I have a one week old white Call Duckling (Frankie) that's struggling. Hatch generally went well. Did an assist hole, but it pipped externally and was out pretty quickly over night. First 24 hours it was flipping on its back, but had high energy and a day later was eating and drinking heartily. We gave electrolytes for a few days (we should have alternated 12 on/off) because another duckling was spraddled/hobbled. Frankie has needed a lot of feather clipping and poop cleaning, but is growing. They're on towels. I realized mid week that the electrolytes might be causing fecal issues, so we switched to just water. Frankie has been "crackly" in the nostrils since day one, and we've been doing a lot of head dipping and using a dropper to help clear them. Today at a week both ducklings were energetic and eating. I introduced them to a "splash pad" of a little water off a towel in the tub for about 5 minutes, dried them off, and on the way back to the brooder, Frankie fell from my husband's hands but seemed OK. We did a grocery run over a few hours. Since we've been home, Frankie has been listless. It wants to drink when near water, but mostly wants to be under the heat plate. We tried a dropper of electrolytes, and its eager and swallowing, but also bubbly at the mouth. Breathing seems a bit worse with nostril issues. No interest in food. And suddenly with foamy, sticky white poop in small amounts. Is there anything else we can be doing? I'm trying to let it rest, with hourly water prompts. They're eating Mazuri waterfowl crumble with powdered Brewers yeast. The other duckling is frantic.
(Pictures are from about 48 hours together in a cup and today at a week). I'll post a separate picture of its bottom in a reply.
(Pictures are from about 48 hours together in a cup and today at a week). I'll post a separate picture of its bottom in a reply.
