Sudden death...cause ?

[zekii]

We had 6 six week old welsh harlequins they were all doing well, and I noticed one of them today wasn't moveing around alot, and was all by itself. Tonight we found it dead in the water pool.
The other 5 look fine, but we immediately cleaned out their pool, and disinfected it.
What are some causes of sudden death in ducks? Could this duck eaten some plant that caused
it's death...or did it get a chill, the weather has been cooler the last few days, but we keep them
in their coop at night. Totally upset and baffeled by this death, and since these are our 1st ducks
we are a little worried..!!! We hatched out 12, and sold 6, and all the others are doing well.
This duck that died was the last one to hatch, and had a little slow start, so maybe it's immunity
wasn't as developed as the others. It was definitely smaller than the other 5.

Any ideas...hints we should be aware of ... watching for ?

 

[smedly9921]

Sound to me like he was the runt and had failure to thrive. Maybe you did see that he always got pushed out of the way when it was time to eat or drink. Sounds like it was just that simple the runt who didn't make it. Don't get me wrong its sad am i sure you didn't do anything wrong but if there is one thing i have learned with my ducks and chickens sometimes they just die no matter how hard you try.

 

[70%cocoa]

Really sorry about your little duckling. It's heart wrenching to lose one, especially a little one that has struggled a bit and that you have cared for.

I agere with Smedly that it was something that was probably just going to happen, that you coouldn't have prevented. Something may not have been right with the duckling internally...e.g. a heart problem, brain haemorrhage....

If all your other ducklings are energetic, eating, drinking and preening then I'd say that there is no need to worry about a disease or anything that might harm the others.

 

[zekii]

They were all growing, and thriving so well ...since this is the 1st time we have had ducks we are just questioning if there is something we did wrong. We will be watching the others closely, this one died so
quickly after we noticed it wasn't as active.

 

[70%cocoa]

If you notice any of the same symptoms in the others, then I would go to the vet. But if all the rest are growing well and thriving then I'd say that you are doing a good job. Try not to worry too much about your other ones if they all continue to seem active and healthy. It is very sad to lose one, but a sudden death like that in just one duckling is likely to be something that was just to do with that one duckling, and none of the others. Since you are a responsible owner, naturally you are wondering what you might have done differently, but the answer is probably 'nothing'. If they have a clean living environment, clean water, shelter at night and from predators, the right food, room to run around, a bit of sun, water to wash their faces in....then you are doing all the right things. I know you said that the weather has been cool but at 6 weeks old they would be fine just with the shelter of their hosue at night - that is enough protection for them.

 

[zekii]

If you notice any of the same symptoms in the others, then I would go to the vet. But if all the rest are growing well and thriving then I'd say that you are doing a good job. Try not to worry too much about your other ones if they all continue to seem active and healthy. It is very sad to lose one, but a sudden death like that in just one duckling is likely to be something that was just to do with that one duckling, and none of the others. Since you are a responsible owner, naturally you are wondering what you might have done differently, but the answer is probably 'nothing'. If they have a clean living environment, clean water, shelter at night and from predators, the right food, room to run around, a bit of sun, water to wash their faces in....then you are doing all the right things. I know you said that the weather has been cool but at 6 weeks old they would be fine just with the shelter of their hosue at night - that is enough protection for them.

Yes, they have already started getting their feathers so I didn't think the cool weather was an issue,
they have sun & shade during the day. Have feed them the proper feed. Very disheartening.

 

[70%cocoa]

Yes, it sure is disheartening. I know how you feel, having lost little ones too.

But I hope that soon you will be able to just focus on enjoying the happy, healthy ones you have and on the great job you are doing with them. I'm sure that they will all grow into beautiful, healthy ducks.

 

[zekii]

What would abnornal duck stools look like...? Since we are new to ducks this would be helpful for us to determine if we have
any disease issues going on.

 

[70%cocoa]

Abnormal would be, for example, stools that have blood or intestinal lining in them, or extra dark and stomach-turningly smelly (as opposed to normal smelly). Keep in mind that what they eat can affect stools eg lots of peas will produce bright green poop while beetroot leaves will produce pink poop.

 

[zekii]

No...don't see no blood or intestinal linings, plenty of poop and it's not sweet smelling, but they eat alot....
We're watching the remaining 5 closely so far they look ok, they tend to shy away from us, so we need to work on that, trying to find
a food/treat for them that is so delictable that they'll run to us to get some!!! Our turkeys & chickens do that...
Any ideas ?