Sick duck? Help!

Ideally, you could quickly get them to a good duck vet - just want to write that on the thread for anyone reading this in the future.

Could be some kind of toxicity, yes - I would change the food - you are trying some good things, like the electrolytes.

I would bring them into a pen with lots of fresh water available to them.

The problem could be in their environment. What's the weather been like there? Sometimes during hot, dry spells botulism is more common. One thing that also came to mind was some other kind of toxin - perhaps from an algal bloom in the lake.

Or could someone have possibly dumped something toxic in the lake? Are there boaters? I don't recall how large the water body is, and I admit, I am a little tired right now.
 
Thank you all so much for responding!
I will contact Purina to see if they have any reported cases of food contamination. I have read that layer pellets (for ducks and chickens) does not contain a lot of nutrients and it's good practice to mix in chick feed. Chick feed contains more vitamins and minerals for the growing bird. I am careful not to add too much (3:1 ratio) and sometimes I'll mix in some oyster shell.

Over the summer, almost all the ducks had this problem. We have 25 in our flock and they all drank/swam in the pond. We thought it was related to the Georgia heat, because they were also panting. Now it's just a few ducks without the panting.

I will pick up some bakers yeast to supplement Niacin and maybe activated charcoal today. Hopefully this helps.
The mallards and black east indis are almost impossible to contain, since they fly off. The pekins have been good about going into their duck house at night where I'm able to treat them. Thanks again for the help!!! I'll keep you posted :fl
 
Update: I contacted Purina and they said I should not be feeding ducks layer pellets when it's not laying season. This is especially vital to drakes. They suggested maintenance feed.

I feel terrible for being the cause of all of this! I'm switching their feed today. I pray this resolves the issues.
 
Thank you all so much for responding!
I will contact Purina to see if they have any reported cases of food contamination. I have read that layer pellets (for ducks and chickens) does not contain a lot of nutrients and it's good practice to mix in chick feed. Chick feed contains more vitamins and minerals for the growing bird. I am careful not to add too much (3:1 ratio) and sometimes I'll mix in some oyster shell.

Over the summer, almost all the ducks had this problem. We have 25 in our flock and they all drank/swam in the pond. We thought it was related to the Georgia heat, because they were also panting. Now it's just a few ducks without the panting.

I will pick up some bakers yeast to supplement Niacin and maybe activated charcoal today. Hopefully this helps.
The mallards and black east indis are almost impossible to contain, since they fly off. The pekins have been good about going into their duck house at night where I'm able to treat them. Thanks again for the help!!! I'll keep you posted
fl.gif
@MaryamLoveDucks please not bakers yeast it is not good for them and can cause gastric upset. It is Brewers yeast or nutritional yeast from a natural food stores or other stores like Whole foods. But please no baking yeast. Put your oyster shell in a separate container not mixed into the feed or again they may eat too much.
I'd also pick up some activated charlcoal[ in antacide isle at most pharmacies and walmart.
 
Update: I contacted Purina and they said I should not be feeding ducks layer pellets when it's not laying season. This is especially vital to drakes. They suggested maintenance feed.

I feel terrible for being the cause of all of this! I'm switching their feed today. I pray this resolves the issues.

Don't feel bad and I'm glad you've found a likely cause. Battling ghosts is no fun!

Many people including apparently knowledgeable old-timers recommend feeding layer feeds to all animals of all ages - just because they themselves have never had problems. But it's well documented that it can be fatal. It's all a matter of finding the right info in time basically, which has a huge element of chance to it unfortunately. I've been researching this kind of thing for years and even the most reputable sources can be directly contradictory to one another never mind what appear to be very experienced laypersons.

Good luck and I hope they make a full recovery. I am guessing fat buildup may be the issue...?

Please let us know how it goes.

Best wishes.
 

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