Basic Waterfowl Intake & Care

Waterfowl Rehabilitation for Everyone

Basic Waterfowl

Intake & Care

Michele Goodman, CWR

WRAM 2010

Outline

•

Common Waterfowl Phone Calls

–

To admit or not to admit

•

Unique Rescue Strategies

•

Basic Identification

•

Intake and Stabilization

–

Be Prepared

–

Waterfowl Diet and Housing

Outline

Common Waterfowl Phone Calls

Common Phone Calls

– Injured orphans mustbe

admitted for care • Signs of injury include

bleeding, lameness or flies present

– Try to identify species over the

phone

• Have called take a picture with their camera phone

– Have caller contain the orphan

or orphans in secure

cardboard box on towel while they search for parent(s)

• Orphans will disappear if caller

doesn’t contain them

– Not all orphaned waterfowl

are candidates for fostering! • (even if you find their parents)

Common Phone Calls

• Orphaned Canada goslings:

– If the orphan is uninjured

and the family can be found (must confirm ID with caller… don’t trust that they can properly ID the bird), the gosling can be returned to the family

– The caller should be

instructed to wait and observe for at least 30 minutes to ensure that the gosling has been accepted

andthat it can keep up with the family

• If the gosling can’t keep up with the family, it will need to be admitted

If the caller identifies a family of geese that have goslings larger than the one they have found, they should not attempt to foster

Common Phone Calls

– Even if the duckling is uninjured

and an family can be found, the duckling should not be returned to the family as there is a good chance that it will be rejected by the adult

• Once the foster attempt is made, it is impossible to recapture them if they are rejected

• Mother ducks will not recognize their own duckling once they’ve been separated for even a short time

• Ducks will try to drown “foreign” ducklings

– Orphaned ducklings found without a parent should be contained in a cardboard box lined with a towel

• If a full clutch of ducklings is found, leave them in the box and give the mother an hour to return

• Keep in mind, that mother ducks will rarely desert their young

– Orphaned ducklings will have to be

Common Phone Calls

•

Injured adults:

–

Get as accurate of a description from the caller

as possible:

•

Species identification

•

Obvious injury

•

Description of the area (body of water, parking lot,

other birds on site, etc.)

–

At the end of breeding season, waterfowl go

through an “eclipse molt”, or flightless period

where it is normal for them to be grounded

–

If the caller has already caught the bird, then

it is definitely in need of help

Common Orphaned Phone Calls

• Ducklings in a Sewer

– Unless the drain pipe leads directly

out into a retention basin with no steps or ledges, these ducklings will die if not rescued

– The public should notbe encouraged

to go into a sewer

• Toxic fumes can be present • People can injure themselves (or get

covered in mud!)

– Recruit the fire department if

necessary

– Keep the family together if possible – Block off any pathways leading to

other pipes and try to trap them in a single section of pipe

– If the mother is around, try to capture her and reunite the family in an appropriate location

Common Orphaned Phone Calls

•

Ducklings in a Courtyard

–

Ideally, capture the mother and then round up

the babies

• Release the babies first and then let the hen out to meet

them

–

Sometimes, the whole family can be slowly

herded through the building and outside to

safety

–

As a last resort, capture the ducklings and move

them to the outside of the courtyard

• Leave them in a box until the hen locates them on the

outside of the courtyard; then they can be released

Common Orphaned Phone Calls

– If the mother is present, the

caller should be advised to encourage the ducklings out:

• Raise the water level in the pool • Configure pool flotation devices

or furniture in the pool to provide an exit ramp

• Do not provide food

– If the mother is not present, the

ducklings will have to be captured as quickly as possible and admitted

• The caller will have to get into

the pool and encourage them to one end where they can be caught with a net

• Watch out – they dive!

