lethargic duck, need advice

duck_shepherdess

In the Brooder
9 Years
Nov 7, 2010
81
4
29
I went on a three day camping trip and my husband watched the nearly 5 week old ducklings for me. When I came back he told me that one of them has been acting strangely. She didn't fuss when he picked her up out of the tub to dry her off. She's not vocalizing and although she's a runner she's not standing upright like her sisters. She is able to walk but its slow and not very runner-like. Even when something spooks her sisters, she walks while they run. She seems half asleep most of the time. Her feathers are much scruffier than those of her sisters too.
She hasn't shown much interest in food, but she will drink a little water. Just now I noticed that the webs of her feet are more blood red than orange.

I haven't separated her from her sisters yet (who all seem healthy and active) because I dont want to stress her too much until I have to. They don't seem to be picking on her. One duckling nibbled her feet a little but they do that to each other all the time. I also don't think her sisters are keeping her from eating.

I've put raw apple cider vinegar in their water along with some electrolyte drops and some niacin. I've seen her take a few sips. She climbed in the water dish and sat on the partially submerged platform and rested her bill in the water. I could partition off part of the brooder and see if I can tempt her with kale floating on the water. Right now she's just sitting in the brooder, half asleep not even cuddled with her sisters.

Should I separate her and give her a water dish of her own? How about vitamins? Would boiled egg do any good? Any help is appreciated.

(camera was accidentally left at a friends house so I cant get pictures)
 
I let her swim with her sisters in the bathtub. I threw in some kale and she ate a little. Its like she does everything in slow motion.
She has started making soft peeping noises but otherwise not much has changed. I'm worried she's dying.
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sorry to hear this, could be a number of things, ducks and chickens can be awkward to actually see what the problems is.. I'd suggest gerntle massage her crop, just incase theres a blockege, hold her in warm water for a while and cuddle her up in a towel to dry off, I've found warm water is comforting to poorly birds... when you pick her up let her feet dangle from your arms then place you hand under feet and see if she goes to grip ur hand as if she is going to balance or stand on your hand........ I find the grip in their feet is a huge give away to strentgh. really poorly birds will not be bothered about gripping on .. healthy alert birds soon want to use relflex to grip on something to stand on

fingers crossed for you duck
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I agree. It could be a blockage or you may just have a duckling who is sadly not going to make it
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Keep us posted.
 
She's not out of the woods yet, but she's better than she was an hour ago. I divided the brooder so she can see the others but has her own food and water. In addition to the niacin, electrolytes and raw apple cider vinegar I added a little bit of honey and floated some kale on top. Then I dipped her beak in it and she grudgingly drank a little. Every few minutes I dipped her beak in again until she drank a little. At first she wasn't bothering to struggle when I picked her up. Her grab was weak at best. (Thanks for that tip, by the way, makes it much easier to decide if things are getting better or worse.) I kept dipping her beak until I saw her drink on her own a little. An hour later and when I tried to see if she would grab my fingers she kicked my hand away (they're not imprinted or particularly tame.) When I set her down, instead of lying down, or just staying posed however I put her, she walked off. Its not much but its progress.

I'm prepared as much as one ever is for the possibility that she's not going to last the night, but I don't feel quite so helpless. Thanks for the advice and support.
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all you can do is your best, try not to give up on her, carry on incouraging her..
I once rescused a chicken, that I thought shes in such a bad state she will never make it. now she is the biggest cheeky chicken..
keep us posted
 
She's about the same this morning. Coco broke down the partition I had set up for her, so she spent the night cuddled with her sisters. This morning I put in the new improved partition. That operation was sufficiently scary that she actually got up and walked away from it. Her carriage was much more upright than yesterday but she was still slow. I dipped her beak in the sugar/electrolyte/cider water and she took a little sip. I put some more kale in and as I was leaving the room I actually saw her reach in and take some by herself. That was nice to see.

Duck mad, I'm glad to hear your story of a bird actually pulling through. I was considering the possibility that I was just making her last days more stressful, but if its possible she can pull through then she's going to get every chance I can give her.

I'm wondering if I can give her some beta fish flakes. All she'll eat so far is kale of the top of the water. These flakes float and they're packed with protein and fat. She refused the chopped boiled egg. Coco and the others made short work of it once the partition came down.

Thank you all so much for the support. Whatever happens, I can at least know that I did what I could thanks to you guys.
 
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Hey your welcome,we are all here to help if we can. .. The other thing i would do if if i was in your situation, is make up a bowl of food with lots of choice, few peas bit of tomatote, lettuce pasta rice peas sweet corn rice tiny bit of bread bit of grass (anything and everything edible) then sit the duck on my lap with a towel (even in a shallow cardbord box... then sit there for ages (watching tv etc) and i would keep picking up bits of the food as if my fingers are doing duck beak impressions.. that would probably lead to interest with the food... How long has she been a bit weak? my experience is... (very rare to have a poorly bird) but if they aint going to survive they rapidly go down hill. and i've never seen in my birds where they make improvements then go back poorly... So from what I m making of this, the slight improvements seems like much hope...
also a few tiny earthworms in the bowl of food, if she sees the wriggling, she might be very tempted to eat them! x
 
bit of tinned dog food might help.. my ducks only have to smell dog food and they go crazy! maybe the smell of dog food will make her think of eating
 

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