They're here - now I have questions

[kwack]

Three ducks have hatched and are in the brooder and we're waiting for the other two to finish hatching. I'm so excited but now I can't help thinking I'm doing it wrong.

All I could find around me was purina chick starter/grower - unmedicated. Do I need to add brewer's yeast for niacin?
Do they need vit/min/probiotic additive for the water?

When will they drink and eat? If they don't figure it out within a certain time frame - then what?

Thanks for helping with my newbie questions.

 

[ChickenToes]

Starter/grower is fine. If you have brewer's yeast or niacin, go ahead and add it. I couldn't find brewer's yeast, so once a day I fed them a mixture of crushed Cheerios, chopped spinach, and yogurt.

They don't necessarily need vitamins or anything in the water. If you notice that they seem lethargic, then add it.

 

[Webfoot]

Dip their bills in the water. They'll figure it out quickly. The feed you have is fine. You can sprinkle a little brewer's yeast on it if you like, or just crumble up a niacin table and sprinkle a little in their water.

Webfoot

 

[kwack]

Great. Thanks. Duck owners on BYC are awesome.

So, when they've just hatched do they seem narcoleptic? Fall asleep instantaneously and look dead?

I keep staring at them to see if they're still breathing. How am I going to get any sleep?

Is it normal for them to pick at each other?

Thanks all.

 

[kwack]

Quote:
I'd eat the cheerios blend - yum!

 

[ChickenToes]

Quote:
I'd eat the cheerios blend - yum!

They gobble it right up. I also like to feed it to ducklings that seem sick or lethargic. When I got my ducklings last summer, one of my Khakis was a runt. I noticed that she kept falling over and wasn't eating anything, so I dipped her bill in a mixture of molasses and water to perk her up, then I fed her the yogurt mix twice a day. After a few days she was healthy as can be.

 

[goosedragon]

Quote:
What are your plans for these ducklings? If the weather is nice enough that you can get them outside on grass fairly soon (1 week) for even a short period each day they can get some niacin from the grass and shouldn't need brewer's yeast. If you are thinking of niacin from pills be very careful as niacin is toxic in an overdose.
They usually live off the yolk they absorbed shortly before hatch for 24-72 hours that is how they can be shipped through the mail without any feed or water. To get them started drinking dip their bill into the water so they know what it is and where to find it. provide feed over a wide area to start(I like to use pie plates so they climb right in and poop on the food) The purina start&grow should be fine. I like to clip up some grass or other tender green real fine and sprinkle it on the feed, others use finely chopped hard egg yolk, the color contrast causes them to start pecking away at it and get some feed at the same time. Once they have learned to eat the feed I move to more conventional feeders so that they can no longer poop on food.

~gd

 

[kwack]

Thanks Everyone,
As the sun was out today, I brought the kids out to play. They ttried to get some grass and chased a few spiders but I don't think anyone had any luck with either. After their little foray outside, they all sacked out.

I did dip all the beaks and they all got the hang of the water. I put the feed in an egg carton and spread some on a paper towel and they all figured that out pretty quickly. They don't climb on it too much so no poop yet.

We don't have any true farm supply stores nearby so I'm improvising with water and feed delivery. So far so good.

Lumber is on hand and with hardware cloth we'll have the house and run done up sometime in the near future. Hopefully before these guys get too odoriferous - they're in the dining room!

Pretty fun so far!