Week and a half old sick duckling

[Zarumley]

I have a ducking that is a week and a half old. He just started bobbing his head, not walking, and is super nervous and on edge. He won’t eat or drink anything. Do you have any idea what could be wrong?

 

[HalfWayUpAMountain]

Hello there and I am sorry your duckling is poorly.

Could you share what you your baby has been eating and drinking - and what are the poo's looking like ?

I would get some some niacin (ground up b complex tablet is fine - hello coffee grinder !) and add it to water with honey.

Dip the tip of duckies bill in there every hour and make sure they stay warm enough. x

 

[Zarumley]

Has been eating chick starter crumble, rolled oats, brewers yeast, and has been outside once or twice to play in the grass. Poos have looked pretty normal to me (although I’m a first time duck owner).

will brewers yeast and honey/water be ok?

 

[Zarumley]

His head leans forward like he has little control of movement of his head

 

[HalfWayUpAMountain]

Sounds like they are struggling - it could be lots of different things. I think I would be tempted to put them in a brooder, keep their environmental temp steady, go with the sugar/BY water and see how they go.

It could be dehydration which would get sorted pretty quickly, or something else - getting them to drink something is super important but I would do that by bill dipping rather than a dropper in case they inhale the water into their lungs.

I am hoping others more knowledgeable than me will be along soon to help you and your little one.

@Isaac 0

@Miss Lydia

Good luck !

 

[Miss Lydia]

Can you post a picture or a video of your duckling? How many do you have and is this one the only one with an issue? to post a video you have to first put it on vimeo or you tube then copy and paste here.

 

[Zarumley]

It’s 1 out of 5 ducklings. I tried taking a video but his symptoms don’t seem to be coming through on video. He has perked up a little since eating, I don’t know what would have caused his to not want to eat the past while but we did recently change their food from baby mash to dry which he seemed to not enjoy as much as the others but when we gave him wet food he was crazy eating it up(only out of a spoon though wouldn’t move his neck to eat) his poop seem to be very little and white in color it’s been a tan color same as their mash.

 

[Zarumley]

Sounds like they are struggling - it could be lots of different things. I think I would be tempted to put them in a brooder, keep their environmental temp steady, go with the sugar/BY water and see how they go.

It could be dehydration which would get sorted pretty quickly, or something else - getting them to drink something is super important but I would do that by bill dipping rather than a dropper in case they inhale the water into their lungs.

I am hoping others more knowledgeable than me will be along soon to help you and your little one.

@Isaac 0

@Miss Lydia

Good luck !

Thank you I really appreciate your help! I love these sweet babies so much.

 

[Miss Lydia]

They have plenty of water. What kind of waterer are you using? Always they need to be able to dunk their heads and they need a lot of water to be able to eat properly.

 

[Isaac 0]

Do you have a food scale you can weigh her on? If so I'd start tracking her weight to see how much it's gaining, if she isn't gaining much I think a vet would be your best bet.