Pet Ducks Dumped in Neighborhood Pond, Help?

[SansDuck]

@Miss Lydia @DuckyDonna

Hello, I know I have messaged in a while, but we recently got some chickens and things havent gone as well as it did with the ducklings....

We've had two chicks die in are arms, and I'm feeling like such a failure of a chicken owner....the ducklings all made it to adult hood while we all ready had two chicks die on us....why? Why, is this happening to us? I thought we were such good duck owners, i thought chickens would be a breeze but this sucks so much, it makes me never want to raise another chick or duckling ever again....

 

[Miss Lydia]

I’m sorry to hear this. How many do you have now and any symptoms and how old are they? How’s their poop looking and where are you keeping them feed etc?

 

[SansDuck]

I’m sorry to hear this. How many do you have now and any symptoms and how old are they? How’s their poop looking and where are you keeping them feed etc?

We had four, 3 who were three weeks old and 1 that is sex to seven weeks old.

The first unfortunately got tangled in an old towel and, we had assumed it got trampled by the others.
So we stop using towels and wrapped them to hay, but just today we notice one wasnt moving but breathing fine. We picked her up, and noticed she had what look like a poop mark on her head, so again we assumed she maybe got trampled/jumped on too but she wasnt trapped like the other one was, and the older one girls the calmest of the bunch and I've never seen her trample anyone but now I'm not so sure...

The first one was a silike and the second one was a polish, I know both breeds have vaulted skulls but I never imagine they would be this fragile.

The feed is in a sylo made out of an soda bottle we clean out, and they been pooping pretty good, I looked up a chicken poop chart when we first got them. I think they've all been normal poop, but sometimes,once in a while they will poop with a small bit of red in it but it's never a violent red poop.

We also have Anprolium in the food, and have used save a chick/poultry drench

 

[DuckyDonna]

I'm sorry for your problems. Unfortunately, I can't help with chickens but I see @Miss Lydia is on the case so you are in good hands!

 

[Miss Lydia]

So they are inside and haven’t been on the ground at all? How large is their brooder they have plenty of room to run around? I don’t know what could be wrong but it’s always a learning curve so don’t get discouraged. I think chicks are more fragile than ducklings too. Is the one you found today with poop on it’s head still alive?

 

[ChristinLewin]

Just so you know, I spent the past two days completely obsessed with this story. I read back to the very first post and got my family involved as well, me reading a few pages at a time and then excitedly telling them what had gone on that day/week/month. Seriously it was an emotional rollercoaster for us all!!!

thank you so much for the opportunity to be on this journey with you!

 

[SansDuck]

So they are inside and haven’t been on the ground at all? How large is their brooder they have plenty of room to run around? I don’t know what could be wrong but it’s always a learning curve so don’t get discouraged. I think chicks are more fragile than ducklings too. Is the one you found today with poop on it’s head still alive?

@DuckyDonna thank you anyways for replying back, I know both you and misslydia are both very knowledgeable

So they are inside and haven’t been on the ground at all? How large is their brooder they have plenty of room to run around? I don’t know what could be wrong but it’s always a learning curve so don’t get discouraged. I think chicks are more fragile than ducklings too. Is the one you found today with poop on it’s head still alive?

I dont think they been on the ground, but I did get them from someone off of criagslist, who got them from crackle hatchery, so they might of put them on the ground before we picked them up.

Their broader is a medium to large dog kennel, I feel like they had plenty of room but now that I'm thinking of it since the older one likes to perch, she may of jumped and landed on the younger ones?

But now we separated the oldest one, and gave her own room and she seems to prefer it a lit more ( the oldest one is 5 to 7 weeks and a chocin chicken) so the three other chicks loved to get under her for her warmth (witch maybe she accidentally stepped on on them when they were trying to board underneath her?) We do have a MHP in their cage, witch they do use but occasionally they still preferred the oldest chicken over mhp.

And sadly no the one with the poop on it head, was the second one to past away suddenly. We found both on the floor not moving, and after picking them up, their necks suddenly go twisting and they both died shortly afterwards, that's why I'm kinda scared/paranoid now... Both chicks seemed to have mystery died of the same thing...

We did end up getting a replacement polish last night, ( unfortunately this one is only five days old) while our silike is 4 weeks and the cochin is 7-8 weeks?

We were hoping to get a polish the same age or size as the silike (to hopefully lessen the risk of someone getting stepped on/injured) but they only had five days old left from a recent hatch.

Do you think we could possibly still keep the silike and polish together, even though there's a huge age gap? Or is this asking for another disaster? They're definitely not the same size, but the silike isnt as big as the other silike that passed away so maybe they would do okay together? Or would the different temp need be to dramatically different to keep them together?

