Help! Ducklings dying suddenly

[wnhunter]

I am new to the forum, but not to poultry. Two weeks ago we received our first batch of ducklings for the year, 60 Grimaud Hybrid Pekins. After a couple losses the first day, and accounting for extras sent in the shipment, we had 60 vibrant ducklings growing wonderfully.

On Sunday morning (two days ago), there was a duckling suddenly dead. I figured it was just one of those things. Then yesterday (Monday) evening, there were two more, plus another two with difficulty walking. I separated those two for the night in a small box within the brooder. This morning one was dead, and the other had gotten out of the box, and there were another five ducklings dead.

Throughout the day today, they have just kept dying, seemingly preceded by lameness, then general immobility and floppy necks, though some have died in such a short time span that they either went through these symptoms really quickly (like, within an hour) or skipped them altogether. All told, we've lost 21 ducklings in the past 24-ish hours.

When I find lame birds, I've been separating them by putting them into a box (the box they shipped in from the hatchery) in the brooder. Some of these eventually jump out and run around normally, and some die. The first step of lameness seems to be walking back on their hocks, for what it's worth.

I can't for the life of me figure this out. It's as though a switch was flipped and the ducklings have gone from great to dead. The symptoms are somewhat similar to botulism poisoning, but in the bit of reading I've done most (if not all) cases come from birds outside, not birds in the brooder. There is nothing decomposing in their environment, anyway.

Their feed is a general-purpose poultry feed, custom-mixed by a local mill, consisting of corn, wheat, oats, sunflower seeds, alfalfa, and soybean meal, plus a poultry (laying hen) mineral mix. The mineral mix isn't ideal, but we used it last year with no problems. We then mix in nutritional yeast to up the niacin content. We thoroughly wet the feed, which as I understand can be a botulism concern, but we've been doing that for a couple years now without issue. In any case, the wetted (soaked, really) feed lasts for three days or so at this point, so it's not as though it's rotting.

Any thoughts?

 

[chickens really]

I am new to the forum, but not to poultry. Two weeks ago we received our first batch of ducklings for the year, 60 Grimaud Hybrid Pekins. After a couple losses the first day, and accounting for extras sent in the shipment, we had 60 vibrant ducklings growing wonderfully.

On Sunday morning (two days ago), there was a duckling suddenly dead. I figured it was just one of those things. Then yesterday (Monday) evening, there were two more, plus another two with difficulty walking. I separated those two for the night in a small box within the brooder. This morning one was dead, and the other had gotten out of the box, and there were another five ducklings dead.

Throughout the day today, they have just kept dying, seemingly preceded by lameness, then general immobility and floppy necks, though some have died in such a short time span that they either went through these symptoms really quickly (like, within an hour) or skipped them altogether. All told, we've lost 21 ducklings in the past 24-ish hours.

When I find lame birds, I've been separating them by putting them into a box (the box they shipped in from the hatchery) in the brooder. Some of these eventually jump out and run around normally, and some die. The first step of lameness seems to be walking back on their hocks, for what it's worth.

I can't for the life of me figure this out. It's as though a switch was flipped and the ducklings have gone from great to dead. The symptoms are somewhat similar to botulism poisoning, but in the bit of reading I've done most (if not all) cases come from birds outside, not birds in the brooder. There is nothing decomposing in their environment, anyway.

Their feed is a general-purpose poultry feed, custom-mixed by a local mill, consisting of corn, wheat, oats, sunflower seeds, alfalfa, and soybean meal, plus a poultry (laying hen) mineral mix. The mineral mix isn't ideal, but we used it last year with no problems. We then mix in nutritional yeast to up the niacin content. We thoroughly wet the feed, which as I understand can be a botulism concern, but we've been doing that for a couple years now without issue. In any case, the wetted (soaked, really) feed lasts for three days or so at this point, so it's not as though it's rotting.

Any thoughts?

Okay...Did you remove each individually from the box to hydrate each Duckling?.
Did you provide multiple deep Duckling sized water stations to accompany that many babies?...
Did you wet feed to a soupy mix so they could hydrate and feed.
Was the heat well enough to support them?
That all needs to be considered..

 

[chickens really]

I am new to the forum, but not to poultry. Two weeks ago we received our first batch of ducklings for the year, 60 Grimaud Hybrid Pekins. After a couple losses the first day, and accounting for extras sent in the shipment, we had 60 vibrant ducklings growing wonderfully.

On Sunday morning (two days ago), there was a duckling suddenly dead. I figured it was just one of those things. Then yesterday (Monday) evening, there were two more, plus another two with difficulty walking. I separated those two for the night in a small box within the brooder. This morning one was dead, and the other had gotten out of the box, and there were another five ducklings dead.

Throughout the day today, they have just kept dying, seemingly preceded by lameness, then general immobility and floppy necks, though some have died in such a short time span that they either went through these symptoms really quickly (like, within an hour) or skipped them altogether. All told, we've lost 21 ducklings in the past 24-ish hours.

