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Sea Ducks 109

but care has to be taken to prevent hyperthermia if ducklings are too debilitated to move away from
the heat source. Sea ducklings generally require lower temperatures than other groups of
waterfowl.
Sea ducklings, as well as pochards and stifftails, can be challenging to rear in captivity; ducklings
may be dehydrated, hypothermic, and exhausted on presentation. Despite being labeled as preco-
cial, due to the typical debilitated state of wild chicks at presentation, supplemental nutrition and
hydration is often required until the chick is able to eat sufficiently to maintain weight.
On admission, ducklings should be placed in a warm, dark, escape‐proof container. Once they
are warmed appropriately, they can be rehydrated orally with warm isotonic rehydration solution
such as Plasma‐Lyte or Normosol®‐R. Unflavored pediatric electrolyte solutions can be used if the
aforementioned solutions are unavailable. To administer oral rehydration fluids to neonatal sea
ducklings, a #8 French rubber urethral catheter can be cut to a 1 in. (2.5 cm) length, the end can be
burned or filed to remove sharp edges, and then attached to a 1 ml slip tip syringe (Figure 6.1).
Depending on the type of catheter purchased, the flared base of the catheter may have to addition-
ally be cut to fit snugly on the syringe. The shortened urethral catheter is placed past the glottis and
the warmed fluids are delivered slowly. Ducklings will generally tolerate 10% of their body weight
administered orally in this way every 2–4 hours.
Downy waterfowl are waterproof from shortly after hatch; they do not require brooding from
adults to transfer oils (Goodman 2017). That being said, orphaned sea ducklings presented for
rehabilitation are often debilitated and may have lost overall waterproofing due to inappropriate
food presentation, inappropriate water presentation, or hypothermia. Once warm and rehydrated,
ducklings should be placed in a hybrid or wet brooder with an overflow to keep surface water clean
(see Housing section below). Food should be provided on both the dry portion of the brooder and
in the swimming or wet portion of the brooder. Sea ducklings should be given supervised access to
swimming water as soon as stable and rehydrated; they are unlikely to eat out of a dish and are
prone to captivity‐associated disorders when denied swimming water. The development and main-
tenance of excellent waterproofing and feather condition is an essential component of successful
sea duck rearing.
Ducklings that are unable to maintain waterproofing in a hybrid brooder should be maintained
in a dry brooder or plastic tub setup with a poultry fount, heating pad, and hide area with food
presented on white paper towels (Figure 6.2). Ducklings should be placed in cold swimming water
with floating food multiple times a day for gradually increasing periods of time as their feather
condition improves. Initial swim time may be 5–10 minutes; once the chest or head feathers
become wet, the ducklings should be removed and placed back in a dry brooder. This gradual intro-
duction to swimming water stimulates preening behavior, which results in improved water resist-
ance. Nutritional support may need to be provided during this period as sea ducklings and related
species are less likely to eat on land.

Figure 6.1 Syringe (1 ml) with cut urethral catheter and cut end burned to round sharp edges, which may
be used to administer hydration fluid to small chicks.