Sudden leg spasm in ducklings after drinking

[Russell2000]

Hey guys,

Second year dutch Hatcher here and we have been struck by something very odd and tragic. Over the past four days we have had three, perfectly healthy 2 week old ducklings, that we hatched randomly die. It really sucks cause I have been trying to figure out the issue and I just cant seem to pin point it. All three died to a similiar set of circumstances. I would wake up in the morning, give them food and water, and then I would come back to check about 30 minutes and they would either be already dead or way too far along for me to do anything to help them other than soothe their pain the best I can...

I went and bought a new bag of duck starter (with niacin added cause we had one duckling that had an issue with that last year who is now a year old and happy as can be thanks to this forums help with getting him back to health!) cause I figured maybe something in the food was bad and I also deep cleaned all the brooders. This morning, I did the usual but I decided to sit and watch the ducklings for about 30 minutes due to the trend that was starting to rapidly appear. They would all happily go to drink and eat but within about 5-10 minutes three of the ducklings would lose balance in their legs or have outright spasms in there legs (it looked like a dog scratching itself with its hind legs).

I quickly separated everyone and gave them water with sugar mixed in as I figured that would at least perk them up and give them energy. Sure enough, the ducklings spasms quit fairly quickly and even the ones that had stopped walking were standing up and running around again. I know this sounds really strange but it's exactly what happened and I genuinally cant figure it out and I hate causing my little guys so much stress from this... and I hate losing them even more. Thankfully, everyone seems relatively happy right now.

I have since this morning switched to giving them bottled water as well seeing as I figured something within the tap water might have become contaminated and is maybe causing this (it is potable water and we have a filtration system built into the house).

Sorry this is so much rambling but I'm genuinely beyond confused as to why this is happening and really want to fix it. Is this a problem any of you have faced? And if so what do I need to do to fix it?

I always appreciate your guys help, I have learned so much on this forum. The hatch has been awesome overall this year thanks to all of your suggestions.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

How cold was the water?

 

[Russell2000]

About as cold as a standard tap, not freezing or anything

 

[ghosthunters2002]

I’ve been having the same issue, so I tried slightly warm water and the same thing happened, so it wasn’t shock from cold water. It started happening last year, and is occurring again this year. Perfectly healthy ducklings are having fits, not able to stand and flipping on their backs. Some snap out of it, and others are dead in 30 seconds to 5 minutes. We’re thinking it’s a genetic issue as it’s only happening with the offspring of certain mallards, no issues in other breeds.

 

[Miss Lydia]

So sorry.

 

[Russell2000]

I’ve been having the same issue, so I tried slightly warm water and the same thing happened, so it wasn’t shock from cold water. It started happening last year, and is occurring again this year. Perfectly healthy ducklings are having fits, not able to stand and flipping on their backs. Some snap out of it, and others are dead in 30 seconds to 5 minutes. We’re thinking it’s a genetic issue as it’s only happening with the offspring of certain mallards, no issues in other breeds.

As an update, we havent lost anymore ducks to this so far this year. Everyone right now is doing very excellent and entering those teenage duck years. I'm still very confounded by what happened though, I'm hoping it doesnt remain a problem next year. Though I am still fully committed to only giving bottled water to the little guys for the time being just in case. It seems to stop being a problem once the ducks get over a month old.

 

[ghosthunters2002]

As an update, we havent lost anymore ducks to this so far this year. Everyone right now is doing very excellent and entering those teenage duck years. I'm still very confounded by what happened though, I'm hoping it doesnt remain a problem next year. Though I am still fully committed to only giving bottled water to the little guys for the time being just in case. It seems to stop being a problem once the ducks get over a month old.

I’ve noticed the same thing with the month old. Even ducklings that were doing it before just stop once they get big, (if they survive the fits) and it isn’t noticeable in the adults ever again. It’s incredibly strange and I wish I had an answer

 

[Finnie]

How cold was the water?

This was my first thought too. Especially when they said it didn’t happen when they gave bottled water. My thought was that the bottled water was probably kept at room temperature.

About as cold as a standard tap, not freezing or anything

That is probably cold enough to cause a problem. For all my young hatchlings, not just ducks, I run warm water and don’t give it just from the cold tap. We are brooding them with a heat source to keep them warm, and we don’t want to chill them from the inside.

I was surprised when I started learning about ducks, that on really hot days, giving them cold water can shock and kill them. However, in spite of that, my adult ducks are getting hose water, no matter what the temps because that’s what I have out there. I haven’t seen a problem yet. But with brooder chicks, yeah, I don’t do straight cold from the tap.