Advice on 9ish week duckling death and sick 1 year old duck

[Salixx]

First, the duckling appeared fine the night before last when I herded them all into the coop. I was rushing to work yesterday morning so if something was going wrong I wasn’t there to observe, just opened the door and left. I found her dead in the run last night when I went to put them to bed. I hadn’t checked on them prior but I assume she was dead for a while as she has tiny maggots on her and her body wasn’t in rigor anymore. She had no obvious wounds on her body, just a handful of feathers pulled out. Looked like she’d been trapped against the fence.

I suspected my one year old drake. I read somewhere that larger duckling were okay to join adult ducks and put them out (5 total) in the run last week. I observed for a while and he and the two adult girls seemed more afraid than anything so I let them be. The last couple days I noticed the drake getting more aggressive with the ducklings but didn’t see anything super serious and I figured there were five to spread his attention out. After last night, I read more and realized I have made a mistake and they should have been closer to 14 weeks before going with him. I made plans to finalize my new duck run today and move the babies in.

Today I was off from work so I observed everybody longer. One of my older duck hens came out, attempted and failed to drink from the pool and then stood next to the drake puffed up with her eyes closing like she was falling asleep. This is unusually behavior for her. She was attacked by a dog 6ish weeks ago and suffered a dislocated hip. The vet put it back in but she never fully recovered and continued to limp/keep her body more curled but she’s always been loud and active. I gave her a warm bath in my large sink and got her to drink but she continued to be lethargic and barely drinking. I took her to the vet this morning again, she was running a fever so he gave her a shot of meloxicam and a shot of antibiotics and sent me home with tetracycline. She isn’t showing any respiratory distress. She is drinking a little more and preening a bit more now but is still lethargic.

As of right now, my other adult hen and drake appear perfectly fine. The 4 ducklings are subdued. Now I am afraid they might be sick but they could also be in shock having watched their brood mate die yesterday.

I’m about ready to go outside to do what I have to do to make the new run functional so I can move them from the adult drake.

I need a contingency in case I have a disease running through. Can anyone recommend an antibiotic I can get from TSC to have on hand in case any more go down hill?

I’m also worried because I have 4 more ducks and two goslings i was hoping to transition outside soon but if I have a disease I don’t want them nearby.

In case it’s relevant: Right now I have a mixed run and coop with ducks and chickens. Most of my chickens are under 12 weeks old. 10 are adults.

I have three 11 month old ducks, two KC hens and one KC drake. In the run I also have four 9-11 week old ducklings. One is a KC and the daughter of the drake and one of my older hens. Two blue Swedish hens and one most likely blue Swedish drake. The fourth blue was the one that died and was a female.

I am open to thoughts including what might be going on and if there is more I should do for my sick hen. I have her floating in the sink again as it seems to help her relax.

 

[Canadian Wind]

I'm sorry for your loss, and for having to go through this.

Could it be possible that when she was attacked by the dog, some sort of internal injury occurred that went undiagnosed? Animals are really good at hiding things from us until they succumb to their ailments.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I am sorry for your loss, please remove your ducklings from the area where the drake is. Even if the drake didn't kill the duckling putting non laying age ducklings in with a drake is not a good idea. If he mated them he could injure them seriously maybe even kill them since their bodies aren't developed for mating yet.
I hope your adult female recovers in the mean time you might want to order some Baytril to have on hand.
https://allbirdproducts.com/products/baytril-10
If your chickens are in with the 3 adults it might be a good idea to move them from the area the drake is in. If he was to try and mate a hen it won't go well for her either.

 

[Salixx]

I'm sorry for your loss, and for having to go through this.

Could it be possible that when she was attacked by the dog, some sort of internal injury occurred that went undiagnosed? Animals are really good at hiding things from us until they succumb to their ailments.

That is what I was/am concerned with my poor KC girl- that she might be suffering from complications from her injuries. She’s still hanging in and drinking better but not eating yet.

The blue Swedish that died was not with me yet during the dog attack, I got her afterwards. Of course it’s possible that she had a health condition that either killed her outright or contributed to her dying from the drake.

I have moved all the older ducklings out and into their own enclosure. Hopefully they are okay and just shell shocked from the death of their friend.

 

[Salixx]

I am sorry for your loss, please remove your ducklings from the area where the drake is. Even if the drake didn't kill the duckling putting non laying age ducklings in with a drake is not a good idea. If he mated them he could injure them seriously maybe even kill them since their bodies aren't developed for mating yet.
I hope your adult female recovers in the mean time you might want to order some Baytril to have on hand.
https://allbirdproducts.com/products/baytril-10
If your chickens are in with the 3 adults it might be a good idea to move them from the area the drake is in. If he was to try and mate a hen it won't go well for her either.

He fortunately leaves the chickens alone and has been housed with them since January. It was something I was worried about when I had to move the ducks in with the chickens over the winter when our stream unexpectedly flooded then froze… I had to cut the ducks out of their house and had no way to open the human sized door. The final plan is to move all the ducks to the new run location away from the stream and closer to our house.

 

[Salixx]

I thought I would do a little update.

The four older ducklings remained subdue through yesterday but this morning they were much less so - very talkative and splashing around in their water pail. I don’t think they are sick. I am relieved that it doesn’t appear to have been a disease but sad and disappointed in myself that I didn’t read more thoroughly which lead to the death of their brood mate.

The drake and adult hen that were fine continue to seem fine. My other poor girl is still not really eating though her food looked nibbled when I check this morning. I am uncomfortable tube feeding so I have been giving her as many small syringes worth of kaytee exact baby bird formula at its highest concentration as she will tolerate before going full escape mode. It’s not much but something. She has pooped several times since last night with some solid form to it which leads me to think she’s been eating a bit on her own. I am concerned though because the poo is dark green, almost black in the solid center, and she hasn’t had any veggies in days at this point. I am starting to wonder if my pool for them started growing something toxic and she is more sensitive than others. I empty and refill it at least every other day but last weekend was extra hot and may have facilitated some nasty bacteria growth faster than normal.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed for her. She is still able to walk, preen and do other ducky things. She still seems in pain but less so than the first day.

 

[Salixx]

I just checked my sick girl again and she definitely ate some food on her own this time. I sure hope this means she’s headed towards recovery!

 

[Quatie]

For your girl inside, you should get supplies for tube feeding. Your vet may even have them and be able to show you. Here is a link on how to tube feed and all the supplies you would need.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ng-guide-pictures-under-construction.1064392/

Even when they are eating and drinking some, it can be not be enough. They should eat about 0.4lbs of food a day. I recommend measuring that out so you have an idea how much the duck is really eating. Tube feeding is especially useful for keeping them hydrated. Even if you don't end up needing to use it, they are good supplies to have on hand and not always easy to get.

 

[Canadian Wind]

I always mix my ducks' food with water, too, to make sure they're getting enough.