Seizure or startled duckling?

[krebolo125]

I have almost 3 week old Cayuga ducklings. This is my first time having ducks and we are keeping them in our bath tub with hay etc... I went in last night or morning around 2am and they saw mw and three started to run around a little nervous like I scared them and then one started flailinf on her side in circles and then ended up on her back just lying there!!? I picked her up and she slowly snapped out of it and has been fine since. Did I just startle her and is this a defense behavior or a possible seizure??

Thanks for your help!!

 

[NYRIR]

Hi,
Not sure what that was but I know with ducklings and ducks...always announce yourself first in a calm voice.Call out to them before you open the door so they know you're coming.Ducks are extremely sensitive to sudden movements and loud noises. I myself have 3 cayugas and they were very scared as ducklings.Now they're a bit better but they are outside and a year old

Good luck with your babies

 

[DurhamDuck]

Before I open the door to the duck barn I always call out to them and start talking to them so that they do not startle. This will ensure that your ducks don't grow up to fear you. I don't know about the 'fainting' your duck did, but it was probably because it's heart was beating so fast in fear from the startle it had.

 

[krebolo125]

Ok, thanks for the advice!!

 

[Brdlvr 222]

I have almost 3 week old Cayuga ducklings. This is my first time having ducks and we are keeping them in our bath tub with hay etc... I went in last night or morning around 2am and they saw mw and three started to run around a little nervous like I scared them and then one started flailinf on her side in circles and then ended up on her back just lying there!!? I picked her up and she slowly snapped out of it and has been fine since. Did I just startle her and is this a defense behavior or a possible seizure??

Thanks for your help!!

I have Pekins, well I have 2 in a plastic tub in the house, one is about 2 weeks older than the other. I put them in the tub to swim and play every other day. One is almost turned all white and the other is still yellow just starting to turn white. So today I go in the room and say hi Sammy, the older one. I bent over to pick the bigger one up and take him to the tub, when I did, the smaller.one took off in a circle and tripped over her water bowl kinda, but fell on her side and her legs slowly straightened out and she looked stiff. I nudged her and shedidnt move much then I nudged her again and sat her up on her feet. She seemed weak. I kept nudging her in a panic. She finally snapped out of it and was back to normal and went for her swim. I believe she fainted.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Anytime we walk up on them without warning it can cause what you saw. Next time you walk up on them especially if they are on the floor speak to them first to let them know your coming. Can you imagine a prey animal looking up and seeing us huge humans standing over them? I keep my brooder on top of a table mainly becasue I have a dog but it also helps that I am not standing over them when I walk up to the brooder. At the age they are they need extra niacin are you offering any? Pekin can come up lame very fast from a niacin deficiency it's always best to make sure they are getting enough. And we can't count on their feed giving it to them after feed has been processed it loses a lot of the vitamins and minerals that were added. May of us use Nutritional yeast sprinkled over their feed 1 Tablespoon per cup of feed.