Rescued Ducklings

[MegaSquishy]

My husband and I have taken in 2 ducklings and a young chicken. The previous owner found them to be to much work and was horrible neglecting them. The smaller duckling is missing fuzz on it's neck and has dark patches around his eyes. Can anyone help with what this is? They said the ducklings are 3 weeks but one is half the size of the other. Is it a health thing or is it younger?
I've got an appointment with a local avion vet later this week. Should I be worried? Or can or wait a few days?
Thanks for any help, we are trying to do right by them.

 

[MegaSquishy]

They are some photos from there first day we had them and yesterday.

 

[Canadian Wind]

Hi, and ! Thank you for taking them in!

Geez, three weeks old? Didn't take long for them to decide they were 'too much work'. Grrr.

Can you post pictures, please? Different breeds of ducks will be different sizes as ducklings. Do you know what they are supposed to be?

First thing to do is to get _duckling_ food for them, as ducks require more niacin than chickens. If you can only find chick feed, then it will need to be supplemented with niacin.

Do you have any other poultry? I would be worried about the poor little chicken not having any same-species companions.

Oh, and make sure the ducklings have a water dish deep enough they can submerge their heads in. They need this to clear their nares (nostrils).

Any questions, don't hesitate to ask! We are a friendly bunch and are here to help. (I know I probably forgot a bunch of stuff, others will fill in what I forgot, lol!)

 

[Canadian Wind]

Ignore my request for photos.

 

[Canadian Wind]

The poor thing!!! Can you see any parasites on him that might have caused this??

 

[MegaSquishy]

Hi, and ! Thank you for taking them in!

Geez, three weeks old? Didn't take long for them to decide they were 'too much work'. Grrr.

Can you post pictures, please? Different breeds of ducks will be different sizes as ducklings. Do you know what they are supposed to be?

First thing to do is to get _duckling_ food for them, as ducks require more niacin than chickens. If you can only find chick feed, then it will need to be supplemented with niacin.

Do you have any other poultry? I would be worried about the poor little chicken not having any same-species companions.

Oh, and make sure the ducklings have a water dish deep enough they can submerge their heads in. They need this to clear their nares (nostrils).

Any questions, don't hesitate to ask! We are a friendly bunch and are here to help. (I know I probably forgot a bunch of stuff, others will fill in what I forgot, lol!)

Thank you so much for the advice. We've taken in rabbits, cats and dogs as rescues but these are the first birds. We've got a large dog crate set up with two water dishes that we've been taking in at night. They've got duck food, I hope this doesn't hurt the chicken. There is chicken feed on top of the box/ nest that only the chick goes on top of.
We have a contact that works at the ag school who will take them in when she gets back in two weeks. We have to survive until then. Any advise is welcome.

 

[MegaSquishy]

The poor thing!!! Can you see any parasites on him that might have caused this?

We can't see anything on him. And we've looked closely. They'll let us handle them without any problem.
They look much better than when we got them. They've been cleaning themselves and it had definitely helped with his eyes.
These are from the first day

 

[Canadian Wind]

The little one looks malnourished, for sure. See how huge his head is compared to his body? It's nice to see a nice full crop though. Finally getting some food in. This just breaks my heart, and the previous owners should be charged with animal cruelty, imo.

 

[CloneFly]

Welcome to the BYC! Thank you so much for taking them in. It's good to hear from other rescuers.

I would purchase some brewers yeast/nutritional yeast and mix it in with the ducklings food. Regular duck feed sometimes doesn't have enough niacin, so either of those will help.. it's safe for the chook as well! Are the ducklings walking normally? I would also clean the are around the eye to avoid any possible infections

 

[MegaSquishy]

As far as I know, they seem to be walking normally. The area around the little guy's eye is clean now, just seems to be an oil build up?
It's about 65F outside right now and I was worried the little one would be too cold. He's been cuddled up in my lap for the last 30 min. He seems content, happy to sit here but not sleeping. Should I get a heat lamp? I've got 2 indoor cats so that isn't really an option.