Need Help — duck abandoning eggs after 28 days. The ducklings are about to hatch!

[Miss Lydia]

It is funny, if I start the shower they all stand up together and face the
water. it's so cute, My Muscovy don't like to be sprayed.

It's always those funny times when we don't have our phones.

 

[Galaxyfalcon]

Our ducks never seemed to like being sprayed directly (except one, she likes to take baths in the rain so she seems to like it) but everyone else loves to play in the sprinkler. On some of the warm days we've been turning the sprinkler on and they take turns running in and biting at the water!

 

[Emily_loveschickens]

How are they doing?

 

[Galaxyfalcon]

How are they doing?

They're doing good! We were pretty worried with the heat wave that came through, it got up to about 117 here and was over 110 for 5 days, so we were freezing ice in old juice jugs and putting it in their drinking water, and we set up a mister and put it in the duck run for everyone during the day to help drop temperatures.

The batch are turning 4 weeks old! They're entering the gangly duckling teen phase and their little voices are all starting to turn. We're hoping 5 & 6 are both girls; we'd like to keep 1 or 2 girls and the rest are going down to my in-laws pond once they're old enough (which is actually where our original 2 girls came from).

Only thing I'm concerned about right now is that I've seen them with shaky or wobbly legs a few times. I've had a duck with niacin deficiency before and this doesn't quite look like that, this looks like they're just wobbling. They've been getting brewer's yeast since they were babies and we had been putting some nutri-drench and vitamin b complex in the drinking water for the first couple of weeks, but once they were older and the heat wave hit it was a bit harder to control which water supply they were drinking from—so I'm not sure they've been getting all their vitamins. I have a multi-vitamin (poultry booster) I'm starting to add to their dry food just to make sure it's not a vitamin issue. Not sure what else it could be or if I'm overreacting but if it's an issue I'd prefer to nip it early.

#5 is doing good, the eye is still squinty but he seems to see just fine. We were worried he would be blind but it seems okay so far.

#6 is a sweetheart and will come and cuddle even in the heat.

Everyone else is very friendly, although our Rouen (their dad) has been bullying them a bit if he gets too close. He doesn't know they're his babies!

Here's the gang getting water. They kid the kiddie pool dirty so quick.



#6 in front! #8 in back has figured out how to jump and grab willow tree leaves.


#3 front and center with #5 off to the right here.


Here's #2!



and the babies 10 & 11:

 

[Miss Lydia]

Oh my gosh look how big and beautiful.
Brewers yeast really isn't worth the money since it doesn't have near the niacin growing ducklings need.
Shaky leg syndrome is part of niacin deficinecy,
Start them on some Liquid B complex.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/niacin-deficiency-in-waterfowl.1367557/ gives you info on how to dose and what to get.

 

[Emily_loveschickens]

So cute! glad they are doing well!

 

[KaleIAm]

They are adorable!! I'm so happy to hear they did ok during the heat. Mine were not happy with it, but they also did ok. I tried misting them with cool water from a squirt bottle but they walked away all offended everytime. What kind of mister did you get? I feel like I'm going to need to prepare for more hot days this year!

 

[Galaxyfalcon]

Oh my gosh look how big and beautiful.
Brewers yeast really isn't worth the money since it doesn't have near the niacin growing ducklings need.
Shaky leg syndrome is part of niacin deficinecy,
Start them on some Liquid B complex.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/niacin-deficiency-in-waterfowl.1367557/ gives you info on how to dose and what to get.

I bought a huge thing of brewers yeast with garlic a while back so I've just been using that as a supplement for some time now (mostly for the adults). For the ducklings, we were adding vitamin-b complex to their drinking water + the brewers yeast in the food. It seemed to be fine for a while but now that the requirements are larger and they have access to more water sources, I think they're getting less of it from their main water source (which is where the B complex is placed). I recently picked up some poultry booster vitamins and have been adding that to the feed now too.

I've only had to treat niacin deficiency in our Pekin before this and it was easier to micro-manage the doses for him. I'm wondering if a good idea might to make some "snack bowls" with lettuce, peas, and meals worms and let some b-complex soak in? Our Pekin HATED the taste. One time he even threw up. We had been soaking meal worms in the complex and feeding them to him, and for a few weeks after that he didn't even want any meal worms! Poor guy. We got him fixed up though.

They are adorable!! I'm so happy to hear they did ok during the heat. Mine were not happy with it, but they also did ok. I tried misting them with cool water from a squirt bottle but they walked away all offended everytime. What kind of mister did you get? I feel like I'm going to need to prepare for more hot days this year!

It was a really impromptu solution! We just had a garden spray nozzle with multiple spray settings, and we set it to the "mist" setting and then fixed it along the side of the duck run aimed over their pea gravel area. Our adult ducks don't really like to be sprayed either, but if we leave something set up like the mister or sprinkler (especially the sprinkler) they'll wander over eventually and start playing in it!

 

[Miss Lydia]

That is one way to try and get the B complex in them is using treats. My ducks are such pigs they would eat anything with B complex on it.

 

[KaleIAm]

It was a really impromptu solution! We just had a garden spray nozzle with multiple spray settings, and we set it to the "mist" setting and then fixed it along the side of the duck run aimed over their pea gravel area. Our adult ducks don't really like to be sprayed either, but if we leave something set up like the mister or sprinkler (especially the sprinkler) they'll wander over eventually and start playing in it!

Thanks! I'll try that! I have a garden hose with a very fine mist setting. If nothing else they'll love the puddles that'll accumulate. :-D