Most ducklings can’t jump out of a swimming pool unassisted. Take action quickly as ducklings can become hypothermic or drown

Outline

Rescue Tips and Phone Calls

Waterfowl Rescue Strategies

• Ducklings in the sewer: • Supplies:

– Cardboard to block off tunnels

– Flashlight

– Crowbar to pop grate (or chain to hook to your truck)

– Assorted nets with small mesh

– 2 or more people (have police help with grates and traffic)

• Techniques:

– Keep all ducklings together

– Use recorded calls or mom to lure them into opening

– Trap between 2 grates or trap in well • Don’t forget to look for mom and try to

catch her

– Always keep mom and babiesseparatein transport carrier

Waterfowl Rescue Strategies

-injured wing: • Supplies: – Kayak – Landing Net – 2 or more people • Techniques:

– Use kayak to move bird out of water (birds hate boats)

– Have person on land pick spot where bird can be herded to and cornered

– Net carefully

• Bird on a Park Pond? Try feeding to lure onto land before unloading kayak

Waterfowl Rescue Strategies

-injured wing and no kayak:

• Supplies:

– Long Section of Rope

– Remote Control Boat

– 2 or more people • Techniques:

– Drag rope across pond to scare bird out of the water

– If pond is too large, try a few remote control boats (cheap ones from Toys R Us, expensive ones from Radio Shack)

– Once out of the water, corner and capture

Waterfowl Rescue Strategies

•

Duck or Goose - injured leg

•

Supplies:

– Net(s)

– 2 or more people – Good Luck!

•

Technique:

– These rescues are extremely frustrating

– Can’t see bird if on water – Move slowly in approach and

then pounce

– Sometimes you can tire it out if it only flies short distances

Many of these birds will laugh at you before flying away!

Waterfowl Rescue Strategies

•

Family needs to be

relocated

•

Supplies:

•

Techniques:

– Capture mom first

• She will defend her ducklings

• Pick one up and she should attack you (time to net her)

– Round up ducklings - try to keep them in a group

Duckling seem stressed from long rescue operation? Don’t forget about capture myopathy! Sometimes the family should be admitted for 72 hours until stable.

Outline

Basic Waterfowl Identification

Identify First – Orphans

Nutritional and housing requirements differ for each species of orphaned waterfowl. Making a proper identification is critical!

Left: Mallard, Above: Wood Ducklings; Right: Canada gosling

Identify First – Orphans

Common Mergansers Hooded Merganser

Identify First – Orphans

Identify First – Injured Adults

• While few species of waterfowl

breed in the Northeast, many different species can present as injured adults

• Get a goodfield guide, i.e.

Waterfowl of Eastern North Americaby Chris Earley, or Natural History of the Waterfowl by Frank Todd

• Swans and Geese are easy • For Ducks, it can be tricky • Please remember, while a good

ID is important, don’t fixate on it and stress the patient!

– Take a quick photo and ask for

help, while leaving the bird alone to de-stress

Mallard Pair

Identify First – Injured Adults

Wood Duck Pair

American Black Duck Hooded Merganser Pair

Identify First – Injured Adults

Identify First – Injured Adults

White-winged Scoter Bufflehead Drake

Ruddy Duck Drake

Long tailed ducks

Outline

Intake and Stabilization

–

Be Prepared

–

Waterfowl Nutrition and Housing

Intake and Stabilization

• Even if you aren’t a

waterfowl rehabilitator, you should be prepared for anythingto come through your door

• When faced with an

injured or orphaned waterfowl, identify properly, stabilize, and transfer to the appropriate rehabilitator quickly

• Have the basic supplies in

Intake and Stabilization

– Medical Supplies: (Your Vet!)

• Fluids, bandaging supplies, avian would

management supplies (silver sulfadiazine), feeding tubes, syringes

– Nutrition:

• Emaciation products: Formula V®_, Ensure®_{, Iams Maximum Calorie}®_, Lafeber’s®_{Critical Care}

• Waterfowl diets: Mazuri®_waterfowl starter, Mazuri®_{waterfowl maintenance,} Mazuri®_{sea duck diet, Duck Pellets (not} chicken, turkey or game bird feeds)

• Other food items:

– Live: mini mealworms and pinhead crickets

– Frozen: bloodworms, brine shrimp, daphnia, and tubifex, krill, silversides

– Fresh: Greens (grass, romaine lettuce,

duckweed)

– Seasonal: White millet, whole corn

Nutrition Basics: Commercial

Diets

• Proximate analyses could only be obtained from Mazuri and Purina • Other Feed Mills did not have any detailed information on their products to

share - only knew what was on the label (the Guaranteed analysis)

• Most Commercial Feeds are designed for meat birds - what is the incentive to provide high quality ingredients?

