Sick duck - won't eat and dropping weight--help

My duck flock has been having issues lately and I think some of the problems may be due to this flip flop weather we have had lately. I got Baytril from my vet when it seemed that my flock wasn't eating as well as they usually do, and I had a couple of girls who had been egg bound.

The Baytril seemed to help most of them but one of my babies is still acting very sick. She's not eating right and her feathers look very worn and different than everyone else's. She is dropping weight and may be down to a few pounds now which is way underweight for a Pekin.

The weird thing is I feel like she really wants to eat. She will pick up her pellets and drop them on the ground, repeat, and then eat dirt. But it never seems like she actually swallows any food. Whenever I throw scratch down, she eats that just fine.

Today I took her away from the flock and fed her some yogurt, peas, scratch, and mealworms. She did okay with the yogurt, ate a few peas, ate a few mealworms, and ate the scratch like she was just starving to death. I tried to give her kale but it seemed that even though she wanted it, she didn't want to swallow it. She kept throwing it down after she would pick it up.

I've started a worming treatment of Safeguard on my flock, thinking worms could be the problem, but I'm on day 3 of 5 with no improvement.

Does anyone know what's wrong with her or what I can do for her? I would hate to have her starve to death, but Im worried thats where we are heading if i cant figure out how to help her. Thanks.

Do you provide oyster shell for the Hens?......Possibly she ate something that is stuck in her gizzard/ crop area, like a nail or something?.....Are they molting?.....Add dry cat food for the extra protein they need...I give it once or twice a week depending on the situation.....

That's too bad....Try getting this moved to the Duck threads.....Way more informative help there....


Best wishes....


Cheers!

Look inside her beak and throat for any yellow patches or foreign objects. Try some poultry vitamins added to the water. Try making a mash of feed plus a lot of water, and a tsp of plain yogurt. Also I would suggest posting on the duck forum here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forums/threads/add/forumId/42

Ducks have a Bill not a Beak ,and are different than Chickens... Yogurt is a no....causes diarrhea ....


Cheers!...Post in the Duck threads....Or Ask Miss Lydia or Amiga....

It seems a lot of people on the duck threads do seem to recommend small amounts of plain yogurt for probiotics in their ducks, including Amiga. This would be especially important after giving antibiotics and wormer. Sugary flavored yogurt would not be good. The vitamin product in my post does contain probiotics, and many feeds nowadays have probiotics. Apologies to duck people for calling a bill a beak.

Eggcessive said:

It seems a lot of people on the duck threads do seem to recommend small amounts of plain yogurt for probiotics in their ducks, including Amiga. This would be especially important after giving antibiotics and wormer. Sugary flavored yogurt would not be good. The vitamin product in my post does contain probiotics, and many feeds nowadays have probiotics. Apologies to duck people for calling a bill a beak.

Click to expand...

Your advice is very helpful. I have given my ducks yogurt before and it never gave them diarrhea. Ducks can have it and it is good for them to have for the probiotics. I have some plain yogurt and she has eaten some of it, especially if I put some small treats in it. Thanks.

I tried to check her throat but I can't see past her tongue. What would I do for treatment of a foreign object if that's what it is?

If you see something that shouldn't be there such as pus or tissue, it may be removed with QTips, tweezers, etc. Many respiratory viruses can cause yellow plaques, and protozoan infections like canker can cause blockage in the throat. Let us know how she gets along. Hopefully she has started eating and drinking better.

Hi. Thanks, everyone. I wish I could day she's doing much better, but it's a slow process. I got her to eat a little mix of yogurt and crushed pellets today though she was reluctant to do it and I think she only ate it for the scratch I threw on top. She also ate a little scratch by itself. I bought some vitamins and have started them in her water, which she is drinking a lot of so far. She's still weak but I know it will probably take a while for her to get her strength back. I'll keep working with her on it and let you all know if I have anymore questions. I'll keep you updated on how she's doing as well.