Please Help!! 😥 BEI Duckling not eating and losing weight

[OliveGreen]

After I started this thread last night, (and before I got most of your responses) I was up with baby till after midnight trying to get her to take some more egg yolk mixture. With a lot of encouragement, she started off by taking a few tiny sips from a teaspoon and making some little happy sounds, but then refused any more. Even after a couple of hours of taking naps tucked under my jumper against my skin with me getting her out periodically to hold the ‘soup’ up under her bill with the spoon, I still couldn’t get her to take any more. She wouldn’t even drink plain water. I ended up making up a little warm sugar water and holding that up to her bill with the teaspoon and when she tasted it, she did drink some. This seemed to perk her up a little bit and she started preening the bits of spilt yolk off her breast.

I cleaned off the remaining spilt yolk, dried her off and then put her back in the nest with Hazel to sleep overnight with the plan of setting up a new brooder for her in the morning. I have 3 little 3 week old Belgian chicks in the main bathroom at the moment using my brooder lamp so I was planning to temporarily steal the lamp from them. (They’re not supposed to come off heat for another week, but our house is fairly warm anyway with it being summer here so I was hoping they’d cope until I found another lamp.)

When I woke in the morning and went to let out the ducks Hazel was eager to get out of the carrier, but I couldn’t see baby anywhere. I searched around in the nest for her and found her passed away and buried under the hay where Hazel had been sleeping. I’m not sure if Hazel smothered her deliberately, or if she‘d already passed away when Hazel covered her up.


I feel heartbroken. That poor sweet little baby was just sitting in my hand the night before. I really feel I failed her. I should have kept her with me, or taken her inside away from mum a few days ago before she started to go downhill and things might have turned out differently.

Thank you all so much for responding and offering your help!
@Miss Lydia @DuckyDonna @chickens really @Jpat @johntfs
I just wish I’d come looking for advice sooner.

 

[Miss Lydia]

So sorry for your loss.

 

[OliveGreen]

So sorry for your loss.

Thank you Miss Lydia ❤
I really appreciate you trying to help.

My ducks mean everything to me and I love them with all my heart. I’ve only ever lost ducks to old age before so this will stay with me. I wish I’d done more for that little one, but was too hesitant to take her away from mum completely.

 

[chickens really]

Momma possibly knew something's wasn't right with that Duckling. I had a Momma that hatched 5 Ducklings and she drowned and killed the weak baby.
It wasn't anything you did wrong..

 

[Miss Lydia]

I've lost a few because I didn't take them away. Some mama ducks especially newbies really don't have a clue once ducklings hatch. This past summer I had to take 4 away from mamas thankfully they all made it. We learn from our mistakes and they can be heart breaking.

 

[quackiemama]

Oh no!! I am so sorry about the little baby!

 

[OliveGreen]

Momma possibly knew something's wasn't right with that Duckling. I had a Momma that hatched 5 Ducklings and she drowned and killed the weak baby.
It wasn't anything you did wrong..

Oh, that sounds tragic - poor little thing!
I guess that‘s the way nature works though...

I’m guessing Hazel probably did know something was wrong because baby kept crying and took a long time to settle. Poor little thing was probably starving, but just didn’t seem to be able to eat much of anything. I think she must’ve been blocked up from the hay she ate in the nest. That, and with her tiny size she just seemed to be struggling to swallow much of the crumble. I’ve never reared a bantam duckling before so I wasn’t sure if that was normal.

 

[chickens really]

Oh, that sounds tragic - poor little thing!
I guess that‘s the way nature works though...

I’m guessing Hazel probably did know something was wrong because baby kept crying and took a long time to settle. Poor little thing was probably starving, but just didn’t seem to be able to eat much of anything. I think she must’ve been blocked up from the hay she ate in the nest. That, and with her tiny size she just seemed to be struggling to swallow much of the crumble. I’ve never reared a bantam duckling before so I wasn’t sure if that was normal.

I wet feed to soupy mess. with my tiny Calls I use my coffee grinder to make the feed into a powder that I mix with warm water.

 

[Miss Lydia]

What breed are your ducks? That was the problem with my hatch my Muscovy sitting on Runner eggs and she crushed the eggs because she insisted on moving all the shavings out of the way and had the eggs sitting on hard surface when I found the one crushed I brought the last 2 eggs inside in the brooder since their egg shells were already cracked open. Just stood an watch those 2 hatch all on their own.

 

[OliveGreen]

I've lost a few because I didn't take them away. Some mama ducks especially newbies really don't have a clue once ducklings hatch. This past summer I had to take 4 away from mamas thankfully they all made it. We learn from our mistakes and they can be heart breaking.

Yes this was Hazel’s first hatch, and when I think about it she was kind of acting the same as when she was brooding the eggs... Making a dash from the nest several times a day to furiously eat, bathe, and fossick but totally oblivious to the baby being left behind.

I’m not sure whether to let her try hatching again now - might just stick with the incubator! But if I do, I’ll be set up and ready to take baby away at the first sign of trouble.

My only other experience of mum raising babies was almost 12 years ago with my hand-reared (imprinted) Campbell girl. She was a wonderful mum and I still have her and 3 of her 4 babies.