sneezing ducklings

[mountainchick5]

Hello,
I am pet sitting my friend's 6 ducklings. They're about 4 weeks old and I've had them for 4days. Yesterday they all started sneezing. They don't have any runny noses and their eyes are clear. They just sneeze, like their trying to blow their noses. I give them a bowl of water and they put their heads in it to clear their bills, but maybe they need more water? I keep them in a big rubbermaid water trough in our sunroom and take them and put them in a smaller plastic bin a couple of times a day to eat and drink. That way they don't get their water everywhere and sit in it. Their big bin is drier for them to live in. They also get to swim once a day in another plastic bin, but I'm sure to dry them off and put them under the heat lamp for a bit. Maybe their chilled? Do they sneeze when they have a cold? They also have been sleeping without the heat lamp and it gets to about 65 or so at night in the sunroom, is this too cold for them?

 

[Amiga]

Hi, mountainchick5,

I think you are being conscientious. I can share what I do with my runners (now four and a half weeks old).

I keep them at 70 degrees, based on Storey's Guide to Raising Ducks recommendation. As long as they can be that warm and move away from the heat a little if they feel too hot, that is good. Being too warm or too cold can stress them. The rule of thumb is 90 degrees the first week, 85 the next, 80 the next, and so forth. But it does vary a little with the individual ducklings.

I keep water with my ducklings always. There comes a time, I think when they are closer to two months old, that taking away food and water overnight is fine. But mine still have water all the time.

This means I have to provide for ways to reduce the splash, and just deal with the mess they make with the water. Well, these littles will only be young once, so I will grin and bear it, because I want them to have the best chance to thrive that I can give them. Here are some things I have done to cut the splash way down (no way have I found to eliminate it, in my situation): with one or two quart waterers, I put them on a two piece broiler pan with a washcloth on top. With a one-gallon waterer, I put it on an upside down ricotta tub in a large stainless steel salad bowl. The salad bowl caught most of the splash. When the waterer was empty, the salad bowl was within an inch or two of being full, and I pulled the whole system out, drained, rinsed with hot hot water, refilled the waterer, and we were good to go - for about 3 to 5 hours. I also placed folded old towels under the waterer and splash catcher. That was replaced a few times a day.

As of today, we went with a 3 gallon waterer in a shallow rubber bucket. The waterer sits on 5 clean empty cat food cans, so there is room for splash. The cans raise the edge of the waterer to be just a few millimeters below the outer edge of the rubber bucket.

The daily swims are a great way to keep their nostrils clear. Ducklinghood has a way of clogging up one's nostrils, so they do need to be able to was their heads regularly. You are doing well by them. I have a chocolate runner who just a few days ago started snorting. I keep a tall yogurt container with water in it, the lid with a head-sized hole cut out, in the brooder most of the time so ducklings can dip their entire heads in it. But it is up to them who uses it, and I wonder if the one who needs it most hasn't used it. Tonight we plan a swim in the bathtub (it has been a few days, and I don't like to go so long without swim time, but schedules can wreak havoc with rearing waterfowl.)

Is there something near them that is dusty or irritating to their nasal passages? Ducks can have allergies, too, I believe. Has their bedding been changed?

Did your friend leave any vitamin mix for them? Sometimes if I suspect they are particularly stressed, I give them some extra vitamins.

Those are all my ideas for now. Keep taking good care of them, it sounds like you are doing a good job.