Sleepy duckling not eating much HELP!

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Have you tried to get the eggshell out? You might be able to put your finger into her vent and gently pull out the shell.
That is great news about Sage. Have you also tried making her feed mixed with warm water and see if she'll eat it that way? Just a small amount to see if she is interested.
 
Sage is continuing to improve! Shes acting more and more like a duckling should! She is SO very bonded with me and SCREAMS whenever I leave the room. She has started to grab at sweatshirt strings, and little threads like ducklings should. She clears her nares regularly in her water bowl, she attacks, jumps on, and does laps around her froggy, and she peeps so loud at EVERYTHING. She has eaten some egg and crumbles on her own too! Something that really concerns me is that she is still really limping on her left leg. Maybe its deformed or something, if she continues to grow and do better I will probably have to figure out a brace or splint. She may need to permanently have a brace if it stays like that. But thats ok. She may be a house duck at this point, I'm not sure. The family is taken with her and I went upstairs into my room and had a heart attack when I couldn't find her in her box. I found her in my sisters lap in the next room. She went for a short outing today for a photo shoot. I changed it to my profile pic and here are a few more. The last picture is of Sage's sister Nutmeg so you can see the size difference. Sage has seemed to be growing though!
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citymeetscountry said:
Hmm switching to the duck crumbles was a good call. She is smaller but does she seem to be growing (you said they’re about a week old, how long have you had them). I know when we first got ducks last year our khaki Campbell (May she RIP) grew slower than our others (Rouen and pekin), but I think that was more bc of her breed.

If she seems to be growing (maybe track her weight) then she could just need a little time.

You could try something like save-a chick/nutridrench electrolytes/sugar water t see if that helps boost her energy. Maybe let them have some “swim time” in shallow water too (supervised and ready to get warmed up quickly) and see how they she does.
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Four days ago, my "Cleopatra"> they have the same eye makeup> came out of the egg like that & w/constant care, corn meal & duck crumbles she's doing great. Lonely> she's the only one so far so I'm trying to find her a friend until (hopefully) others will hatch.
 
picklestheduck said:
Sage is continuing to improve! Shes acting more and more like a duckling should! She is SO very bonded with me and SCREAMS whenever I leave the room. She has started to grab at sweatshirt strings, and little threads like ducklings should. She clears her nares regularly in her water bowl, she attacks, jumps on, and does laps around her froggy, and she peeps so loud at EVERYTHING. She has eaten some egg and crumbles on her own too! Something that really concerns me is that she is still really limping on her left leg. Maybe its deformed or something, if she continues to grow and do better I will probably have to figure out a brace or splint. She may need to permanently have a brace if it stays like that. But thats ok. She may be a house duck at this point, I'm not sure. The family is taken with her and I went upstairs into my room and had a heart attack when I couldn't find her in her box. I found her in my sisters lap in the next room. She went for a short outing today for a photo shoot. I changed it to my profile pic and here are a few more. The last picture is of Sage's sister Nutmeg so you can see the size difference. Sage has seemed to be growing though!View attachment 3067402View attachment 3067403View attachment 3067404View attachment 3067407
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She's adorable!!!!!!!
 
Yall I figured something out. Last night I brought Nutmeg in for a visit since Sage has been gaining strength and growing more each day. Well they were both very excited to see each other, and it went well, and so I left Nutmeg in there for a few hours with the plan of leaving her in there overnight. After several hours I went back up and got Sage out to feed her. After she gobbled up a bunch of egg I set her back in there. Maybe it was the angle or the fact that I could compare them side by side or that she grew enough to finally reveal it, but I FINALLY figured out Sage's issue. Something internal is going on. I thought it was weird before when I tried to feel her crop but couldn't feel anything, I has just assumed it was because she wasn't eating much. But no. Sage's esophagus seems to be on the right side of her neck and her crop seems to sit on her right side up higher. After eating there is a visible lump at the bottom of her neck almost on her back....her crop...I'm guessing or at least the food is sitting there. After further inspection, I noticed her right side looked hollower than the left and there is an odd almost bare spot behind her right leg. I'm guessing this issue also might explain her limp. She eats some crumbles and drinks ALL the time by herself and gobbles meal worms up greedily whenever she can. I still have to feed her egg but she is making more of an effort to help herself. She attacks anything within her reach and loves to snuggle 24/7 if she could. She is definitely growing, she shocked a few people with her size difference in a day yesterday, and has been bathing and clearing her nares regularly. She peeps really loud whenever she is alone, and is very clingy. She has such a strong will to live and thrive, shes just had a few difficulties, but she seems to keep trying really hard. She plays and nibbles at random little dots like ducklings do, such as freckles, moles, and is OBSESSED with shiny things. There's a blood blister on my eyelid since she tried to go for my eye but I blinked in time. Her neck almost seems curved to the right. Not inward, but like just every so slightly to the right. I read about wry neck but this doesn't sound like it. Has anyone every experienced this before? Is there anything I can do to help her? Can she survive like this? If she can survive should she go with other ducks or be alone as a special needs duck? She she stay a house duck? What should I do? I'm not ready to give up on her. Shes my baby girl.
 
Miss Lydia said:
Sounds like she has made some great progress. What we need is some really good pictures of her neck from good angles so we can see what you're talking about. Hopefully, she'll be able to go out with the other ducks once you feel she is ready.
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I will try to get those to you soon.
 

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