Hi I need some help from this community! For starters I’m sorry about how long this is, just trying to give all the information I can for help.
The Backstory:
So, around a week ago we got two ducklings (Tweety and Little Bit) that I believe are Pekins from what I’ve researched online. I love them so much already!! Tweety from what we can tell is almost 2 weeks and Little Bit around 1 week old. We got the ducklings from tractor supply after we went in for something unrelated and long story short, one of the employees told us if no one took home and rehabbed this one little duckling with a messed up foot (Little Bit) they’d have to kill him or her. We were told all he or she needed was some B12 vitamins crushed up on top of his or her food and that’d fix him up. We’ve never had ducks or chickens before so we have not the best idea of what we’re doing, but we are doing our best.
Now:
I am feeding them what they gave us which is, “Dumor poultry chick; 20% starter/ grower. 70% protein, non medicated and no added antibiotics, with probiotics” mixed with a bit of water because Little Bit seemed to be choking on it/ having a hard time getting it down. The older one (Tweety) is doing great so far, no problems there. Little Bit is doing better with his leg, he or she is using it more and was enjoying starting to splash around in shallow water that we set out sometimes. They live indoors, they go outside 1-2 times a day when it’s not freezing where I live. It has been for a few days now. I keep them warm and try to give a good temperature since the two ducks from what I read should be at different temperature stages.
The Problem:
So the problem is, about two days ago Little Bit started making a weird noise like he was trying to breathe out of a stuffy nose or something a lot and still is doing it now. This morning I woke up and checked on them like I always do and noticed some weird poop in their tote, it was black. I then cleaned out the tote like normal, added fresh dry bedding, new food and water, and their pool of lukewarm water to play in. I put down paper towels to see what the poop looked like against something white and to see if I could find out who is was coming from. They both ate and drank, I put them in their water so they’d start splashing/playing around. Tweety dipped his bill a bunch like he normally does and splashed around a bit. Little bit just sat in the water and drank some. I took away the water after a while so they could nap. When I came back a bit later I found out Little Bit was the one pooping the weird poop. I picked some of it up to look at it, the only way I can describe it is tarry and black. I will attach a picture. He is acting a little funny/ different, he keeps like bobbing his heard towards his belly/feet like he’s trying to dry off or get something off him, even though he’s not wet and there is nothing on him. He also, is missing a weird patch of feathers on the top of his head and no where else.
Please help me, I love them so much already and need them to be okay. Thank you.
The Backstory:
So, around a week ago we got two ducklings (Tweety and Little Bit) that I believe are Pekins from what I’ve researched online. I love them so much already!! Tweety from what we can tell is almost 2 weeks and Little Bit around 1 week old. We got the ducklings from tractor supply after we went in for something unrelated and long story short, one of the employees told us if no one took home and rehabbed this one little duckling with a messed up foot (Little Bit) they’d have to kill him or her. We were told all he or she needed was some B12 vitamins crushed up on top of his or her food and that’d fix him up. We’ve never had ducks or chickens before so we have not the best idea of what we’re doing, but we are doing our best.
Now:
I am feeding them what they gave us which is, “Dumor poultry chick; 20% starter/ grower. 70% protein, non medicated and no added antibiotics, with probiotics” mixed with a bit of water because Little Bit seemed to be choking on it/ having a hard time getting it down. The older one (Tweety) is doing great so far, no problems there. Little Bit is doing better with his leg, he or she is using it more and was enjoying starting to splash around in shallow water that we set out sometimes. They live indoors, they go outside 1-2 times a day when it’s not freezing where I live. It has been for a few days now. I keep them warm and try to give a good temperature since the two ducks from what I read should be at different temperature stages.
The Problem:
So the problem is, about two days ago Little Bit started making a weird noise like he was trying to breathe out of a stuffy nose or something a lot and still is doing it now. This morning I woke up and checked on them like I always do and noticed some weird poop in their tote, it was black. I then cleaned out the tote like normal, added fresh dry bedding, new food and water, and their pool of lukewarm water to play in. I put down paper towels to see what the poop looked like against something white and to see if I could find out who is was coming from. They both ate and drank, I put them in their water so they’d start splashing/playing around. Tweety dipped his bill a bunch like he normally does and splashed around a bit. Little bit just sat in the water and drank some. I took away the water after a while so they could nap. When I came back a bit later I found out Little Bit was the one pooping the weird poop. I picked some of it up to look at it, the only way I can describe it is tarry and black. I will attach a picture. He is acting a little funny/ different, he keeps like bobbing his heard towards his belly/feet like he’s trying to dry off or get something off him, even though he’s not wet and there is nothing on him. He also, is missing a weird patch of feathers on the top of his head and no where else.
Please help me, I love them so much already and need them to be okay. Thank you.
