Tell me about Welsh Harlequin Ducklings!

[Quackattack717]

Everyone tell me about your WH ducklings if you’ve ever had any! My two babies are super clumsy but I don’t know if that’s normal or not because I am have only raised two Rouen ducklings before them and they were not clumsy but the circumstances were different with the Rouens, they got out more to explore & stretch their little bodies. I never had any health issues with my Rouens. But my WH are sneezy and one has loose poop sometimes. I googled ducklings being clumsy but it wasn’t very helpful. I am already giving them VETRx sometimes in their water, and other days ACV. Is there something more I should be doing to make sure my babies are healthy? These baby ducks were expensive and I don’t want to lose them to health issues!

Thank you in advance!
-One worried duck mama

 

[Kholts]

I’ll give you my 1st hand knowledge I have witnessed raising my 1 WH. Warning I am a new duck owner and only started keeping ducks in May 2019.

I got my WH (Harley) when she was 2/3 days old. I picked her up with a Saxony, Blue Swedish & a mixed duckling.

Right off the batt they were all clumsy. Ducks in general seem clumsy. They lost a bit of the clumsiness at 3 weeks old I would say except my WH. She seemed to keep her clumsiness I think It was due to her skittishness. See as time went on the other ducklings got used to me in their brooder and doing chores but my WH was always more leery of me then the others.

Fast forward to now (currently WH is 23 weeks) she is definitely used to me now and comes the closest when I do my “ducky ducky ducky” calls. She seems incredibly good driven and she knows I have something for them when I call. As for the clumsiness she is still the clumsiest of all my ducks especially when running from a perceived threat (like my dog walking by or kids trying to pet them). She likes to trip over things a lot.

I can’t really give you any advice on the sneeziness and loose stools. I’ll let someone more knowledgeable answer,

 

[Miss Lydia]

You need to go to TSC and buy liquid B Complex and start giving them all ducklings need the extra niacin and the total bs are the best. It will say injectable but just give it oral over a tasty treat. 1 ml for each duckling 1x a day.

 

[Quackattack717]

I’ll give you my 1st hand knowledge I have witnessed raising my 1 WH. Warning I am a new duck owner and only started keeping ducks in May 2019.

I got my WH (Harley) when she was 2/3 days old. I picked her up with a Saxony, Blue Swedish & a mixed duckling.

Right off the batt they were all clumsy. Ducks in general seem clumsy. They lost a bit of the clumsiness at 3 weeks old I would say except my WH. She seemed to keep her clumsiness I think It was due to her skittishness. See as time went on the other ducklings got used to me in their brooder and doing chores but my WH was always more leery of me then the others.

Fast forward to now (currently WH is 23 weeks) she is definitely used to me now and comes the closest when I do my “ducky ducky ducky” calls. She seems incredibly good driven and she knows I have something for them when I call. As for the clumsiness she is still the clumsiest of all my ducks especially when running from a perceived threat (like my dog walking by or kids trying to pet them). She likes to trip over things a lot.

I can’t really give you any advice on the sneeziness and loose stools. I’ll let someone more knowledgeable answer,

Thank you thank you thank you! You’ve made me feel a lot better about my WH ducklings. We chose WH because they’re suppose to be a super calm and friendly breed but our Rouens were much friendly at this age than they are so that made me nervous. But you saying yours warmed up to you in time makes me feel better. And also that she’s clumsy, maybe it’s just that breed of duck because our Rouen ducklings were jumping up on to our legs and off steadily at this age and the WH are definitely not as graceful! But again thank you for your reply and experience!

 

[Quackattack717]

View attachment 1947815 You need to go to TSC and buy liquid B Complex and start giving them all ducklings need the extra niacin and the total bs are the best. It will say injectable but just give it oral over a tasty treat. 1 ml for each duckling 1x a day.

Sounds good! I will pick some up tonight hopefully since we need feed for everyone too! Are you saying I need to give this to them because of their clumsiness or do you think it will help with the possible other issues going on with them? Our Rouens were so easy to raise, only sneezed once and it was because she needed to clean her nose out. Guess next time we get ducklings we know that summer months are the best time to get them! Lesson learned!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Unless your seeing drainage it could be dust or dust from feed. Are they acting sick? Do they eat good? Run around acting like nuts? Clumsiness could def be a niacin deficiency but even if not it always pays to give them the bs it helps with neurological and supports leg strength.

 

[Quackattack717]

Unless your seeing drainage it could be dust or dust from feed. Are they acting sick? Do they eat good? Run around acting like nuts? Clumsiness could def be a niacin deficiency but even if not it always pays to give them the bs it helps with neurological and supports leg strength.

I would say they’re acting okay. I haven’t really seen any drainage since a few weekends ago when I first posted about it. They’re definitely different from my first ducklings I raised and I’m trying not to compare them because they’re kinda like kids in that your second one isn’t going to be the same as your first was. They are little pigs and act starving whenever it’s time to be fed. They run around and have a blast swimming. They preen themselves. And are growing like weeds.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Sounds like you just need to address their legs then. Do you keep feed out for them 24/7 until at least 5 weeks you should.

 

[Quackattack717]

Sounds like you just need to address their legs then. Do you keep feed out for them 24/7 until at least 5 weeks you should.

Yes. I fill their food bowl up in the A.M. before I leave for work and give them fresh water. Then my husband checks on them when he gets home and will give them more if they are out, and then when we do our farm chores around 6ish they get fresh water and their bowl filled up before bedtime. I’m not going to say they don’t run out of food during the day, they even eat a lot of food during the night. But they get their bowl filled whenever we are home to fill it!

My husband said our tractor supply didn’t have the stuff you told me to get. We’ll check again this weekend. I’ve seen things about brewers yeast, is that something we could use?

 

[Miss Lydia]

Nutritional yeast is much better than brewers yeast but it would be best to get them on the liquid first then around -10-12 weeks start the Nutritional yeast. Liquid b complex might be In the cattle section.