Hey everybody. last week a tree was cut down, and about 12 duck eggs fell out. I only could save one, and he just hatched this morning about 8 hours ago. he is fully out of the egg but now he is laying on his back and is attached by a slimy area to the eggshell. I'm guessing the umbilical cord. right now he is in a very moist incubator. Am i doing right??
What should i do>???
Thanks!
Hi, I would turn the moisture down a little and hopefully by morning he will have absorbed the yolk sac.
If you haven't kept ducks before please do lots of reading on here and other sites to see how to care for ducklings.
You can use the search box at the top where there are many posts on everything you will need to know.
Have you got chick crumb ready and a brooder to keep him warm?
Sarah
He was in the very moist bator for about 8 hours. Now i have him on a towel with a heating lamp above him running at about 97 degrees. I'm gonna drop the temp a little bit. He is very tired now and is sleeping. He tried walking and didn't have luck about 20 mins ago. he has preened himself for the most part, so i'm gonna let him rest for now. he's in the open air now, and he still has the umbilical looking thing connected to the shell. Hopefully the dry air will help to get rid of it.
I'm going to get chick crumb tomorrow.
Is there anything else i should do while waiting to see if he'll make it??
Thanks a bunch!
Hello Badoodle,
As Sarah has said, check out the many posts on here which have answers to just about everything to do with hatching and caring for ducklings, and more.
I'm not sure where you are, but most that post on here are in the UK and other parts and may be sleeping at this hour.
I don't have my own ducks, just love and feed the visitors that come in my yard daily - a mix of wild mallards and assorted farm ducks. But one thing I've seen written here when caring for newly hatched ducklings that are weak is to give them cooled boiled sugar water to give them a boost. I hope that helps until someone else can give you more advice.
Blessings,
Dottie
Things are looking much better! The slimy stuff has mostly dried up and I feel like it will fall off soon It's being held on by a very thin dried up piece.
He is having trouble standing and he can't really walk yet. He is drinking and eating. I'm currently feeding him crushed up, water soaked cat food and he seems to like it.
the temp in his brooder is about 93 degrees F. Is that good? or should it be different?
Thanks!
I've asked someone else for advice on the brooder.
Cat food has too much protein.
Can you get hold of the chick crumb asap as its vital it has the right foodstuffs if it's to survive. In the meantime, have you got plain cereals? ground up fine (barley, wheat, oats) and mix that with water and any little insects you can lay your hands on, which is their staple diet in the wild. Defrosted peas chopped fine and any green leafy veggies chooped no bigger than 5ml. The duckling will need water to drink next to the food and you could add a little sugar to the water just for today for energy.
It won't be waterproof for swimming until about a week old. so drinking water only.
Sarah
theres some good information in this link
http://www.duckhealth.com/housmngt.html
Hi Badoodle,
I fed my khaki campbell ducklings waterfowl chick crumbs upto 6 weeks of age then I have been feeding them a growers pellet. If you go to your local farm store they will be able to advise you.
If the duckling is moving away from the heat lamp, is laying dow alot and panting then the temp is prob too high, if the duckling is huddled under the heat lamp then too low a temp. moving around and sitting in different places usually means the temp is right. the link that Mo gave says, The duckling will need a temperature in the brooder of about 86 degree fahrenheit day one and then by day 7 about 81 degrees.
Once your duckling is dried out and strong enough it won't rely on the heat lamp like other birds such as guinea fowl.
Good luck with your duckling.
Kind regards
Sara @ farmingfriends
my ducklings were under a heat lamp when i got them at one week old and were kept under it for quite a few weeks over night but with the space to move out from under it if they wanted to, another thing some people do is give a lone duckling a childs furry toy to cuddle up with for extra warmth
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