**Update** Duckling hatched with hernia

[casportpony]

I'm confused... did it absorb the yolk at all? If it didn't there would be about a tablespoon worth of yolk in the hatcher.

-Kathy

 

[JadeComputerGal]

I'm confused... did it absorb the yolk at all? If it didn't there would be about a tablespoon worth of yolk in the hatcher.

-Kathy

Not clear on just how much of it yet, Kathy. Possibly some, but it sounds like it was detached a good while before it was finished.

 

[casportpony]

Quote: They can live without the yolk, but would need to start drinking much sooner, of course. Has it pooped yet?

-Kathy

 

[LilyD]

That's probably quite a bit much. Do you mind saying what vitamins you're giving her? It's always tempting to think "more is better," but vitamins are easily toxic in high doses. Also, I remembered that I forgot to ask if you know what the temp an humidity are in the brooder.

I am using the polyvisol with no iron and giving a drop or two every 20 minutes. She wears much more than she gets but I am cutting back now that she is improving. My goal was to get her to the point where she was sitting on her bottom and was able to open her eyes and be awake. She is now doing that and napping in between so I haven't dosed her with vitamins and won't give her more for now unless I see her stop improving. She was attempting to eat earlier and I was assisting her with drinking.

Brooder temp is right around 95 give or take a degree or two. It's in my back room and it's in the 80's today so it's a little variable. Humidity is harder and closer to 50% since we are getting thunderstorms right now. Not much I can do about that since I can't make it stop raining.

 

[LilyD]

I'm confused... did it absorb the yolk at all? If it didn't there would be about a tablespoon worth of yolk in the hatcher.

-Kathy

The yolk sack that was remaining was about a quarter size when she broke it. She was in such a hurry to get out of the egg she didn't wait long enough. I am blaming the chickens for scaring the heck out of her and making the hole a bit bigger trying to get her out of the egg so they could eat her. If they hadn't she probably wouldn't have been able to get out as soon as she did. I did tie it off as soon as I realized she broke it and sprayed what was left with antibacterial spray. I will get some bacitracin in the morning only have alcohol and hydrogen peroxide and stuff with pain killers in it handy.

 

[LilyD]

They can live without the yolk, but would need to start drinking much sooner, of course. Has it pooped yet?

-Kathy

No poop yet but I will keep an eye out for it. She is now walking a bit rather than rolling to get where she wants to go although she walks kind of like lurch. It's more of a throwing herself forward at this time but even that's an improvement. She is also holding her head up and keeping her eyes open and I have seen some preening within the last hour so she is interested and more awake. She was pecking at food but I am not sure if she was actually getting any and I have been helping her drink some when I go in and check to make sure she gets at least some electrolytes. I did put food in the water to hopefully add some nutrients to the water as well.

 

[casportpony]

I'd concentrate on getting fluids into her until she poops. Once they poop I know that the intestines are working, then I offer food.

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

You ointment with pain killer, what pain killer is it?

-Kathy

 

[JadeComputerGal]

I am using the polyvisol with no iron and giving a drop or two every 20 minutes. She wears much more than she gets but I am cutting back now that she is improving. My goal was to get her to the point where she was sitting on her bottom and was able to open her eyes and be awake. She is now doing that and napping in between so I haven't dosed her with vitamins and won't give her more for now unless I see her stop improving. She was attempting to eat earlier and I was assisting her with drinking.

Brooder temp is right around 95 give or take a degree or two. It's in my back room and it's in the 80's today so it's a little variable. Humidity is harder and closer to 50% since we are getting thunderstorms right now. Not much I can do about that since I can't make it stop raining.

Good deal. The Polyvisol is better given roughly every 8 hours, one drop. It's much easier if one person holds her and the other does the drop. Have a dish of cool water right there to try to get her to drink. That helps make sure she swallows it. You don't want to give Polyvisol with other supplements like Nutri-Drench. Things that are specific to poultry are best because ratios differ between ducklings and human babies, but Polyvisol will work in a pinch. Excess vitamins can be toxic, and you won't always see the effect of that right away, especially with excess of vitamins that aren't water-soluble.

Humidity in the brooder is fine, and I'd try to get the temp down to 90F. You don't want hatching conditions in a brooder. High temps and humidity make the ducklings sluggish and can drastically increase the spread of some bacteria.

 

[JadeComputerGal]

The yolk sack that was remaining was about a quarter size when she broke it. She was in such a hurry to get out of the egg she didn't wait long enough. I am blaming the chickens for scaring the heck out of her and making the hole a bit bigger trying to get her out of the egg so they could eat her. If they hadn't she probably wouldn't have been able to get out as soon as she did. I did tie it off as soon as I realized she broke it and sprayed what was left with antibacterial spray. I will get some bacitracin in the morning only have alcohol and hydrogen peroxide and stuff with pain killers in it handy.

You never want to use anything with a human painkiller on ducks, but it sounds like that's not what you're doing. No alcohol on it. Ouch, ouch, ouch.