SOS HELP! Baby ducklings and goslings dying

[oldhenlikesdogs]

That certainly is different than I was reading.

18 days old: two ducklings 4 goslings

Ducklings in my experiences are fairly easy. Their poops are always watery because of all the water they drink.

Are you letting them bathe often? It's generally recommended to keep the dry until their feathers grow in or else they can chill easily. A mother duck would provide protection by transferring her oil to the ducklings so those raised by a duck hen can swim earlier.

 

[duckmomma21]

Hello all,

We have 18 day old ducklings (2) and goslings (4). By the time my husband noticed the girl duck wasn’t breathing and she was already gone, and while trying to stimulate her to see if he could possibly save her the boy duck started having labored breathing too. Within 30 minutes both ducks had passed. We noticed yesterday that the skin on the goslings’ legs and feet had started to peel (what seemed like a normal growing side affect) but this morning the peeling skin looked a lot more irritated and some had even developed tiny blisters. It looks painful and today they are all moving around very slowly. We covered their chip-bed with towels for a softer, more forgiving surface. They have been on a diet of starter crumbles, pellets, spinach, grass, and grit, as well as water with broiler booster. We picked up some flock raiser crumbles today thinking maybe we were giving the wrong starter crumbles/pellets, got new feeders to prevent fecal matter from getting into their water and food feeders. We had been giving them water time daily, but I’m not sure if it was excessive in time for them.

Today we cleaned their legs and feet with antiseptic and covered them with bacitracin. We went out to get more ointment and to get kale to replace the spinach as we read some issues can arise from the high acidity, and upon arriving home we saw our littlest girl gosling had also passed.

This is such a strain on our hearts and our minds, as we don’t understand what is going on. We read ducklings are much more finicky with being raised, needing to be in totally clean and dry environments and they have more difficulty cleaning themselves. We have had goslings before that had no problems whatsoever, but I am so concerned now for the remaining two boys and girl. The boys are standing and slowly walking, eating and drinking, the girl is drinking but reluctant to eat. I just don’t know what else to do or how we can help. We have googled everything under the planet and it feels a lot like Web MD. Everything could happen to these littles.

Their poos are very wet and liquidy. Are there any antibiotics we can safely give them for possible infections?

Anyone else experience anything else this? We’re are such a loss, our hearts are breaking, and I want to make sure the remaining three still have a chance.

I’m sorry for your loss! Ducklings can be sensitive to spinach as it is often difficult for their little tummies to digest. Adding a small amount of apple cider vinegar to spinach will make it easier for the ducks to digest. Ducklings need unmedicated feed otherwise they can overdose on the medication since they eat so much food. Usually when ducklings are paired and one passes, the other also passes. Since they are so bonded, they go through heartbreak without the other. Good luck, I hope your goslings are doing well.

 

[Ephyra]

I am so sorry, this is heartbreaking. I am very new to all of this so I probably won't be much help but I am trying to look through my goose care book which has a medical section. Have you looked at this chart? http://www.majesticwaterfowl.org/diagnostic chart.htm Is there any way you could bring them to a vet? It seems pretty serious but I know it isn't always an option. Blisters make me think something is irritating? Maybe irritating the respiratory system as well? Are you using cedar shavings? They are toxic from what I've read. Is it possible there is any mold in/near the brooder? Mold can grow really easily in wet conditions and is really dangerous for birds. I really hope they will be okay

 

[aimeedee4817]

I am so sorry, this is heartbreaking. I am very new to all of this so I probably won't be much help but I am trying to look through my goose care book which has a medical section. Have you looked at this chart? http://www.majesticwaterfowl.org/diagnostic chart.htm Is there any way you could bring them to a vet? It seems pretty serious but I know it isn't always an option. Blisters make me think something is irritating? Maybe irritating the respiratory system as well? Are you using cedar shavings? They are toxic from what I've read. Is it possible there is any mold in/near the brooder? Mold can grow really easily in wet conditions and is really dangerous for birds. I really hope they will be okay

Thank you, it’s really hard to watch this happen. Per your suggestion, we just switched out all the cedar and vacuumed the area well. They could be suffering from an allergy or inhalation issue. The boys seem to be doing ok, eating like champs and drinking (and pooping and pooping). Our girl still seems very lethargic and disinterested in food or water. She’s very lethargic, but chirping too. Maybe now that the cedar is gone that will help? Here’s hoping...

