I have ducklings. pl let me know what they eat. No pellets pl. veggies? seeds? fruits?Care needed for them?

Question

I am not too sure how old they r. I got them about two weeks back. Out of six 4 have already dies, tho i tried to keep them safe. I am giving therm semi cooked rice twice a day. I also have a pair of ducks.

Answer 1

First, get the surviving ducklings to the vet in the morning to make sure that you didn't do permanent damage from malnutrition.

Next, stop at the feed store on the way home. Purchase the feed in the following article and read the whole website. I provided you with the link.

Lastly, do not get animals until you know how to properly care for them. I think you have now learned the reason why. It is just sad that the ducklings had to die for your lack of knowledge.


Feed and Water
Water
A constant supply of fresh water is necessary to ducklings and goslings. For the first week, a chick waterer will work well. After that they get too large to submerge their heads and clean their faces in the water. All waterfowl need to be able to do this. But you can't just give them a bowl of water. There are two problems with this. First, you don't want them walking in their drinking water or leaving droppings in it. Second, if they stay wet, they'll catch cold and could die of it.

You may have to be inventive to figure out how to put together a waterer that lets older ducklings and goslings submerge their heads, but not get in it or tip it over. (If it tips over you will have a mess of wet litter and chilled babies.) Commercial brooders for waterfowl have a water trough outside of the brooding area which the youngsters reach by sticking their heads between wire bars. These bars are adjustable to allow for growth. One home-style method to take a flat pan and get some wire that the birds can reach through. You bend the wire into a cylinder that just fits in the pan and attach it so that the youngsters can't move it. This creates a small "pond" that they can't get in, but they can reach their heads into it. A heavy rock in the center will keep it from tipping over.

Just remember that the nature of waterfowl is to play in the water, and as the surrogate parent, you have to control this for the first few weeks. And be aware that you'll go through lots of soggy cardboard boxes, even with the best watering situations.

Swimming: A mother duck or goose knows just how long to let her kids swim and when to take them out of the water and warm them and let them dry. But we don't really know this. If you really want to see them swimming, set up a "swimming hole" away from their brooder in a warm place and let them swim, always supervised, for a short time daily. (Be very sure there is a ramp with good traction so they can easily get out of the water or they may tire and drown.) Then dry them and return them to a warm and draft-free brooder. You can start doing this after they're a couple days old. It's best if the water is room temperature while they're little.

Feed

Waterfowl often fill their mouths with feed and then hurry to the waterer to get a big drink and wash it down. Therefore, you don't want the water too far from the feeder, or they'll drop all the feed on their way there. Also you don't want it too close as you want to prevent the feed from getting too wet and developing molds (which can kill). Try to set your feeder up in a way that the youngsters can't climb into it, either.
Feed should be available at all times. I never feed mash to young waterfowl. I use crumbles or pelleted feeds. You may be lucky and have a supplier available who can get you a duck starter feed. Otherwise, David Holderread, probably the foremost waterfowl guy in the US, recommends using broiler starter or a 50/50 mix of chick starter and turkey/game starter. It is good to supplement the diet of goslings with fresh grass clippings or lettuce (and great if you can give them a short run daily--if it's warm out--to pick their own). If they get greens they should have grit available.
Warning: Never give young waterfowl medicated chick feed. Ducklings are voracious eaters and can overdose themselves and die from a medication that is correctly proportioned for chickens.

Answer 2

FYI. Rice kills birds (it can expand in the gullet and rupture the birds stomache, and even if that doesn't happen it can ferment and cause sour stomache which is also lethal). Please cease feeding rice immediately. I raise ducks, and I'm a bit appalled. However, you seem to want to do the right thing, Sooo...

Are they standard white ducks or muscovies? I've noticed a LOT of people trying to take in muscovy ducklings, and these babies need special care. So, first things, if it's a muscovy baby, get them some game bird starter crumbles. If it's a standard white, get it some duck starter crumbles.

They need to be kept warm, so get a heat lamp and make sure that their area is kept at around 80 degrees, decreasing the temp by five degrees per week. Make sure they have a small box in the pen that they can hide in for shade if they get too warm. A shoe box with one side cut out works wonders.

Get a bird waterer. This is a small tray with a snap on top with holes in it. The beaks fit into the holes, but the birds can't get into it and defacate. All baby ducks need LOTS of water. It costs about three dollars for the waterer. The heater costs about ten. The feed costs about fifteen. For an investment of only thirty dollars, you get to be the proud owner of two happy healthy baby ducks.

Otherwise, see if someone else wants them.

When you get the heater, make sure to keep it far enough away from the babies that you don't Cook Them.

Good luck, and I hope the best for you and the babies.

Answer 3

You have to give them special duck food which are little pellets. It's a must. They may be dying because rice doesn't have the nutrion they need as growing ducklings! Also, make sure they are warm enough by keeping a heat lamp above them but not too close as to "bake" them. You could take them to a vet also that sees farm animals, they'd be able to determine age and make sure they don't have any diseases. You could also contact someone who raises ducks! If they're wild ducklings, contact a wildlife specialist.

Answer 4

They should have nothing except duckling feed, or NON-MEDICATED chick feed until they are six weeks old. You'll know they are old enough to switch to an adult feed when they are fully feathered. They need fresh water constantly, they can't eat without it and they dehydrate very quickly. You can also supplement their diet with fresh greens, corn, oats, and when they're old enough table scraps. Rice is a very poor diet for the ducklings, they are going to die of malnutrition if you keep this up. Next time do a bit of research before getting new pets.

Answer 5

I had chickens and ducks. I fed lay pellets or scratch. You can get that at a local feed store. I think the rice is a bad idea because when they drink water, rice absorbs it and gets bigger and may have killed the others. Until you get them proper feed, they can eat lettuce, small bits of bread or crackers too.

Answer 6

I had baby ducklings and they can eat scratch or feed that you can buy in a store. If you let them run around your yard then they will eat insects, moss, and other things they find around the yard, so you don't really need to feed them as much.

Answer 7

Give them some worms! wal-mart sells them in their sporting goods dept. They need the protein! Then give them fine ground corn and mixed salad greens, 7 grain bread soaked in water.

Stop giving them semi-cooked rice! It has no nutritional value for them! They're babies and need substance. Pet stores sell a mixture that is for baby birds. You really need to feed these last 2 before they succumb to starvation also! First thing in the morning you need to call a vet.

Answer 8

ducklings need to be kept warm, preferably aove 80 degrees, and fed duckling mash, i fed my ducklings zupreem cockatile food with water until it was mushy, it gives them a full brown dropping, and they drink out of a water bottle, no baths (standing room only) until they have real feathers instead of down

in a month you can switch them to duck pellets, cracked corn and if they are outside, grit. and they can have access to a bath 12+ inches

Answer 9

given them cracked corn...or chicken scratch. Go to your nearest feed store they will help. Keep them warm at night under a light bulb if possible and plenty of fresh clean water... good luck. Duck meat is very tasty...yum, yum....

Answer 10

should have opened a book before you got them idiot
by the way the eat duck pellets