Newborn duckling with a limp.

[Miss Lydia]

@Miss Lydia They are a khaki campbell/ black Swedish mix (mother is khaki, father black swede).

I live in an urban area but I know of a vet about an hour away that treats all types of livestock.

There is a demand for both ducks and chickens in my area as urban farming is starting to take off. My municipality permit me to keep 3 ducks so once these little ones are healthy, I plan on rehoming.

I've been keeping ducks for around 3 years now and have controlled hatched around 30 ducklings at this point. When I went away around a month ago, I forgot to tell the person who was watching my ducks to harvest the eggs daily and by the time I returned, they were 2 weeks in. I was surprised that they actually hatched, to be honest.

Now 2 of the 4 ducklings are running in the yard and swimming in the pond I dug earlier this year for my adults. I am not completely comfortable letting then do this but after talking with both people on this board and duck breeders I have correspondedone with, it's completely natural and the ducks all act as a group caring for the young. I had concerns with my drake as he does peck at them but he more or less herds them to their mother although I caught him letting them sit with him earlier.

I will say that this is the last natural hatch I will do. This is too stressful not having complete control in the environment. Also, the pair I have in a brood are super skittish being that they already imprinted on their mother and don't really like being handled. They are so cure it's unfair which is why I barely slept last night worrying about its leg.

It may just be a bad sprain as when I re-dressed it this morning, the swelling had gone down. I'll keep it inside for some r&r, give it some vitamins and keep you updated on the progress. It has been standing on it and placing its for down in a normal position. When it walks, it's awkward but I would expect that with a splint on.

You have lots of experience there. Glad to hear you'll be able to rehome them. yes please keep me updated on how the lil one is doing.

 

[aychbe]

The little one with the injured leg is doing much better. It is using the leg but has an awkward limp, most likely due to the wrapping. I'm going to change the wrapping tomorrow and inspect the leg. I'll likely re-dress it and keep it under oberservation for at least the rest of the week. The good thing is both it and its partner are eating and putting on mass and size so I'm optimistic that it will have very few persistent issues going forward

 

[Miss Lydia]

The little one with the injured leg is doing much better. It is using the leg but has an awkward limp, most likely due to the wrapping. I'm going to change the wrapping tomorrow and inspect the leg. I'll likely re-dress it and keep it under oberservation for at least the rest of the week. The good thing is both it and its partner are eating and putting on mass and size so I'm optimistic that it will have very few persistent issues going forward

@aychbe Maybe try wrapping with out the straw. Glad to hear the lil ones are doing so well. Your TLC most likely.

 

[aychbe]

@Miss Lydia I followed your advice & redressed it's leg without the straw and the limp is barely noticeable. The leg looks normal, so it's well on its way. The outside ducklings are very active so I think it's probably best if I wait another day and then let the 2 inside ducklings run around my house to acclimate themselves with physical activity before releasing them to live with the flock. The inside ducklings are now slightly larger than the outside ones because they're eating a lot more!

 

[Miss Lydia]

@Miss Lydia I followed your advice & redressed it's leg without the straw and the limp is barely noticeable. The leg looks normal, so it's well on its way. The outside ducklings are very active so I think it's probably best if I wait another day and then let the 2 inside ducklings run around my house to acclimate themselves with physical activity before releasing them to live with the flock. The inside ducklings are now slightly larger than the outside ones because they're eating a lot more!

@aychbe great news! Good idea to let littles have some activity before letting them outside. Watch them close and make sure mama and others especially the drake accepts them back, sometimes they don't.

 

[aychbe]

@Miss Lydia Yeah, I'm concerned about them accepting them back. I thought about bringing mom in along with other ducklings but she's really loud. Yet another con about natural hatching.

 

[Miss Lydia]

@Miss Lydia Yeah, I'm concerned about them accepting them back. I thought about bringing mom in along with other ducklings but she's really loud. Yet another con about natural hatching.

@aychbe Why not put the ones from the house inside a dog kennel in the coop or run so everyone can get familiar with them over a few days. I have done this with chickens and it's worked. Only time I had to take a duckling from it's mom was when a blk snake got hold of one at 2 days old and I kept It inside to make sure it was going to be okay, next day mom accepted it right back but that was just a day away from mom.If you have a crate that is large enough to accommodate 2 ducklings and food and water that might be one way to try.Plus this will keep them safe from the drake too. Or can you section off a small area inside so the 2 ducklings can be on one side the rest on the other? So everyone can see each other?

 

[aychbe]

@Miss Lydia I do have a crate. I'll have to check to make sure they can't get through the bars, which they may still be able to. The crate is a great idea, thanks for suggesting it. Years ago, a racoon killed my duck's partner when they were around 4 months old. I couldn't find anyone who had a duck around that age to partner it with so I purchased 2 newborn ducklings, thinking they would get along but they didn't at first. I used a crate then to introduce them. After about a week, they were fine.

I want to give the little one a few more days rest just to be on the safe side. It is running in the house like nothing was ever wrong with it but watching what the outside ducklings do, jumping in and out of the pond, keeping pace with the adults, etc., I don't want to force it just yet and end up having it injure itself again.

@aychbe
   Why not put the ones from the house inside a dog kennel in the coop or run so everyone can get familiar with them over a few days. I have done this with chickens and it's worked. Only time I had to take a duckling from it's mom was when a blk snake got hold of one at 2 days old and I kept It inside to make sure it was going to be okay, next day mom accepted it right back but that was just a day away from mom.If you have a crate that is large enough to accommodate 2 ducklings and food and water that might be one way to try.Plus this will keep them safe from the drake too. Or can you section off a small area inside so the 2 ducklings can be on one side the rest on the other? So everyone can see each other?

 

[Miss Lydia]

@Miss Lydia I do have a crate. I'll have to check to make sure they can't get through the bars, which they may still be able to. The crate is a great idea, thanks for suggesting it. Years ago, a racoon killed my duck's partner when they were around 4 months old. I couldn't find anyone who had a duck around that age to partner it with so I purchased 2 newborn ducklings, thinking they would get along but they didn't at first. I used a crate then to introduce them. After about a week, they were fine.

I want to give the little one a few more days rest just to be on the safe side. It is running in the house like nothing was ever wrong with it but watching what the outside ducklings do, jumping in and out of the pond, keeping pace with the adults, etc., I don't want to force it just yet and end up having it injure itself again.

@aychbe

I think your right.. Best to err on the side of caution with these lil ones.

 

[aychbe]

I briefly reintroduced the ducklings to the flock this morning. Their mother accepted them no problem, the drake pecked at them one time and I yelled at him & chased him away and he seemed to care less about them after. Their siblings pecked at them a little bit but both the ducklings from inside the house are now bigger than the outside ones so I wasn't concerned. Unfortunately at this point the injured duckling can't keep up with the flock so I brought them back in. I'm going to try running them a little more, maybe outside at night when the others are close in their house. It struggled getting out of the pond and isn't able to hid in their numbers which I'm not comfortable with.