When I find lame birds, I've been separating them by putting them into a box (the box they shipped in from the hatchery) in the brooder. Some of these eventually jump out and run around normally, and some die. The first step of lameness seems to be walking back on their hocks, for what it's worth.

I can't for the life of me figure this out. It's as though a switch was flipped and the ducklings have gone from great to dead. The symptoms are somewhat similar to botulism poisoning, but in the bit of reading I've done most (if not all) cases come from birds outside, not birds in the brooder. There is nothing decomposing in their environment, anyway.

Their feed is a general-purpose poultry feed, custom-mixed by a local mill, consisting of corn, wheat, oats, sunflower seeds, alfalfa, and soybean meal, plus a poultry (laying hen) mineral mix. The mineral mix isn't ideal, but we used it last year with no problems. We then mix in nutritional yeast to up the niacin content. We thoroughly wet the feed, which as I understand can be a botulism concern, but we've been doing that for a couple years now without issue. In any case, the wetted (soaked, really) feed lasts for three days or so at this point, so it's not as though it's rotting.

Any thoughts?

I have Many thoughts although not good ones...

 

[wnhunter]

The ones in the box that don't get out on their own I take to the waterer, though for the most part they aren't terribly interested. The waterer I use is plenty large for all the ducklings, and is refilled with fresh water as needed (before it goes dry). The feed is not fed as a soupy mix, but as a moist texture that clumps together but is still somewhat crumbly. The heat is sufficient, judging by the birds' behavior.

The long and short of it is that we are managing things like we always have, though things are going far from smoothly this time around.

 

[chickens really]

The ones in the box that don't get out on their own I take to the waterer, though for the most part they aren't terribly interested. The waterer I use is plenty large for all the ducklings, and is refilled with fresh water as needed (before it goes dry). The feed is not fed as a soupy mix, but as a moist texture that clumps together but is still somewhat crumbly. The heat is sufficient, judging by the birds' behavior.

The long and short of it is that we are managing things like we always have, though things are going far from smoothly this time around.

Obviously..Something is going wrong and quickly too..
Hmm?...Heat not correct? Congested quarters?...Feed gone sour...Most feeds spoil in 6 hours after water added...?

 

[wnhunter]

The brooder is approximately 4' x 6', plenty of space for 60 2-week-old ducklings (and more than plenty for the 35 or so left now). The feed isn't sour, or at least doesn't smell it. In any case, as I said before, we've done this in the past without issue, so I can't believe that feed or heat or space could be the problem. And the ducklings were vibrant and healthy and growing strongly until very suddenly; it's not as though they've been on the decline and have just now gone over the edge.

 

[chickens really]

The brooder is approximately 4' x 6', plenty of space for 60 2-week-old ducklings (and more than plenty for the 35 or so left now). The feed isn't sour, or at least doesn't smell it. In any case, as I said before, we've done this in the past without issue, so I can't believe that feed or heat or space could be the problem. And the ducklings were vibrant and healthy and growing strongly until very suddenly; it's not as though they've been on the decline and have just now gone over the edge.

That is not enough space for that many Ducklings...Not by far enough space..Over heating and dirty housing is what I'm thinking...

 

[chickens really]

I keep three adult Call Ducks in that same space that you mentioned and that's only their House to sleep in...60 Ducklings at two weeks old would die for sure...

 

[chickens really]

Your going to need to clean that area and move them to a bigger and cleaner place...Sorry but it's not enough space.
Can you post a picture of how the have been kept?..

 

[acceabex]

The brooder is approximately 4' x 6', plenty of space for 60 2-week-old ducklings (and more than plenty for the 35 or so left now). The feed isn't sour, or at least doesn't smell it. In any case, as I said before, we've done this in the past without issue, so I can't believe that feed or heat or space could be the problem. And the ducklings were vibrant and healthy and growing strongly until very suddenly; it's not as though they've been on the decline and have just now gone over the edge.

I totally respect that it's gone well in the past... But it's clearly not going well now.

I'm the absence of clear information suggesting an illness, etc, you're going to need to make some changes to work out what's going wrong. It's not enough to say it's always been ok so it should be ok. It's not ok.

1. You say the food is a custom mix, could it be contaminated?
2. How long is it wet? Mold can grow in a few hours. Ducklings are small. It doesn't take much mold.
3. How much water? Can they all drink on demand? Or is there only one dish they are crowding around?
4. Is the bedding wet? Could that be harboring a pathogen?
5. How cramped is it *really*? That's not much space for that many... And some is taken up with the shipping box triage, water, food... So it's really less space than you are thinking.

Just because you're doing the same stuff you've done before doesn't mean you're using the exact same bedding, exact same food, etc. Might be the same brand... But clearly something isn't working so you've got to start looking to find out what.