Panting duckling? Don't think he's hot...

[Amiga]

aduckstolemyheart,

I found that the first six weeks, by the time I had a solution, three days later, they outgrew it! But getting them out where they can swim does a world of good all around.

Glad he's doing better.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Pics?

 

[Miss Lydia]

What problems is your duck having?

 

[moonydoo]

Depends on what the problem is if your duckling is panting maybe the brooder is too warm how old is the duckling and any other symptoms? No leg weakness? Like @MasterOfClucker said many different vitamins.

The duckling is 2 weeks old and did have some leg weakness for a day but is now walking fine and running too with no problems. It just pants at night sometimes

 

[Amiga]

80 degrees may be a little too warm, I find that even though that’s what the book calls for, some duckies don’t read the darned books! At the same time, I can relate to fretting because there are a number of things that cause panting, some of them quite serious. Aspergiliosis (however we spell that) is a fungal respiratory disease. We can’t rule that out, yet, but if the little has been in a clean environment where contamination (such as wild waterfowl sharing the space, or previously infected birds sharing the space, or a very moldy environment) is not a problem, then it could be nerves, overheating, mild illness, or just one of those things.

 

[meyerc06]

Put an old clean towel down over the bedding if they are eating it.

I did a big towel in the beginning and then switched to several smaller towels covering about half of their “home”. But they still eat the bedding

 

[Miss Lydia]

Either take out the shavings or cover them completely. Are you giving food an water 24/7?

 

[Miss Lydia]

What breed an size of brooder? Do they get outside time to use up some duckling energy?

 

[meyerc06]

I think I’ve solved my problem, and thought I’d share what I did for whatever it’s worth:
1) I removed the Brinsea. The room is 70-75 degrees and the brooder has black liner 12” high around the bottom (for cleaning purposes). I think the combination of the Brinsea and the liner made the overall temp in the brooder a little too high for my duckies, especially now that they have super thick down covering them. They feel like sheep!
2) I added a fan to get some more ventilation in the room. I have them in our basement (which is only semifinished but has a large walkout slider to our backyard) - we have a dehumidifier in there, but the air is always fairly humid anyway and the circulation isn’t great. The addition of a fan in the room is really making a difference.
3) I gave them Save-A-Chick probiotics and electrolytes (as a back up).
4) Our weather has been better so I’ve had them outside for as long as I can each day. They love it and love eating all kinds of weeds and dirt.
5) I gave them a break on the brewers yeast incase it was overloading them with B3. Ill resume it again soon but I recently switched them to Purina’s Duck pellets and it promises a minimum of 55mg of niacin and is supposed to be suitable for all ages. I also like the lowered protein level (18) since I’m not raising them for meat.

I have no idea what part(s) of this worked, but everyone is doing great and no more panting!

 

[Amiga]

Stuffy nostrils?

Maybe there is some schmutz (how do you spell that?) in his nostrils. Has he been able to bathe lately? Or at least dunk his entire head in water and snort, to clean it out?