How to tell a child about pet dying

[LifesTooShortYOLO]

So our DS hatched an Indian runner duck from an egg we found, and he had been his little pet ever since a year ago.
Today little Ducky died after us knowing he wasn't very well for the last few days my DS made him comfy, got him food and water and helped him to eat and drink.
He's going to be so upset 😢
But I don't know how exactly to tell him that's he's gone now 🥺
I don't want to sugar coat it or lie, but I want to be gentle and try and explain in a way a 4 year old will understand and not be scared by.
Any help or advice greatly appreciated 😊

Take his queue. It may drip out over the next few days. Answer honestly as you can without lying in an age appropriate way.

I'd go something along the lines of:
DS, you know Ducky wasnt very well? Unfortunatly the love and care we gave him wasnt enough to fix his body, and he has died.

Let him see your tears if they come. It's a tough intro to the loss of loved ones, but also a great way to model how to handle these things in the future.

Dont use "gone to sleep".

Answer questions he comes up with - you can talk about hospitals, more human medicines, people being able to explain what is wrong to Drs all helping people usually get better when they are ill. But, if he questions it that yes, people get so old or ill that they die to.

You can talk about how good Ducky's life with you was, the happy memories you will have of him, and how much joy you got from having him in your lives.
DS also has had much comfort in a soft toy as close as we could get to our cat - not sure how easy that would be with an Indian Runner duck!

Aw that’s such a shame.

Our old cat had to be pts rather suddenly earlier this year. I kept it very factual with dd(5) up to the point she asked where she’d gone if her body was still here. I explained that no one really knows and some people think there’s a heaven and angels, some people think you come back as something different, and some people think your energy goes back into the universe. I asked her what she thought had happened and went with that.

As it goes she went with angels and that’s how we talk about our cat now. We’re not really religious but I decided that it’s more important for her to be able to reconcile the permanent loss right now rather than get hung up on where our souls go. She can deal with that when her emotions and grief aren’t quite so raw.

I did find it quite tricky to navigate the why things die questions, it was a balance of trying not to create a fear of all illness and ageing and being honest.

Honestly at 4 years old I would lie. "Ducky has to live in the hospital now because he's sick" or something like that. Some kids are hyper sensitive to this kind of thing (I was! I found Disney movies such as "the fox and the hound" and "the lion king" too intense to say nothing of Bambi, tears on tears on tears) kids are only little for a while I don't think they necessarily always need to know the harsh facts of life. Many people will say differently, but our neighbors recently did this with their 3 year old after their kitty passed away and I think it was the right choice. I'm sure this will upset some people and that's not my intention! Just my two cents.