the group. She was persistent thank goodness and now is one of the bunch but I was so afraid for her that I brought her in to sleep with me the first nite so she didn't have to deal with the chickens she also had to contend with... Now she is out and has built her place in the family and life is good but the first week was not only torcher for her but heart breaking for me because she was such a lovable bird!!! \

So you know... Sickly birds should be 1st quarantined, then once well caged separately from other birds but in the same area so that everyone can get to know each others smells, sounds and whatever else birds use to bond up close and personal. But secured enough so that no one gets hurt in the process. A large dog cage(metal) would be great if you have one otherwise a small build 2x2 per bird cage framed with chicken wire or something would work too... Give them a few days to a week to acclimate together, then only allow them all together without barriers while you can keep an eye out. Separate again at nite for approximately 4 days to a week... After all that I just let them figure it all out on for themselves but still checking continuous until the group has determined its new dynamic and who is who in the flock.

Hope this helps, I know how hard it is to find room to do what needs to be done when you don't plan on the unexpected but this too shall pass and once done things, at least around here, usually work out fine.

I don't deal with a lot of birds as I said but I do have dogs, cats, potbellied pigs, chickens and a bunch of wildlife who most all are normally life long enemies but end up best buds as long as given the opportunity to choose for themselves and with patience from us humans are just here to help them all out!!!

Thanks. They are where they can see each other. The new ducks are in our old ducks' coop right now. (4x8 foot. Our ducks and geese just slept in there at night.) Our old ducks and geese have been moved to the pen. There is about a 3 foot area between them that none of them can get to. (We put up our last piece of fencing between the pen and front door of the coop so nobody would be able to touch.) One of our males is in love already! (The reason we got more ducks...he *needs* more females.) He walked up and down looking at one particular female for almost 2 hours. Back and forth back and forth. It was pitiful! It was pitiful! I feel so bad for him! LOL!

Will be putting up a tarp in the pen today so the old ducks and geese have something to sleep under. Hopefully they'll feel more secure. They were very unhappy when they didn't get put to bed last night. (We had JUST gotten them in the coop routine. Hubby could tell them to go to bed and they'd coop themselves. They'll have to relearn that now I suppose. *sigh*) Their pen is about 25x50 and 6 ft high. But the top is open. I hate having them out of their coop at night, but I'm at a loss here as to what to do with them. It seems more important that we keep the others away in case they are sick. I don't want to spread anything.

 

[dw613]

Hey there just sayin but maybe you should pick up a couple rolls of chicken wire(only about 15 dollars here) and secure it on the top of your outdoor (no top) coop, just to make sure you don't loose any of your older babies to the wild life... Not just for now but even for when you introduce everyone because it is better to be safe than sorry... I have coons that come out any time after 5 around here in the daylight, especially now that the weather is getting cooler and they are wanting to bulk up for winter... Had a bad experience last week and lost two of my indian runner hens because the critters started coming out earlier than normal...
Plus there may be that one evening that someone thought someone else put them to bed only to find out the next morning that it wasn't done at all... Been there too, not pretty.