New momma to ducklings in rural Alaska needs advice about everything (just about)

[alaskaducks]

Hi all! Hubby and I live in a tiny fishing village, Port Protection, in southeast Alaska. To say we are rural is an understatement. This spring we purchased 24 golden 300 ducklings and they are now about 12 weeks old. They have the most secure coop and pen we could make. They have a small boat for a pond. I am feeding them the best food I can afford, right now Hiland Feeds naturals, and all their feed and straw has to be flown into our village (for the most part), so expensive is the word. Also, there are no roads here, no vets at all, and, like I said, everything has to be ordered and flow in; sometimes we don't get a mail plane for as much as 6 weeks. So with that information, here are some things I desperately need advice about:

1. Other than brewers yeast, diatomaceous earth and apple cider vinegar, what medical-type supplies should I have on hand for my babies?
2. We have an abundance of sphagnum moss on our farm. Can I dry this and use it for bedding if I should run out of straw? No chemicals or pesticides have ever been used on this property.
3. It never gets below 0 degrees here and their coop is well ventilated with deep straw bedding. Any ideas on keeping their floor drier. Right now, it looks like they have a pool party in there every night.
4. We will be putting a light on a timer in their coop very soon. Any recommendations for types or colors of light they need? Their coop is 8' x 16'.
5. We have been supplementing their diet with thoroughly rinsed raw kelp, raw salmon and halibut, and blueberries and blueberry leaves. They also get other treats, but I want to make sure that the kelp, raw fish and berries are okay.
6. This is my first time around with birds of any sort. My ducklings all run and scream when they see me, but, they're getting a little better about that. One of the ducks seems to have a sore foot or leg. She keeps her foot lifted up, but she will walk on it. She had a slight limp last night that was worse this morning, but better again this afternoon. I don't know if it's bumblefoot or if it's actually her leg. I am concerned that if I try to catch her she will hurt herself worse, but I will if it's best I inspect her foot. Any suggestions on how to separate and safely capture a duck from the flock?

Thank you all for your advice. BYC is an amazing site and I'm proud to finally be a bonafide poultry parent!

 

[Amiga]

1. This is a huge list or set of lists, but really good information for your situation. Breathe. It is a steep learning curve. I have found that most of what I need is Epsom salt, food grade activated charcoal (you can make it yourself, if you use clean hardwoods for fires the charcoal from that is used - crush it up fine - I use a mortar and pestle), antibiotic ointment without painkiller, vet wrap, clear iodine, poultry vitamins with electrolytes and probiotics, colloidal silver, chamomile tea, organic apple cider vinegar with the mother, hydrogen peroxide, tweezers, droppers, saline solution, spray bottles.

If we include what I have gotten help from a vet with, a small suture kit, syringes with and without needles, a tube feeding kit. @casportpony has published some useful information about tube feeding.

2. I suspect the sphagnum moss would be okay - what I don't know is if there are local insects that would want to use the bedding, also, so you may want to bring in a huge bag of diatomaceous earth to lay under the moss. I use it to prevent mite infestation and so far, so good. If the sphagnum moss is somewhat acidic, that will help prevent the formation of ammonia from the manure, and that is a good thing. Ammonia can kill, as the ducks' noses are so close to the ground when they sleep.

3. Make a watering station. I have fourteen ducks, two watering stations, and mostly dry bedding.





4. I have used white solar rope lights - enough light for me to see my way around if needed, but not so bright that they cannot sleep, or their natural laying rhythms are affected.


5. If the fish are healthy, the ducks should be healthy. The rest of it sounds good to me

6. Longer term, do what you can to help them trust you more - we can talk about that later. For now, set up a dog crate that will become the sick bay-transport carrier. I don't know your setup but essentially you need to make some kind of chute, so you can guide her into that little fenced hallway that leads to the open door of the carrier, then you have her. I must do this with three of my adopted ducks, as they are a bit skittish.

Read this, and if you can manage it, get The Ultimate Pet Duck Guidebook. It has loads of anatomical information in it, and stories of how vets have treated various illnesses and injuries in the flock.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/750869/raising-and-caring-for-ducklings#post_10611711

 

[Amiga]

hennible's vet said Advil is okay for ducks for pain.

For ducks 6-8 lbs 25-40mg twice daily adult tablets cut up or children's liquid Advil 1.5ml twice daily, orally.

