We recently brought 5 Pekin ducks home from the feed store last week, two female and one male. They all seem to be doing so well, and then they die. It seems to take no time at all for them to go from running around peeping, drinking and eating eating ... to dead.
What am I missing? What can cause Sudden Duckling Death syndrome?
Here are the details:
After the first one died this weekend we thought it might be one of those random things ... but we haven't lost any other birds like that, so we were upset. After the second one died we thought it might be niacin deficiency so added niacin to the drinking water. That was late yesterday. At the same time we brought home two replacement ducklings as well as a third (these were the last of the batch ours came in, and we took the extra one so it wouldn't be left alone) -- that means we brought home 8 total. We tucked them into the brooder with the three survivors from the first batch at about 8:30 pm, with fresh bedding and fresh niacin water. By 2 am one more had died (it had obviously died very recently), and this morning at about 7 am one more already dead and one was failing -- that fifth one was dead by 9 am. It is possible the three survivors are the three we brought home yesterday, but unfortunately there is no way to tell at this point. I'm wishing I hadn't mixed them.
The feed store says they lost none of them in the store, and haven't heard from other customers about any of the others dying.
Too hot/too cold?
We have them in a big plastic bin in our house with a heat lamp above, same as we've done for many of the other birds we've hatched here during their first week.
Inexperience?
We have successfully raised a good quantity and variety of chickens in this system (most recently Cornish X) as well as turkeys and pheasants. We have hatched some ducklings under a broody hen out in the coop, let her raise them and had good luck with those, too. Our first two ducks came here mature, so this is our first attempt at hand raising ducklings.
Wrong bedding?
We are using towels for bedding ... they were on sawdust pellets at the feed store. I wash the towels with bleach, then give them an extra rinse before drying. As you can imagine, we change the bedding frequently.
Food?
They are eating Flock Raiser -- the same as they got at the store -- the end of a bag that I'd been using for the Cornish X that were just moved to the grow-out coop, so I doubt it is a bad batch of feed. I sprinkle the feed with chick grit. I dump the soiled/wet feed when I change their bedding. We have given them no "treats."
Water?
They do seem to lose interest in the water after it has been in the brooder box for very long, so we change it out often and then they go crazy for it, which worries me a bit. Once, over night, they managed to splash enough to empty the quart waterer we were using at first, so we switched to a gallon size waterer and raised it up a tiny bit ... it is the same type and size of waterer as they use in the feed store, and I can say with confidence we do keep the water cleaner here, and it can't be getting any warmer than they were used to in the store. They seem to be able to wash their faces in this waterer, and also get their feet wet and splash around in it, then preen.
Choking?
One towel did have a few frayed strings they were fascinated with, so I was worried they might choke on the threads and when I changed that out I haven't used it again. We transfer them to the big box we brought them home in to change out their brooder ... in this box there are shavings. They don't seem to be choking on the shavings when they are in the box, but I suppose it is possible the shavings get stuck in their crop and cause a delayed problem.
Virus?
I have read about a kind of virus ducks can get that will kill them very rapidly ... that's one possibility. We do have a lot of chickens here as well as a few other ducks and there is just no way I can completely sterilize myself between caring for the outside birds and caring for the ducklings. I wear gloves when I'm with the chickens, and when I come inside I wash my hands, take off the outer layer of my clothes, and change from my coop shoes. I can't guarantee everyone in this household follows those minimal precautions. Nevertheless, I don't expect our flock has been exposed to very many bird diseases unless it was from wild birds ... all but three of our other birds (currently chickens and ducks) were raised here from either hatchery stock or from our own eggs hatched under our own broodies. Our flock (about 120 birds) seems to be healthy.
.
.
.
Obviously it is quite upsetting to have the absolutely adorable ducklings dying like this. I feel terribly guilty.
I have pre-ordered a few other breeds of ducklings from the feed store, and am reluctant to bring them home unless/until we can figure out what's happening here and fix it.
