Sick ducklings - please help!

[Rainasoleil]

I'm new here so thank you for the add

I had a couple questions about my ducklings that hatched a few days ago.
My miniature duck hatched out 6 ducklings a few days ago and all was well at first but I then noticed one of the ducklings wasn't eating or drinking and had labored breathing and was making an odd clicking noise. I took him inside and tried to perk him up put unfortunately he didn't make it. The next day I noticed another one of the ducklings was weak and could barely walk. His breathing wasn't labored but he was also making an odd noise. I took him inside and kept him warm and fed him some sugar water but he didn't live long either. Also the second duckling died with the charecteristic "arched backwards" of duck hepatitis. I feel absolutely terrible about what happened to my poor little babies and after that happened I did some more research and found out that grownd layer pellets (which was what we had been feeding them) are very bad for ducklings. This made me feel even worse about the whole situation.
I changed the food to duckling food as soon as I could. Could this be what coused them to die? 3 of the 4 duckings look heathy but one isn't quite as perky and he's more unsteady on his legs.
I'm worried that if it wasn't from the feed it could be some sort of virus or disease.
Also another thing is the mother has very bad legs that don't bend property and barely no balance, which I thought was just due to an injury or something as she's been like that for some time now. But could it be something else that the ducklings could be catching as they seem to lose balance and the ability to walk property before they pass?
I removed the ducklings from the mother because I was worried this was the case and I don't want any more to die if it is. But the only heat source I have is a wood stove so its hard to keep them the right warmth. I'm just hoping i did the right thing taking them away from mom as I'm worried it could be linked to her. Also should I take the one duckling that looks slightly sick away from the rest?
Does anyone know what could be happening here and if there's any way I could prevent any more of the ducklings dying? I feel so bad about the whole situation and mommy duck has been calling for her babies since I took them away (the babies seem alright)
Also does anyone have suggestions on how to keep the ducklings comfortable in the house? We don't have electricity.
And last but not least could this be something contagious? I have a pet bird in the house too that I made a makeshift home for in a bedroom.

Sorry for all the questions I just really hope someone has advice! TIA

 

[omlet the chicken]

I’m really sorry about your situation. Your mum duck sounds like she has some sort of joint or calcium deficiency which could be reflected in the babies. I’ve only ever raised baby chickens and I’ve never had any problems. Your ducklings may be acting that way simply because they have a cold that could be spreading. You should give them warm (NOT hot NOT cold; lukewarm) water with a tiney bit of apple cider vinegar (exact amount can be looked up) your mom may be walking funny because her feet have hypothermia. The most important thing to do is to keep all the ducklings and the Mom warm and with healthy food. Best of luck!! I will pray for you!!!!

 

[Rainasoleil]

I’m really sorry about your situation. Your mum duck sounds like she has some sort of joint or calcium deficiency which could be reflected in the babies. I’ve only ever raised baby chickens and I’ve never had any problems. Your ducklings may be acting that way simply because they have a cold that could be spreading. You should give them warm (NOT hot NOT cold; lukewarm) water with a tiney bit of apple cider vinegar (exact amount can be looked up) your mom may be walking funny because her feet have hypothermia. The most important thing to do is to keep all the ducklings and the Mom warm and with healthy food. Best of luck!! I will pray for you!!!!

Thank you so much for the reply and advise, and thank you for keeping us in your thoughts! I will definitely try that as I don't want anything else to happen to them anymore. I was thinking maybe momma duck might have gotten worms but I have never seen a duck with worms before so I didn't know for sure. Again, thank you for everything its so so much appreciated!

