Day old Duckling not eating / drinking

[Lowerbarn]

My duck finally hatched a duckling yesterday after much waiting and failed attempts over the previous days / weeks, she is still sat on 3 more eggs, but now has a day old duckling in there with her, i have a camera up in there and have been keeping a close eye on them and the duckling hasn't eaten or had anything to drink yet

I know that initially they are ok because they are still 'full' from what was in the egg with them etc, but it must have been 24+ hours now and showing no signs of wanting any food

The mother of course is doing nothing to promote eating as she is still sitting on the other eggs, but the ducking just sits with her and when i go in there she gets all protective and hisses at me and won't let me near

i have put some starter crumb down, also tried it wet, and there is water there too of course, and got it as close as possible, but i just wondered at what point do i need to step in and do something?

 

[BReeder!]

My duck finally hatched a duckling yesterday after much waiting and failed attempts over the previous days / weeks, she is still sat on 3 more eggs, but now has a day old duckling in there with her, i have a camera up in there and have been keeping a close eye on them and the duckling hasn't eaten or had anything to drink yet

I know that initially they are ok because they are still 'full' from what was in the egg with them etc, but it must have been 24+ hours now and showing no signs of wanting any food

The mother of course is doing nothing to promote eating as she is still sitting on the other eggs, but the ducking just sits with her and when i go in there she gets all protective and hisses at me and won't let me near

i have put some starter crumb down, also tried it wet, and there is water there too of course, and got it as close as possible, but i just wondered at what point do i need to step in and do something?

Mother knows best. Stay calm and let her do her thing. For 24 hours, the duckling may be sustained of they yolk sac still. Hatcheries ship day old ducklings all the time and they don't eat or drink for the first 24 hours while in shipping.

If you must do something, remove duckling from mother since mother duck is so aggressive. Then show the duckling the food and water by dipping it's beak into each. Be sure to use the same feeder waterer as you have in with mother duck so that duckling recognize them when you put her back.

Also, have you thought about just setting up a brooder? That way you could control the ducklings environment instead of relying on mother duck. Although, I can appreciate the natural brooding process too.

 

[Lowerbarn]

Mother knows best. Stay calm and let her do her thing. For 24 hours, the duckling may be sustained of they yolk sac still. Hatcheries ship day old ducklings all the time and they don't eat or drink for the first 24 hours while in shipping.

If you must do something, remove duckling from mother since mother duck is so aggressive. Then show the duckling the food and water by dipping it's beak into each. Be sure to use the same feeder waterer as you have in with mother duck so that duckling recognize them when you put her back.

Also, have you thought about just setting up a brooder? That way you could control the ducklings environment instead of relying on mother duck. Although, I can appreciate the natural brooding process too.

Yeh ideally we want it to all be natural, of course i will step in if i need to but want to leave it to her as much as possible

The duckling seems to be plenty happy enough, chirping and running around a little, so it seems ok at the moment

 

[Helloworld]

Your really good for 48 hrs. Put food and water close to mama, like 6-8 inches away so she can show it otherwise it will have to wait until all eggs are laid. Also, just in case dip its beak in water to help it get started.