Right now, until we figure out if it's an illness or a case of accidental trampling, we have the cochin, silike and polish all separated. I feel awful but I gotta do what best to keep my flock safe ( just like you told me miss lydia) like I mention the oldest doesnt seem to mind being away from the babies (i think they were annoying her lol) but the silike and polish definitely want to be together. We have them in the same dog kennel, but we spilt it with hardware cloth to keep them separate for right now.
They both got ther own food, water, and, mhp (set at different temps of course) and so does the cochin minus the heating pad, snice she doesnt require one anymore.

What do you think miss lydia? Do you think I'm being way to paranoid about the chicks getting stepped on/trampled?
Should I let the silike and polish be roommates? The polish wont stop peeping

 

[DuckyDonna]

@DuckyDonna thank you anyways for replying back, I know both you and misslydia are both very knowledgeable


I dont think they been on the ground, but I did get them from someone off of criagslist, who got them from crackle hatchery, so they might of put them on the ground before we picked them up.

Their broader is a medium to large dog kennel, I feel like they had plenty of room but now that I'm thinking of it since the older one likes to perch, she may of jumped and landed on the younger ones?

But now we separated the oldest one, and gave her own room and she seems to prefer it a lit more ( the oldest one is 5 to 7 weeks and a chocin chicken) so the three other chicks loved to get under her for her warmth (witch maybe she accidentally stepped on on them when they were trying to board underneath her?) We do have a MHP in their cage, witch they do use but occasionally they still preferred the oldest chicken over mhp.

And sadly no the one with the poop on it head, was the second one to past away suddenly. We found both on the floor not moving, and after picking them up, their necks suddenly go twisting and they both died shortly afterwards, that's why I'm kinda scared/paranoid now... Both chicks seemed to have mystery died of the same thing...

We did end up getting a replacement polish last night, ( unfortunately this one is only five days old) while our silike is 4 weeks and the cochin is 7-8 weeks?

We were hoping to get a polish the same age or size as the silike (to hopefully lessen the risk of someone getting stepped on/injured) but they only had five days old left from a recent hatch.

Do you think we could possibly still keep the silike and polish together, even though there's a huge age gap? Or is this asking for another disaster? They're definitely not the same size, but the silike isnt as big as the other silike that passed away so maybe they would do okay together? Or would the different temp need be to dramatically different to keep them together?

Right now, until we figure out if it's an illness or a case of accidental trampling, we have the cochin, silike and polish all separated. I feel awful but I gotta do what best to keep my flock safe ( just like you told me miss lydia) like I mention the oldest doesnt seem to mind being away from the babies (i think they were annoying her lol) but the silike and polish definitely want to be together. We have them in the same dog kennel, but we spilt it with hardware cloth to keep them separate for right now.
They both got ther own food, water, and, mhp (set at different temps of course) and so does the cochin minus the heating pad, snice she doesnt require one anymore.

What do you think miss lydia? Do you think I'm being way to paranoid about the chicks getting stepped on/trampled?
Should I let the silike and polish be roommates? The polish wont stop peeping

@Miss Lydia will be here soon!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Any way you can set them up where they can see each other but aren’t together until the polish is stronger and maybe try them together in a week? That way they can see each other but no way the tiny polish can get stepped on? I’d try an find a buddy for your Cochin too unless you can put all 3 close enough they can see each other and a stuffed animal for each to snuggle with.

 

[SansDuck]

Just so you know, I spent the past two days completely obsessed with this story. I read back to the very first post and got my family involved as well, me reading a few pages at a time and then excitedly telling them what had gone on that day/week/month. Seriously it was an emotional rollercoaster for us all!!!

thank you so much for the opportunity to be on this journey with you!

Hello Christine win,

I'm so glad my thread was able to provide you and your family some excitement, especially durning these times. I honestly never expected the thread to get this huge, and go on for this long, but honestly I feel like this thread has become almost a beginner's guide on how to raise adult ducks/ducklings and now with a sprinkle of chickens lol

Thank you for taking the time to read it!

Any way you can set them up where they can see each other but aren’t together until the polish is stronger and maybe try them together in a week? That way they can see each other but no way the tiny polish can get stepped on? I’d try an find a buddy for your Cochin too unless you can put all 3 close enough they can see each other and a stuffed animal for each to snuggle with.

Hello miss Lydia,

I will include photos below of their current set up, the cochin loves to be with people so we take her out regularly but we do have a glove in there with her for company, we also put a window for everyone to see each other.
The polish has a stuffed chick to cuddle with and the silike has a plastic mirror to look at herself.

Here is the size different between the silke and polish chicken

Polish side

Silkie side

The cochin is in the black cat carrier at the end of the dog cage

Not sure if you can tell from this photo and previous but we added a window so all three can stare at each other from their sperate rooms

What do you think miss lydia of the set up ?

I hope you're right and we can at least have the silike and polish together in a week. They really want to be together