tayjamieson
Songster
Hello,
Hoping I can get answers regarding Pekin ducklings here - I apologize if I am not supposed to be posting this here, I'm new to BYC.
Anyways - this morning around 2 am I had one of our Jumbo Pekin Ducklings hatch. The duckling incubated for almost 30 days and I could tell it was pretty strong during its hatching process as it happened in a fraction of the time the other ducklings we hatched took. However upon the duckling leaving the egg I noticed it has a big pink ball shaped "growth" or something attached to its lower abdomen. I have experienced this with one duckling we hatched previously and the duckling is alive and well, but the duckling that hatched today's little ball is double the size compared to what the other one had. I wasn't sure if it needed to finish soaking up nutrients, so I left the duckling in the incubator until about 9:00 am, I went to check on it and was worried I'd discover a deceased duckling but I have a little survivor on my hands thankfully!
Right now it's about 11:00 am so it's been about 9 hours since the duckling completed hatching and the duckling seems to be OK to my knowledge. It's very tired, kind of squirming around and sleeping in the fetal position. I have the duckling laying against my skin covered in enough blankets to keep him cozy. What should my next steps be? Below I have a summary of the care steps I took for the first ducklings I hatched a little over a month ago - if you have any suggestions or stuff I'm missing please let me know!!! Thank You so much in advance.
Products Used for Ducklings:
Feed: Nutrena Chick Starter (non-medicated) 20% Protein - the ingredients have yeast in it and my boyfriend said it provides the Niacin they need for healthy bone development. I'm not 100% sure if he is correct as it's been tough to get solid information regarding getting Niacin the correct way for your ducklings. Any advice is greatly appreciated.
HydroHen Powdered Supplement: I purchased this at Tractor Supply Co. when I hatched my first set of ducklings and I would mix it into their water once a day for about the first 2-3 weeks of their life. It smells like a vanilla milkshake and I think that sweet smell/taste attracts a hesitant duckling to drink the water. I'd love to get advice on when exactly to start offering water to your newborn duckling because I've read that the duckling can choke on water and die if it's not done properly.
Housing/Bedding:
For Newborn ducklings - we bought a large clear storage bin from Walmart and we used towels as their bedding.
For 1 month + ducklings - they grow SO quickly! We built a larger enclosure right around the 1 month mark because they simply needed more space. My boyfriend built a frame out of wood and we drape a tarp into the frame and tape it down, and use pine shavings for bedding because we found compared to hay the pine shavings absorb wetness and their poop clumps with it which allows them to stay clean and dry longer.
Almost 2 month - we are building a large enclosure in our basement to transition the ducklings to now that they are almost finished growing in their feathers. Our basement without a heater stays around 50-60 degrees so with a heat lamp they should be perfect down there. Will use a tarp with pine shavings over it as their base bedding.
Swimming/Baths:
We use the bath tub and depending on their age/strength we fill it up accordingly. Currently I put our 5 ducklings who are about a month and a half old-2 months old, into the bath tub and I fill it up with warm water and let them swim until they want to get out. Usually about 20-25 minutes tops. I recently started turning on the shower head for them and they love it and I've noticed they get a lot cleaner. It's winter time here so our temperatures can drop as low as 20 degrees so I run a space heater for them during their bath and make sure the room they stay in is at the proper temperature based on their age. (I googled a chart to find out what temperature they require - it changes weekly)
Sorry for the huge post but I'm so eager for someone to give their opinion and offer any insight on how to best care for my ducklings! I appreciate your help so much. Thank You
Hoping I can get answers regarding Pekin ducklings here - I apologize if I am not supposed to be posting this here, I'm new to BYC.
Anyways - this morning around 2 am I had one of our Jumbo Pekin Ducklings hatch. The duckling incubated for almost 30 days and I could tell it was pretty strong during its hatching process as it happened in a fraction of the time the other ducklings we hatched took. However upon the duckling leaving the egg I noticed it has a big pink ball shaped "growth" or something attached to its lower abdomen. I have experienced this with one duckling we hatched previously and the duckling is alive and well, but the duckling that hatched today's little ball is double the size compared to what the other one had. I wasn't sure if it needed to finish soaking up nutrients, so I left the duckling in the incubator until about 9:00 am, I went to check on it and was worried I'd discover a deceased duckling but I have a little survivor on my hands thankfully!
Right now it's about 11:00 am so it's been about 9 hours since the duckling completed hatching and the duckling seems to be OK to my knowledge. It's very tired, kind of squirming around and sleeping in the fetal position. I have the duckling laying against my skin covered in enough blankets to keep him cozy. What should my next steps be? Below I have a summary of the care steps I took for the first ducklings I hatched a little over a month ago - if you have any suggestions or stuff I'm missing please let me know!!! Thank You so much in advance.
Products Used for Ducklings:
Feed: Nutrena Chick Starter (non-medicated) 20% Protein - the ingredients have yeast in it and my boyfriend said it provides the Niacin they need for healthy bone development. I'm not 100% sure if he is correct as it's been tough to get solid information regarding getting Niacin the correct way for your ducklings. Any advice is greatly appreciated.
HydroHen Powdered Supplement: I purchased this at Tractor Supply Co. when I hatched my first set of ducklings and I would mix it into their water once a day for about the first 2-3 weeks of their life. It smells like a vanilla milkshake and I think that sweet smell/taste attracts a hesitant duckling to drink the water. I'd love to get advice on when exactly to start offering water to your newborn duckling because I've read that the duckling can choke on water and die if it's not done properly.
Housing/Bedding:
For Newborn ducklings - we bought a large clear storage bin from Walmart and we used towels as their bedding.
For 1 month + ducklings - they grow SO quickly! We built a larger enclosure right around the 1 month mark because they simply needed more space. My boyfriend built a frame out of wood and we drape a tarp into the frame and tape it down, and use pine shavings for bedding because we found compared to hay the pine shavings absorb wetness and their poop clumps with it which allows them to stay clean and dry longer.
Almost 2 month - we are building a large enclosure in our basement to transition the ducklings to now that they are almost finished growing in their feathers. Our basement without a heater stays around 50-60 degrees so with a heat lamp they should be perfect down there. Will use a tarp with pine shavings over it as their base bedding.
Swimming/Baths:
We use the bath tub and depending on their age/strength we fill it up accordingly. Currently I put our 5 ducklings who are about a month and a half old-2 months old, into the bath tub and I fill it up with warm water and let them swim until they want to get out. Usually about 20-25 minutes tops. I recently started turning on the shower head for them and they love it and I've noticed they get a lot cleaner. It's winter time here so our temperatures can drop as low as 20 degrees so I run a space heater for them during their bath and make sure the room they stay in is at the proper temperature based on their age. (I googled a chart to find out what temperature they require - it changes weekly)
Sorry for the huge post but I'm so eager for someone to give their opinion and offer any insight on how to best care for my ducklings! I appreciate your help so much. Thank You
