Ughhhh winter loss !!!!

[poultrykeeper08]

This is my first winter with exotic ducks . I must be doing somthing wrong becasue already i have lost 6 ducks
about $300 dollars worth . I know $300 isnt that much money but it just sucks . I had to travle 4 hours total to get them , have some of them shipped in and then to keep them all spring summer and build them a good sized pen and then have them die , Its a sucky situation

i lost my
- pair of ring teal
- chiloe widgeon female
- white mandarin hen
- Apricot wood duck male
- mandarin male

Before they died it seems like they were fine i seen them eating and drinking fine . The all would fly up to my loft and sleep in the hay
When i found them they were very skinny like they werent getting anything from thier food . They get game bird crumbles and layer pellets

 

[justusnak]

Hmm, tha does sound odd. First let me say....$300 IS a lot of money! and...I am so sorry for your losses! Might they need worming? Should get a fecal float done, just to make sure. Hope you dont lose any more.

 

[Dances with Ducks]

Wow they do sound exotic, not your usual domestic ducks. I'm sorry, that's hard to loose them.

How do the rest of them look? Maybe you should post in the emergencies/illnesses section to get more feedback.

Here's a random guess, I'm curious if they were given medicated feed, as chicks or adults? Just wondering as I hear it compromises their immune system.

.

 

[flyingmonkeypoop]

Thats too bad. I thought I was the only one with bad luck when it came to exotics.

So far I lost
2 silver pheasant hens
1 lady amherst cockerel
1 lady amherst hen
1 golden cockerel
1 bahama pintail
1 silver bahama pintail

My losses have been mostly to predators, either an owl or an eagle. The one that died of being to cold was the golden cockerel and he was always alittle odd to begin with. The bahamas were all there the other day then something got a silver hen and must have gotten the pintails. I know the normal bahama pintail was a drake because the one left has a pink band. I am not sure what the sex of the silver was, I never noticed a difference in them.

My chiloe widgeons love the snow, they are like little plows when there is fresh snow.
What is your setup like? Do you have snow and freezing weather? If so do you have a heater for their water supply? I have rubber livestock tubs that I dump and refill a few times a day. Ever since it started getting cold out I add scratch to their feed, about 1/4 of their feed is scratch because as most people know corn makes them fat. How many birds do you have in the pen? There could be too many birds eating in the same spot at the same time. To solve that I feed my birds in a few areas so they are all spaced out and there is no fighting for feed.

 

[poultrykeeper08]

Yes they have heated waterbowls

Oh i have lost pheasants too !! about 10 yellow goldens.red goldens

I dunno if its because the old owners had different setups . They lived out in open pens with covered roof . No shelters mostly like living in the wild .


Here they have a pen that is connected to my barn and every night they are locked up in the barn . WE have freezing rain ,snow , freezing wind

i keep them in sometimes if the weather is really bad .

 

[flyingmonkeypoop]

Thats odd that they are just dropping off like that. I keep mine in an open pen with little huts for shelter. When it gets too cold the birds go into the heated shed.
I dont know if its possible but could they have had worms?