• Even the difference between Mazuri and Purina was significant (same company,

different markets)

– Mazuri keeps the ingredients the same and will fluctuate their prices as costs change

– Purina (and all other feed mills) will change the ingredients in their feed

and keep the cost the same

Proximate Analysis (DMB) of Select Waterfowl Feeds

Protein Fat Carbs

Mazuri Waterfowl

Maintenance 16.10% 7.3% 57.97%

Mazuri Waterfowl Starter 22.90% 6.6% 58.94% Purina Duck Grower 18.43% 3.8% 68.1% Mazuri Waterfowl Breeder 19.45% 5.03% 62.58% Mazuri Exotic Gamebird

Starter 34.05% 4.54% 48.81%

Beyond the Commercial Diet

•

Most pellets do not

promote foraging

behavior

–

They sink,

becoming mushy

and greasy when

wet

•

Mazuri floats,

making food

presentation easy

•

Natural food items

need to be

integrated so that

birds can recognize

them once released

Beyond the Commercial Diet

•

Goslings should have

access to grass at all

times (ideally roots and

all)

–

They can digest cellulose

and extract up to 45% of

its energy

–

Consider rotating pens

to prevent over-grazing

–

Avoid feeding grass

when dealing with

impaction or other

digestive issues

Beyond the Commercial Diet

•

In the wild, insects will

comprise 75-97% of a

ducklings diet from

hatch to 18 days old

•

Ducklings should have

access to duckweed and

a variety of aquatic

invertebrates

•

Ducklings should

receive most of their

food on the water

and invertebrates should be floated in water to stimulate natural foraging behavior

Beyond Commercial Diets

• Sensitive Species may

require different or additional food items

• Wood ducklings have a

higher protein requirement and need more insects (mealworms, crickets)

• Mergansers require a diet

of almost entirely aquatic invertebrates, gradually incorporating krill and live minnows

• Sensitive waterfowl species

(and most wading and game birds) need to be

force-fed initially to maintain weight

Feeding Schedule

•Starter: Mazuri Waterfowl Starter

•Maintenance: Mazuri Waterfowl Maintenance

•Insects: freeze-dried bloodworms, daphnia and some mealworms •Make sure waterfowl have easy access in and out of any water

container

•For Goslings, substitute grass for duckweed, timeline is similar •Certain species may have to be held for longer than 8 weeks •Wood Ducks and Common Mergansers take longer to fledge

Age (weeks) Food Water

0-2 Starter, duckweed, insects Small developer tray 2-4 Starter, duckweed, insects Medium developer tray 4-6 Maintenance, duckweed Small to medium pond 6-8 Maintenance, duckweed Pond

Signs of Nutritional Deficiency

• Angel Wing (carpal joint deformity) • Perosis (slipped achilles tendon)

• Bent feather shafts, stress bars and poor

coloration can indicate nutritional inbalance

It’s much easier to prevent these problems than it is to treat them

Outline

Unique Housing Solutions

Waterfowl Housing Needs

•

Need to offer a safe,

warm environment

•

Need to be able to

present food

appropriately

•

Need to be able to

clean QUICKLY

•

Need to be able to

clean frequently

Housing Solution: Incubator

ducklings or ducklings that are compromised (wet, shocky, injured)

• Provide mirror and feather duster /

stuffed animal for comfort

• Offer small mouth poultry fountain

Provide soft white toweling for new orphaned patients – the food is more visible

Find conspecifics for singles ASAP

© Tri State Bird Rescue Research, Inc.