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

What type of feed are you feeding? It might be too late, but the mother duck could have deformed legs due to a lack of niacin.
Does the feed that they are on contain sufficient niacin?
I don't know that ducklings can die from layer feed - because unless it is moldy - the only thing in the feed that they shouldn't have is excess calcium. I doubt they ate enough of that to be a problem. You could resort to an all flock feed and add calcium on the side (for layers) as well as extra niacin (from brewers yeast or B complex vitamins).
What is your set up like? Have you ever had issues with ducks or ducklings dieing like that before?
Welcome to byc and sorry to hear of your losses.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I think the ducklings may have been better off with mom is you haven't a heat source to keep them warm. Can you place a thermometer in their box by the wood stove so you can tell us what the temp is? We have wood heat too but I am not sure even though our home gets pretty warm with wood if not having the ducklings under a mom or direct heat would be warm enough. How long have they been away from the mom?

You have them on duckling feed now can you pick up some form of niacin or B Complex to add to their water source? If mom has leg problems she could have passed this on to her off spring. She may have had a niacin deficiency when she was young too. Please let us know what you can get in niacin [has to be plain niacin if you go for that. Not time released or flush free. And Soon2B also talked about Brewers yeast and also the other choice would be Nutritional yeast.

 

[Rainasoleil]

What type of feed are you feeding? It might be too late, but the mother duck could have deformed legs due to a lack of niacin.
Does the feed that they are on contain sufficient niacin?
I don't know that ducklings can die from layer feed - because unless it is moldy - the only thing in the feed that they shouldn't have is excess calcium. I doubt they ate enough of that to be a problem. You could resort to an all flock feed and add calcium on the side (for layers) as well as extra niacin (from brewers yeast or B complex vitamins).
What is your set up like? Have you ever had issues with ducks or ducklings dieing like that before?
Welcome to byc and sorry to hear of your losses.

Thank you for the advise. The mom duck was fine for the first few years of us having her but then suddenly she started having a hard time walking. I just started feeding them duckling feed today but I'm not sure what it has in it because I got it off a woman who had ducklings nearbye. We have never had anything like this happen before with ducklings or chicks and its quite worrisome. When I can get to the feed store I will ask them about getting niactin. Thank you so much for the help

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

Thank you for the advise. The mom duck was fine for the first few years of us having her but then suddenly she started having a hard time walking. I just started feeding them duckling feed today but I'm not sure what it has in it because I got it off a woman who had ducklings nearbye. We have never had anything like this happen before with ducklings or chicks and its quite worrisome. When I can get to the feed store I will ask them about getting niactin. Thank you so much for the help

How long has the mother duck had the issue?

 

[Rainasoleil]

I think the ducklings may have been better off with mom is you haven't a heat source to keep them warm. Can you place a thermometer in their box by the wood stove so you can tell us what the temp is? We have wood heat too but I am not sure even though our home gets pretty warm with wood if not having the ducklings under a mom or direct heat would be warm enough. How long have they been away from the mom?

You have them on duckling feed now can you pick up some form of niacin or B Complex to add to their water source? If mom has leg problems she could have passed this on to her off spring. She may have had a niacin deficiency when she was young too. Please let us know what you can get in niacin [has to be plain niacin if you go for that. Not time released or flush free. And Soon2B also talked about Brewers yeast and also the other choice would be Nutritional yeast.

Thank you so much for the advise. The ducklings have only been away from the mom a few hours and they seem alright. I have a thermometer in with them and one end of the box is between 25 & 30 degrees. I'm trying to keep it at 30 so they can choose which end to go to. I'm sure the mom would be fine if I put them back in with her I'm just worried it could be something contagious they are getting from her. I won't be able to get niacin for a few days but I do have nutritional yeast, would that be good enough for now?

 

[Rainasoleil]

How long has the mother duck had the issue?

Probably a little over a year. We thought maybe something happened to her because one of our big male ducks would pick on her. We were hoping it would clear up but it never did

 

[Miss Lydia]

Yes the nutritional yeast is great just sprinkle some over their feed 1 Tab per cup of feed.

I had to go and see what your temp mean in F I think 30c is fine if you can keep it there. If she has been like this for over a year I don't think this is something the ducklings can catch from her. I maybe wrong though so your decision. So when she was a young duckling she wasn't like this with her legs?