COOP FIRE

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DonnaMiniFarm1

DonnaMiniFarm1

Chirping
6 Years
May 2, 2014
52
4
94
I had a brooder fire and on Friday night and I'm left with a two month old duckling. She does not have any burns to her body, but her breathing is labored. I have her inside and she is not eating or walking, but is drinking water. What can I do to help her? I'm concerned that she has not eaten and I do not know if there is anything that we can do to help her breathing.
 
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Only real treatment for smoke inhalation is oxygen and sometimes pain killers.

The lungs have to heal but that won't happen if she starves to death. Can you coax her to eat some egg? Can you add a bit of sugar and vitamins to the water?

This doesn't sound good, though she may not be able to walk due to not eating.
 
We took pellets and boiled them down and added that to her water. She's been drinking it. She has been walking though! Her breathing is still just very labored. Do you think she needs to be cleaned off. We were thinking about putting her in the bathtub and letting her clean herself off. She's been standing in her water bowl.
 
It's Monday and the chick is bouncy still raspy but seem like she will be ok. The duckling seems a little better she is walking around breathing heavy she drinks I just blended some greens in her water see if she will drink that . Would you cook the egg ?
 
DonnaMiniFarm1 said:
It's Monday and the chick is bouncy still raspy but seem like she will be ok. The duckling seems a little better she is walking around breathing heavy she drinks I just blended some greens in her water see if she will drink that . Would you cook the egg ?
Click to expand...

I would try scrambling it (no non-stick pans) and mush it up with a bit of water so it is very very soft. She may have a sore throat, maybe very soft moist foods would be easier for her to eat. I would think little sugar mixed in might be good to raise her blood sugar levels, that could give her the energy to eat more.

If that doesn't work I would try blending raw egg with a bit of sugar in water and see if she will take that. Basically whatever works to get some nutrition in her, she may not be able to eat dry crumbles.

As far as letting her swim, she may have soot in her little nose so that might be a good idea if you watch her like a hawk so she doesn't get overly tired and drown, or get chilled afterwards. I am no expert on ducks but I rescued a duckling once and the little thing nearly died when she tried to sleep in the water bowl (feathers soaked through and her body temp dropped), so be careful with that!
 
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Thank you Sonya. She swam yesterday and it seemed to help her a little. This morning i let her swim again and really encouraged her. When she came out she had loosened a mucous plug from her bill. That seemed to help a lot. WE have been trying different options for eating . I think maybe the egg in her water might work.The chick is still wheezing but doesn't seem to be fazed by it .I don't know when i will try to introduce them to the rest of the flock. I was hopping that their mother that died in the fire would help them with the introduction. I don't want to add more trauma to their little lives
 

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