Question about my new ducklings

[Pelephant]

Hi there!

So, a one of our family friend's daughter is a third grade school teacher, and apparently, every year they have a duck hatching project. But once the ducks grow older, they end up giving them away to farms. This year, I told her that I could take the ducks, since I have three call ducks and eight chickens of my own.

The ducklings are extremely adorable, but they turned out to be...well... a bit odd. There are three of them, and they're supposed to be Pekin ducks, however, one of them is HUMONGOUS compared to the other two. He/she is larger than my male call duck! I don't understand why, does anyone have an idea?

Also, one of the three is deformed looking, has squinty eyes, and seems to be blind. He stumbles around, walks in circles, and "feels around" with his bill in order to find food. When he's separated from the other two, he squeaks loudly. The daughter told me that this one had a hard time hatching. I don't know what to do about him/her; does anyone know what could be wrong?

Here are some pictures:

The gigantic one:

The "blind?" one:

 

[La Roux]

Do you see anything wrong about uits eye? Look around and see if any of the other babies are hurt as well..

 

[4-H chicken mom]

Are they suppose to be the same age? Sorry I can't help.

 

[sunket77]

could that big one be a goose?? I know when I went to the feed store the geese where twice the size of the ducks

 

[tia]

I can't believe they came from the same litter.... The big one has a bill kind of like a goose. (not that I know a lot about geese) The little one does look like there is something wrong with its eye. I hope it isn't blind.

 

[Pelephant]

I have a suspicion that the big one might be a goose. But, shouldn't the eggs have been different sizes? I don't know.

 

[Hennyhandler]

Does the second one's (the blind one's) bill look funny? I don't know all that much about ducks so don't put too much stock into what I say.

I am learning now that I am getting two ducklings.

I have been watching this post and finally decided to try and help though I don't think it will do much. Maybe bump it up for somone else who might know. I would really like to know about this and I can't help but LOVE that second one. Poor thing. I hope someone can give you some info.

 

[cracking up]

Goose eggs are HUGE and I've heard they are hard to hatch. They would have noticed if they had a goose egg in there. Could be a pekin and smaller ducks. My Pekin is a lot bigger than the runners and buffs. Do you know where they got their eggs? They could be any kind of mix. Have they been getting game bird starter or turkey starter? I'd put that little one on a special diet with yogurt and really good food and watch to make sure he gets his share. I hope that will perk him up.

Good luck - let us know how they do.

 

[Goat_Walker]

Id say they are all pekins. Just... pekins with problems, lol. The one loks like it is weeks older than the others! Maybe its like.... a jumbo pekin? Not sure, im not a fan of pekins. But yes, the one with the bad eyes looks like it also has a deforemed bill.

 

[cracking up]

Wow - sorry - I just read another thread that says flock raiser is what you should be feeding them. Turkey starter always worked well for me, but Holddreads says it has too much protein and they sure know a lot more than I do. Let us know how it goes.