Poor ducklings drank too much

[kevin2010]

i raised ducks last year and i never had to take their water away

 

[Stormhorse23]

They can drink too much?

 

[Katy]

Really any animal or bird who hasn't had water for an extended amount of time shouldn't be allowed to over drink.

 

[mommy9994]

My cornish x's will do this. when they first came home, I noticed that their crops were getting really full on water, and when I picked one up he puked water on me. I said "this must not be a good thing", and massaged (VERY gently) all thier crops and then gave them food first. They will still do it if thier waterer goes dry.

I've also noticed that the cornish x's aren't the sharpest tools in the shed.

I had no idea though, and really wouldn't have thought much of the ducks drinking so much-- being a water bird and all.

 

[Leslie In North Pole]

I think the over drinking is related to the zeal that ducklings approach everything with, especially when they have been cheeping for it for a couple of days. It is kind of like they can't tell they are full until they are too full in the very beginning and as poultry doesn't usually throw up... the internal pressure is probably too much for their organs.

Thanks for posting that link on chick care by Cackle, chicks rule. Someone asked about this last week as well but for the life of me, I couldn't remember which sites posted this info and I wasn't able to pull it up on general searches. I think it is also posted in the mail order catalogs under chick and duckling care.

When the ducklings are hatched at home, they are introduced to water slower, as they are resting quite a bit just after hatch. I would think two or three days of resting in a dark box would have them wired by the time you placed them in your brooder and they would try to make up for lost time with the water. As to having momma around, she does control when the babies eat and drink the first couple of days so I am sure this isn't a problem you would run into.

 

[FLchook]

Ive raised 2 rounds of ducklings. Each time they had water at all times, and all of them have survived to see the old age of 1 years old....

So sorry to hear about your loss

Hugs!

 

[crazylilchick]

My last 2 ducks are doing very well. The two chicks are good too. The one chick that I wasn't sure was going to recover finally started moving around ,eating and drinking. Poor thing wouldn't even open its eyes when I got it out of the box. I wasn't sure if I could get it to drink at first it was so close to dead. I seperated the chicks from ducks because the ducks couldn't have water for a while. Well the healthy chick didn't like that. She was making such a fuss. Then I went in to check on everyone and "Tuffy"was missing! She hopped over 7-8" of cardboard and was sleeping with the 2 ducks, quite pleased with herself. Not so good for the sick chick left all alone. So all are reunited, it seems to have perked up the sick chick too. I think little Tuffy may think she is a duck too. I am going to call Ideal tomorrow and figure out what to do. Thank you for all you help.

 

[greyfields]

This seems very very strange to me. I have had ducklings and goslings drown. But dieing from drinking too much? I can't imagine under what circumstances that would even be possible?

Are you sure of your prognosis or are you guessing?

 

[deeszoo]

I admit, I had never thought about it either but it would be entirely possible for the babies to drink too much and die. Too much water too quickly can make any animal sick. Humans can even die of water toxicity. I do agree with you that these particular instructions should be BOLD! There is no reason that you should have to search the fine print to find this out.

Baby poultry can survive up to 3 days without food or water because of their yolk that is absorbed right before they hatch. It should provide the necessary nutrition and moisture for them for that amount of time.

The reason for this is because the mother often stays on the nest for a few days waiting for all the chicks to hatch. There wouldn't be very many babies survive a hatch if the first ones couldn't wait for the last ones. The mom would have to choose to either get off the nest and abandon the unhatched babies, or let the first ones die of thirst and starvation while she waited for the others to hatch.

Shipping is hard on them and is stressful. They arrive hungry and thirsty! However, if the carrier actually keeps them from extreme temperatures and handles them as quickly as possible to ensure the shortest transit time as possible, the death toll should be minimal. Now, whether the carriers actually do that or not is up for debate. They are supposed to. But, they are supposed to handle "fragile" packages with care, too, and we all know that doesn't work either.

DeAnna

 

[shmooborp]

they can drink so much that tey go into shock and die...if u havent had water for a while and then y get some you would probly drink til yur stomach hurt too.poor lttle things had no self control.. tere is some good info on this at cackle hatchery.