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Cedar shavings shouldn't be used. Hopefully that solves your problems.

 

[aimeedee4817]

I’m sorry for your loss! Ducklings can be sensitive to spinach as it is often difficult for their little tummies to digest. Adding a small amount of apple cider vinegar to spinach will make it easier for the ducks to digest. Ducklings need unmedicated feed otherwise they can overdose on the medication since they eat so much food. Usually when ducklings are paired and one passes, the other also passes. Since they are so bonded, they go through heartbreak without the other. Good luck, I hope your goslings are doing well.

They are on unmedicated food, and off spinach now. They seem to really enjoy the kale, and are eating grit along with it. Our girl goose seems disinterested in food and water, and is pretty lethargic. Still trying to figure out what’s going on. Per the suggestion of another commenter, we removed all cedar chips, in case that was causing problems.

 

[aimeedee4817]

Cedar shavings shouldn't be used. Hopefully that solves your problems.

Switched our all cedar, we hope it starts helping pronto!

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

I don't know why they even have cedar shavings at the store. Most animals and all birds can't even be around it...

 

[Ephyra]

Thank you, it’s really hard to watch this happen. Per your suggestion, we just switched out all the cedar and vacuumed the area well. They could be suffering from an allergy or inhalation issue. The boys seem to be doing ok, eating like champs and drinking (and pooping and pooping). Our girl still seems very lethargic and disinterested in food or water. She’s very lethargic, but chirping too. Maybe now that the cedar is gone that will help? Here’s hoping...

It must be especially since you're clearly very caring! Glad to hear the boys are doing ok at least, I hope your girl picks up soon. One thing I just remembered is an article from Metzer Farms I read about how they are very sensitive to ammonia, which is in their poop. Depending on ones sense of smell, humans can smell ammonia between 5 and 50 ppm, and it becomes a threat to the birds health at 25 ppm. But you probably aren't sticking your nose right in their living area so you may not even realise. It can cause suffocation as well as burns (so maybe blisters?) on their skin. I know their respiratory systems are quite different from ours and they can be pretty fragile in that regard, so even though I'm sure you're keeping it clean, maybe for some reason it's affecting them? Sounds like you already changed all the bedding though so if it is that, I would hope it would help soon. Is their area well ventilated? I think as much ventilation and fresh air as possible is good! Wish I knew more, please let us know how she progresses!

Edited to add: Here's the article in case you'd like to read it: https://metzerfarms.blogspot.com/2017/12/ammonia-causes-and-affects.html
Probably not the cause but did you check for pasty butt just in case? Just figured I'd throw that out there because you never know and it's usually an easy fix!

 

[aimeedee4817]

It must be especially since you're clearly very caring! Glad to hear the boys are doing ok at least, I hope your girl picks up soon. One thing I just remembered is an article from Metzer Farms I read about how they are very sensitive to ammonia, which is in their poop. Depending on ones sense of smell, humans can smell ammonia between 5 and 50 ppm, and it becomes a threat to the birds health at 25 ppm. But you probably aren't sticking your nose right in their living area so you may not even realise. It can cause suffocation as well as burns (so maybe blisters?) on their skin. I know their respiratory systems are quite different from ours and they can be pretty fragile in that regard, so even though I'm sure you're keeping it clean, maybe for some reason it's affecting them? Sounds like you already changed all the bedding though so if it is that, I would hope it would help soon. Is their area well ventilated? I think as much ventilation and fresh air as possible is good! Wish I knew more, please let us know how she progresses!

Edited to add: Here's the article in case you'd like to read it: https://metzerfarms.blogspot.com/2017/12/ammonia-causes-and-affects.html
Probably not the cause but did you check for pasty butt just in case? Just figured I'd throw that out there because you never know and it's usually an easy fix!

No pasty bums here. The towel has been a nice alternative, we can see their poos clearly, and have been picking them up and out when seen. They are well ventilated, we have a fan pulling air out of their room that kicks on if it goes over a certain temperature.