Anyone have any ideas? Thank you for taking the time to read this, and thank you in advance for any replies.
What am I missing? What can cause Sudden Duckling Death syndrome?
Here are the details:
After the first one died this weekend we thought it might be one of those random things ... but we haven't lost any other birds like that, so we were upset. After the second one died we thought it might be niacin deficiency so added niacin to the drinking water. That was late yesterday. At the same time we brought home two replacement ducklings as well as a third (these were the last of the batch ours came in, and we took the extra one so it wouldn't be left alone) -- that means we brought home 8 total. We tucked them into the brooder with the three survivors from the first batch at about 8:30 pm, with fresh bedding and fresh niacin water. By 2 am one more had died (it had obviously died very recently), and this morning at about 7 am one more already dead and one was failing -- that fifth one was dead by 9 am. It is possible the three survivors are the three we brought home yesterday, but unfortunately there is no way to tell at this point. I'm wishing I hadn't mixed them.
The feed store says they lost none of them in the store, and haven't heard from other customers about any of the others dying.
Too hot/too cold?
We have them in a big plastic bin in our house with a heat lamp above, same as we've done for many of the other birds we've hatched here during their first week.
Inexperience?
We have successfully raised a good quantity and variety of chickens in this system (most recently Cornish X) as well as turkeys and pheasants. We have hatched some ducklings under a broody hen out in the coop, let her raise them and had good luck with those, too. Our first two ducks came here mature, so this is our first attempt at hand raising ducklings.
Wrong bedding?
We are using towels for bedding ... they were on sawdust pellets at the feed store. I wash the towels with bleach, then give them an extra rinse before drying. As you can imagine, we change the bedding frequently.
Food?
They are eating Flock Raiser -- the same as they got at the store -- the end of a bag that I'd been using for the Cornish X that were just moved to the grow-out coop, so I doubt it is a bad batch of feed. I sprinkle the feed with chick grit. I dump the soiled/wet feed when I change their bedding. We have given them no "treats."
Water?
They do seem to lose interest in the water after it has been in the brooder box for very long, so we change it out often and then they go crazy for it, which worries me a bit. Once, over night, they managed to splash enough to empty the quart waterer we were using at first, so we switched to a gallon size waterer and raised it up a tiny bit ... it is the same type and size of waterer as they use in the feed store, and I can say with confidence we do keep the water cleaner here, and it can't be getting any warmer than they were used to in the store. They seem to be able to wash their faces in this waterer, and also get their feet wet and splash around in it, then preen.
Choking?
One towel did have a few frayed strings they were fascinated with, so I was worried they might choke on the threads and when I changed that out I haven't used it again. We transfer them to the big box we brought them home in to change out their brooder ... in this box there are shavings. They don't seem to be choking on the shavings when they are in the box, but I suppose it is possible the shavings get stuck in their crop and cause a delayed problem.
Virus?
I have read about a kind of virus ducks can get that will kill them very rapidly ... that's one possibility. We do have a lot of chickens here as well as a few other ducks and there is just no way I can completely sterilize myself between caring for the outside birds and caring for the ducklings. I wear gloves when I'm with the chickens, and when I come inside I wash my hands, take off the outer layer of my clothes, and change from my coop shoes. I can't guarantee everyone in this household follows those minimal precautions. Nevertheless, I don't expect our flock has been exposed to very many bird diseases unless it was from wild birds ... all but three of our other birds (currently chickens and ducks) were raised here from either hatchery stock or from our own eggs hatched under our own broodies. Our flock (about 120 birds) seems to be healthy.
.
.
.
Obviously it is quite upsetting to have the absolutely adorable ducklings dying like this. I feel terribly guilty.
I have pre-ordered a few other breeds of ducklings from the feed store, and am reluctant to bring them home unless/until we can figure out what's happening here and fix it.
Anyone have any ideas? Thank you for taking the time to read this, and thank you in advance for any replies.
