Ducklings Ill

[Anonymous]

Heya,
I've got three Khaki campbell ducklings, 2 of them are 4 weeks old and the other is only 3 weeks old, but all bought together.
In 2 or 3 days the two older ducks have been sprouting feathers, but have also developed a lack of appetite and unbalanced heavy walking, with really sticky outy, skinny hips.
At first i thought it was the food so i changed it from chick & duck crumbs(non-medicated)to growers pellet after they looked really poorly.
They started to look really healthy again and i was relieved. but this morning they were skinny and unbalanced again. one of the older ones has a really fluffy head, not sure if this is related to the problem or if this is normal for a feathering duckling?

I'm a first time duck keeper and wondering if this behaviour is normal for growing ducks of this age, or if this is an obvious problem people have?

Thanks in advance,
Jacob

 

[dorsetduckowner]

Could you post a picture, it is hard to know from the description....

 

[Anonymous]

some pictures. suppose it doesn't look too bad there. perhaps i'm overreacting.

 

[daniellesdogs]

their feathering and fluff looks fine to me. have they had any sun light mine always perk up going from under light to day light

 

[dorsetduckowner]

Head looks normal. Would need to see a picture of them standing to check the legs. Beautiful ducks!

 

[Anonymous]

both older ducks legs, standing on their own feet. with heavy stepping and often falling.

 

[dorsetduckowner]

What are you feeding them? Duck growers pellets?

He may have slightly weak legs. Do they get any sunlight?

They may need a niacin supplement.

may I suggest you phone these people, they are nutrition experts for poultry feed and you can tell them the ingrediants of the feed you are giving them and they can tell you if they are getting all they need.

They are really helpful:

http://www.smallholderfeed.co.uk/Need-Advice.aspx

This is perfect feed:

http://www.smallholderfeed.co.uk/Products/Poultry/Goose-and-Duck-Grower-and-Finisher-Pellets.aspx

Nutrition is the number 1 cause of developmental problems in ducklings and if not caught early can lead to huge problems when they are older.

Good luck!!!