© International Bird Rescue Research Center

Housing Solution: Plastic Tub

can be used to house very young ducklings (even sensitive species)

• They are easy to clean and disinfect • Lids must be used as ducklings can jump

• This 31 gallon tub can hold 3-4 mallards

Housing Solution: Brooder

•

Removable trays allow

for use of net-bottom

tray for pelagic birds

•

Water can be

overflowed constantly

(flows through tray

and into shower pan

with drain)

•

Allows for flexible

configuration for

variety of patients

Housing Solution: Brooder

Wire tray (1/2” hardware cloth) is covered with variety of other substrates (towels, Dri-dek™, Nomad™ to protect feet of young waterfowl), do not use hay or straw as a waterfowl substrate

Shallow photo-developer tray is used for these 10 day old ducklings being raised by surrogate female. This group will get moved into an outside enclosure in the next day or so.

Housing Solution: Playpen

• Playpens can often be found at

yard sales for less than $20 and can be configured for

waterfowl of all ages

• The insides of the mesh should

be draped with sheets for privacy

• These young ducklings (and

rogue gosling) are offered swimming water only in shallow plant-dishes

• Playpen setups need to be

cleaned frequentlyas there is

no drainage for spilled water © Tri-State Bird Rescue Research Inc.

Housing Solution: Bathtub

• Bathtubs can be used to swim

ducklings that spend most of their time in another setup (Rubbermaid®_{Tub, Brooder}

or Playpen)

• Ducklings should not be left unsupervisedwithout providing them with a haul-out or float

• For young ducklings, only fill

water up 1-2 inches; if they show any signs of getting wet, they should be removed ASAP

Housing Solution: Wet Brooder

•

For orphaned

waterfowl over 1 week

of age, access to

swimming water is

imperative

•

Here, ducklings have

access to continuous

overflow of clean water

•

Food is floated in water

and provided in both

wet and dry dishes

Housing Solution: Tepid Pool

•

These can be very

inexpensive to construct and

can be stored when not in

use

–

Visit local pond supply stores

for non-brand name tubs

•

Does not require permanent

plumbing (can rig up a drain

hose if floor drain isn’t

available)

•

Allows for variety of

wet/dry configurations and

can provide swimming time

for young waterfowl

Housing Solution: Tepid Pool

Overflow cut into top to clean surface of water Standpipe concept works too for overflow

Housing Solutions: Free-House

Any empty room can be converted to a waterfowl habitat. If the room has a floor-drain, think big and provide large kiddie pool or large developer tray. Be sure to use rocks or provide a ramp to allow easy access in and out of the water. Bare floors need to be covered with appropriate substrate (Astro-Turf™, Dri-Dek™, Nomad™, etc.)

© Tri State Bird Rescue Research, Inc.

Housing Solutions: Outside

for each clutch of orphans to avoid overcrowding, aggression and disease transmission

Concrete ponds with standpipe allow for continuous overflow of clean water

Housing Solutions: Outside

set up for wood ducklings; privacy screening can also be used

River Rock (1” – 3”) provides good drainage but should still be covered in some areas with Dri-Dek™ or equivalent

Housing Solutions: Outside

• Here is a large

concrete pond with a gradually sloped ramp covered with non-slip matting

• Shade cloth is used

to separate

adjacent enclosures

• Ducklings have

access to lots of deep water!

• This setup works

great for pelagic birds and sea ducks

Outline

Respecting Wildness

Respecting Wildness

•

Orphaned waterfowl are very susceptible to

imprinting, especially if presented as singles

or if “held by finder” for any length of time

Respecting Wildness

•

Find conspecifics for single

orphans as soon as

possible

•

Consider wild-fostering

goslings whenever

possible

•

Use surrogates!

– Provide comfort and

warmth to orphans

– Promote self-feeding – Allow orphans to develop

normal social tools that will teach them to interact with their own species

Respecting Wildness

• Provide privacy for rehab

patients whenever possible – Use privacy screening,

sheets, tarps or bamboo fencing around pen exteriors so that birds do not see volunteers walking past

– Incorporate natural plants

into enclosures

• Limit human contact

– The easier it is to clean the enclosure, the less human contact is required

– Clever facility design will

reduce contact by providing visual barriers and minimizing cleaning time

Thank You

Questions: Feel free to contact me at [email protected]