Sleepy duckling not eating much HELP!

[picklestheduck]

I copied and pasted from Emergency thread to try to get as many answers asap.

Hey yall I got two ducklings that were supposed to be khaki campbells from tractor supply on staurday. They are in a rubber-made tote in my garage with a heat lamp and food and water. They are TEENY TINY and are supposed to be about a week old by now. The ones I got happened to be like the smallest ones there. Their names are Sage and Nutmeg. Nutmeg is feistier and is running around nibbling everything in sight like ducklings do and climbing in the water dish and biting my fingers and picking at random spots on the side of the tub and etc. But Sage is eating less and seems to have less energy. She kinda lays and wants to sleep alot. She will follow Nutmeg around, and she will eat some and drink some, but not as much as I would like. I even soaked some feed in my hand and tried to gently push her beak into it so she could see she needed it and although it works some....she still isn't really eating as much as I think she should be. They are on Purina Flock Raiser and just today I bought Dumor Duck crumbles for them and have been mixing it in. Should I scramble an egg and try to feed her that? Should I bring her in the house for a night? HELP!!

 

[Miss Lydia]

I would go with a few more duckling instead of chicks ducklings are so messy chicks if kept in the same brooder would be wet and miserable. As for Sage being picked on what I’d do is separate them but keep them In the same brooder. I had to do this with Week old ducklings and newly hatched. I used hardware cloth wrapped the edges in tape so they couldn’t get poked by the wire and put my week olds on one side the newly hatched on the other and the heat lamp in the middle so both shared it. This will give Sage a chance to catch up and not get picked on. Bless her heart having Nutmeg picking on her sure can’t be helping And if separated they will still be able to see each other. If you could have them inside with you you’d be able to watch her more closely make sure she is eating etc. Do you have liquid B Complex? If so I’d put some in her water. 1/2 ml in her drinking water. Sometimes even the best duckling feed there can still be one in the bunch that needs more niacin and the liquid BComplex has always been the best keep adding the nutritional yeast on their feed 1 tab per cup.
Can Sage walk with out any trouble?

 

[NatJ]

maybe she's been eating while I'm not there but there's no way to tell. I can't watch them for too long

On chicks, I can tell by feeling their crop: it's right at the base of the neck in front, very easy to find. If it contains food, I know the bird did eat, even if I was not watching at the time.

I think ducklings have their crop in the same place as chicks, so you could just pick up each one and gently feel. (Feeling the energetic one is a good way to check what is normal and healthy.)

 

[Miss Lydia]

Very good idea about feeling the crops of each duckling

 

[citymeetscountry]

Have you looked inside her mouth? Like to see if there’s any deformities or anything?

 

[picklestheduck]

At TSC they usually carry Durvet liquid B complex it will say injectable but we just peel off the foil open the rubber stopper and pull out what we need. For sage 1/2 ml would be good for a start.
On this link there are other brands in case TSC doesn't have the Durvet
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/niacin-deficiency-in-waterfowl.1367557/
Okay I am worried now since you say you are going away for the weekend and you don't know anyone in your family who will make sure sage is eating? Any friends who have ducks that would care for her while your gone?

Ok great thanks! I'll have to figure something out for while I'm gone but I will! Also I finally was able to get a good look in her mouth and everything in there looked normal! I checked out Nutmeg too and she looked good also. ALSO! I put a little dish of scrambled eggs in there again and turned my back for a second and I turned back to find Sage gobbling it up!!! I've been leaving egg bits on top of their crumbles and they always get eaten, (but I'm guessing by Nutmeg) but I'll be leaving a separate dish now too!!! It gave me some hope seeing Sage trying to help herself finally!

I've seen pictures of special waterers for ducklings: either a plastic jug with a hole cut in the side, or a plastic food-storage container with a hole cut in the lid.

Either one can have deep enough water for the ducklings to submerge their entire head, but they cannot get their whole body in to get wet, and they are less able to make the water dirty by throwing things in it.

Of course you need to get the hole size correct, so they can put in their head but not body.

Having just one water container instead of two would give them more space to move around, which would also be good.

Great info thank you!

 

[Miss Lydia]

You need to split your brooder. Sage is struggling for life right now and being trampled sure can't be helping the poor little one place the heat lamp so both sides can share but split your brooder so she can recover without being trampled. Poor little one.
Her leg is most likely injured for being stepped on another reason she needs to have her own side of the brooder right now.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I'd think she'd be dead by now if she had that disease. She could very well have something genetic going on. But for her to still be alive says she is a fighter and your wonderful for keeping up with trying to get her through this. She won't eat at all if you put her feed down by her water? She really does need to clean out her nares so at least a bowl deep enough for her to clean them out should be put out for her, I don't think at her size you'd be able to clean them for her. If the other ducklings trampled on her it's going to take time for the leg to heal. Hopefully, that's all it is and it will get better soon. Maybe you can get someone to help so you can get a good picture of her neck and her leg too. Also her nares if you can? Put the B complex in her water. It's not ideal but at least she is getting it.

@New duck mommy 2021 has a duckling she has been working with to get him through a rough time since hatch maybe she can off some advice on what she has been doing?

 

[picklestheduck]

GUESS WHAT??!?!?! This morning I gave Sage another bath, and she didn't really do much but sip the water, and I took her out and dried her off...but then I just had a feeling I needed to put her back in, and so I did, and she like leaned forward to sip it I think and fell and her head plunged underwater and she was surprised and blew out and shook her head! She only cleared one of her nares, BUT its still improvement!!

 

[picklestheduck]

It takes time but as long as neither is picking on the other they will bond most likely. Look how big Sage is.

Thank you both!!! Sage picked on the other one a bit at first like what ARE you? Sage MIGHT have pushed the other little one away from the water, but it could have been a fluke and I need more time to watch them. And Then they snuggled up together and slept.