Re: Failing duck hatchling

On May 27, 2:34 am, Grizzly <N...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
diddy wrote:
in threadnews:Xns993CD472BBF75danny@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx:diddy
<d...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> whittled the following words:

One of my newborns (2 days) got tangled in a fence. He spent the night
struggling, and fighting, and this morning, we extracted him and he
was weak. It's been a hot day and he's dehyrated, and has not sought
food like the other ducklings and is fading away. What can I give him
before it's too late?

Never mind, It's too late

Hindsight is 20/20 and with any bird, usually by the time they show that
they are failing healthwise it is too late to save them. They are prey
animals and they will perk up just to show the nearbye predator (you)
that they are not easy pickings. Sorry for your loss.

Hi!
I've had good success with using cattle vitamins or dog/cat vitamins
diluted in warm water. If using a dog/cat tablet, use 1/4 tablet to
about a cup of water and feed by dropper a few drops at time, but
often. Nearly dead babies have been found perky and bright the next
morning. Cattle vitamins need math and much dilution in order to not
overdose.
This all asumes that the duckling is brought indoors, kept warm, dry,
quiet and safe while it recuperates.
Don't know exactly why it works (though I have a few ideas) but when I
tried it several times out of desperation, it did work. It's now
standard operation for weak birds on our farm.
Best of luck!

Kathleen
Straw Barry Fields Farm
Beefalo
Kentucky, USA

.