Thread formerly known as Hatch day is today

[Kevin565]

Good morning everybody
GUESS WHAT!!! I woke up this morning to find a HUGE pip on my Indian Runner duck egg! I am so excited! I heard him peep yesterday as well

I can't wait for my little baby!

Sadly the only other Indian Runner duck egg looks to have a late dead baby

All of the veins have disappeared, there is no movement whatsoever and he looks to be much to small for 26 days along.... I can see right through parts of the egg It's not looking good for him.

On a different note the Muscovy duckies are doing great! They are due to hatch in about 10 days

I am really sorry to hear that so many people are having bad hatches My regards and I hope everything turns out well

Happy Hatching Everybody!

. Sorry to hear about the other baby

 

[BirdyGirl7198]

Thanks He/she is in a better place now

 

[dominicsaturday]

How do I fix curled toes?

He is about 24 hours old now, so I don't know if I should put them in water yet.

The ones who are the weakest right now: first duck to hatch and last duck to hatch

Everyone in between is happy and healthy.

Even the duckling with the messed up foot/leg is lively in spirit. He is just as strong, if not stronger than some of the others in his upper body. Just his tiny legs are a little goofy.

I have them sipping on vitamins.

On a side note, some of the ones who are 2 and a half days old now are starting to eat the duck starter that I offered them. I added a little brewers yeast for niacin. Anything else I should know about?

 

[ChristineR]

Are you my mother?!

My golden retriever helping out with the ducklings. She was so excited haha.

My Golden is very sweet with the ducks/chickens, too.

UHGGGGG!!!!!
I have lost another junior duck to another nuiological problem. They just keep kicking their legs and are swinging thier neck backward. Their eyes are rolled backwards too. They are mixed in with my layers but I do mix the layer ration with Gamebird Breeder Ration at about 50/50. They also get total free range and 2 cups of whole oats spread between 17 ducks. When I picked it up it was just skin and bone. I always put electolytes and vitamins in the water once a day (in the morning then I change the water again for the night.). Please help I just don't know what to do!!!!

I had this happen with a Pekin duckling once. It looked like he was having seizures. I took him to the vet to get a vitamin shot and that was the end of his problems. Not sure if it's the same thing, but you might take a look at the vitamin profile of what you're feeding and see if it's correct for ducks.

I went to TSC and got the vitamins for the duckies.

The second to last guy born has some serious issues/deformities with his feet

He is lively and has such a sweet demeanor but his lower half is very weak/not developed.

His one leg is a little bigger than the other, it sticks out to the side. I used some medical tape to move the two back towards each other. He is laying with the group now and pecking away, but he also appears to be a little smaller than the rest of them.

11 ducklings are out and alive. I am happy they all hatched, but has anyone else ever experienced deformities/developmental issues at birth? This makes me so sad

I had a duckling hatch like that. It was one that I had to help out of her shell. I didn't think she was going to make it. What helped her the most was swimming. I let her start swimming in the bathtub (supervised, of course) when she was a day old. Within a few days, her legs and feet were way stronger. You can't even tell now (at 4 months) that she ever had a problem.

Its so sad for me to watch. His one leg like sticks backward and out to the side and his webbed foot is curled up.

This is exactly what mine looked like. Try the swimming exercise. I'd probably give him a buddy to swim with, too, so he doesn't freak out about being alone.

How do I fix curled toes?

He is about 24 hours old now, so I don't know if I should put them in water yet.

I would. I let mine start swimming and it seemed to help strengthen her a lot. Just make sure she gets dry enough before you put her back in with the others.

 

[Kevin565]

If your birds has slipped tendon this is one method to help it:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/189635/how-to-fix-a-slipped-tendon


Crooked toes:

I use the band aid method but here is another method:

http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/02/spraddle-leg-in-baby-chicks-what-is-it.html

 

[Kevin565]

Just finished wrapping all the goslings wings. I have the scratches to prove it

. This is exactly why I prefer raising all of my birds myself.

 

[Kevin565]

One of the goslings got the wing wrap off

. I hate dealing with angel wing

 

[Triplell]

Hi Kevin,
Yes they do carry then crested gene but only out of my blue Bob and not my green Gene. These 10 ducklings were out of green Gene. I have never had any crest's out of him. Out of 10 ducklings I only have 6 left and thank goodness I seem to only have lost boys but I think one was a girl, not sure. I have decided to put them in with the drakes so they can only have the gamebird breeder feed. Other wise I was feeding layer crumbles mixed in with 1/4 of the gb breeder feed. I have also changed my waters so that I can put the electrolytes and vitamins in the water. Thanks for responding

 

[Kevin565]

Sounds like your doing everything possible for your babies. Hope everyone else is going to be okay

 

[dominicsaturday]

I'm not sure if two of my ducklings are going to be okay.

The first and last born ducklings are both very weak. Even the ducklings with foot deformities are more lively than them.

They basically just lay with their heads down most of the time and don't have the energy. I pick them up and hold them by the drinker that is filled with vitamin water and they do drink a few sips here and there.

The thing that worries me most, is that it is now going to be almost 2 and a half days and the duckling that was born first still has no desire to eat. Honestly, even if he could, he is too weak to eat. I have the vitamin supplement in liquid form so I had my dad hold his beak open and I dripped a very tiny little drop into his mouth. He swallowed it, but still continues to rest.

His feet are somewhat smaller than all of the others. They are lively and play, while he just doesn't have the energy.

I feel like I'm doing everything in my power to help him, but maybe in a way I am just prolonging the inevitable? It's a gloomy thought to think about and it makes me sick to my stomach. I should really be more used to it living on a farm for 18 years, but I just have a really strong bond with these 11 ducklings seeing as I had to rescue them when they were still eggs.

Anything else I can do?!

-Dominic