Amiga arithmetic – 8 pounds 40 mg is 5 mg per pound
6 pounds 25 mg, is just over 4 mg per pound

so, 4 to 5 mg per pound of duck

 

[alaskaducks]

Amiga! You totally rock. There should be a raising ducks for dummies book and it looks to me like you could write it. Thank you for taking the time to answer in such awesome detail. You've given me a lot of great information and I will get right on it. As far as the lights, I was thinking, since they need 14 hours minimum light to continue laying eggs throughout the winter, we should get some kind of daylight-mimicking light, one that is slow to come on? Or is just a regular household light enough to keep them laying. Since our village is so remote it's not unusual to run out of eggs (or end up with really old commercial eggs) in our one and only tiny store. That's the reason we got these girls to begin with; we want to supply quality eggs to our community throughout the year. Which brings me to another question: In your opinion, what's the best feed for the ducks? I've tried scratch and peck, which I love, but can't afford, to Palouse, which I did not like. I want them to eat good, healthy food. I've heard soy is bad, so I've avoided that. I've seen some with corn and some without and I'm not sure what's up with the corn. Thank you again!

 

[Amiga]

@alaskaducks , thanks for your kind words.

Hmmm. one of my future projects is really getting the feed thing nailed down - I am not there yet. I do have the unfair advantage of being in the lower 48 (not always the best situation, depending), and the extra blessing that for some reason, a local feed store started carrying Countryside Organic layer feed. Non-soy, non-corn. For less than Blue Seal Organic Layer. Woot!! Pricier than the standard stuff, but it is one of my indulgences.

There are other fine feeds in the world.

In your case, I might steer you toward the Mother Earth magazine articles on feeding your from from your homestead. I think two have been published. Then there's Carol Deppe's book, The Resilient Gardener in which she describes her feeding plan for her Anconas. And Harvey Ussery has written a book on taking care of your flock, and that includes his thoughts and progress on feeding from what he can grow.

Storey's Guide to Raising Ducks has a recipe for duck food, but it is geared toward commercial feed production - in other words, there are some whole grains in the recipe, but a bunch of supplements that must be purchased.

Fertrell makes a poultry feed vitamin supplement that some folks add to their own home-grown recipes.

Joybilee Farm has published her simple non-GMO animal feed recipe that she uses for all her livestock, and she tweaks it depending on the critter.

Different people have different concerns about corn. For some it's just empty calories. For some, it's the concern about GMOs. Within that second group, some think GMOs are unhealthy, others don't want to have anything to do with a product that was designed to enable companies to use more poison on their crops.

 

[copper2]

Maybe this can help:https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/242460/the-ultimate-list-of-duck-treats-and-supplements/0_20

 

[Amiga]

In my first post under number 1, I intended to give you this link. This is the huge list I was talking about. Don't get overwhelmed, I would start with what I listed for you in my first post, then add other things from here https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/356725/duckie-first-aid-kit-supplies-and-ideas

 

[quackingdom]

If you want to feed them good, healthy food...I think commercial food isn't necessarily the healthiest because it is usually (I haven't seen any that aren't, but it's possible there are) highly processed, not fresh, and full of chemicals. Most also have corn and soy, but not all.

Personally, I steer clear of all the commercial stuff. I feed my ducks raw grains and veggies (cucumbers, watermelons, tomatoes, lettuce, cabbage – all sorts of veggies and fruits). Then they find the rest themselves. I also sometimes give them small fish, but not often as I've read that it can give the eggs a fishy flavor. I don't know if that is 100% fact, though.

The grains I give mine are oats, wheat, and sorghum. There are other grains that might be available for you, such as maybe rye and spelt.

Also, I don't think the light needs to be as bright as daylight. A small light should be enough.

I can't add much to your original questions after Amiga except for #3 and #6.

#3: Some people set their waterers on a wire mesh so the water falls through the mesh instead of turning the bedding a soupy mess.

#6: I've had one duck who hurt his leg (we don't know what happened) so that he could not put weight on either one. He was very skittish as well (we don't tame our males unless we are going to keep them), but he couldn't run away, so I caught him and gently put him in water so he would not have to put weight on his legs. When he wanted out, I put him in the shade with water in easy access. He stayed there all day. The next day, he was only limping, and a few days after that, he was fine. So, there's a chance that it can heal by itself (depending on what the injury is) as long as it is kept calm and does not have to move around much.

As far as how to tame it, I've written about that on my site: http://www.raising-ducks.com/how-to-taming-a-duck/

~Hannah