Female duck not eating well - tube feeding questions

[KCNC06]

How is she doing?

I'm not sure if I'm overthinking some stuff and underthinking others though. Like sometimes I wonder if I should be more concerned about her poops. I keep seeing posts on here about duck poops being solid, but honestly compared to chicken poos anyway, duck poop always seems more loose. Especially when they're drinking a lot of water. Bill has been drinking a good amount of water lately and since she's getting the tube feedings, that's even more water.

It's not smellier than usual, just more brown. Which I'm guessing could be because she's not eating many treats. She's still mostly interested in fish and live mealworms for treats, and the center slimy part of seedless cucumbers. She also seems more interested in their ground oyster shell than it seems like she should be since she's not laying eggs (thankfully). I didn't want to take their calcium dishes away though since I've always been under the impression that they eat calcium when they know their body needs it.

But other than eating calcium and her poop being more runny, she is definitely acting more like herself. She kept wanting to play fight with her squeaky plushies yesterday and wants to attack the laundry today.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Sounds like good news to me. My ducks poop so many different poops and colors depending on what they have eaten.

Your doing great with her.

My girls eat oyster shell like it's candy and none are back to laying yet.

 

[KCNC06]

Sounds like good news to me. My ducks poop so many different poops and colors depending on what they have eaten.

Your doing great with her.

My girls eat oyster shell like it's candy and none are back to laying yet.

I'm glad to hear eating oyster shell like candy isn't weird! I definitely think I'm getting a bit obsessed looking for other potential issues. Every time she poops and I look behind her she starts fussing and biting me. Like she's telling me to chill out...and stop obsessing about her poop. "Momma, stop! You're embarrassing yourself!!"
I've seen all sorts of wild poops from the ducks over the years. The first time they ate blueberries... And the red when they eat too much watermelon? That freaked me out!

 

[Miss Lydia]

I know me too first time with watermelon I thought for sure someone was dying.
I am a poop watcher even out of doors I am looking at poop, it tells alot about how they are feeling.
Is she eating any of her feed yet?

 

[KCNC06]

I know me too first time with watermelon I thought for sure someone was dying.
I am a poop watcher even out of doors I am looking at poop, it tells alot about how they are feeling.
Is she eating any of her feed yet?

I'm still trying to trick them into eating pellet feed by mixing it in with other stuff they like (peas, fish, cooked wild rice, cucumber). They're not falling for it. I'm not sure how much of the pellet mush Bill's actually eating. I find a significant amount of rejected food at the bottom of their water dishes. The duck version of a kid hiding brussel sprouts in their napkin.

I must have made the formula too thin yesterday, which would explain why feedings were so easy. When I weighed her this morning she had lost 0.04 lbs since yesterday morning. I feel like it's a game of 3 steps forward, one step back.

I finally got my hands on a couple 18fr tubes and gave that a try for feeding yesterday. That bugger wrecked my tube feeding confidence! I'm not sure if it's my crappy old eyes or just how Bill's throat is, but when I try using the 18 tube I don't feel like I can see her throat holes well enough to be 100% confident it's going down her esophagus. I assume if I can see it moving down the right side of her neck, it's going down the esophagus?

Trying to order feeding tubes (catheters) from online medical supply companies is ridiculous. I ordered some 16fr and 18fr tubes the other day, didn't notice the little "prescription required" note. So they send a message saying they're waiting on my prescription before they can fill the order. I respond telling them I don't have a prescription because I'd be using them as feeding tubes for a duck, apologize for not seeing that a prescription is required and ask if they'll just cancel the order. The next message I got from them was a shipping notification. What's the point of requiring a prescription if they'll sell them without a prescription if you say you're not using them on a human??

 

[Miss Lydia]

If you are looking at her from behind the place to put the tube is on her right side If your facing her it is on the left. Does that make sense?
Here is a picture of the inside of the mouth https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...dications-to-all-poultry-and-waterfowl.73335/

 

[KCNC06]

If you are looking at her from behind the place to put the tube is on her right side If your facing her it is on the left. Does that make sense?
Here is a picture of the inside of the mouth https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...dications-to-all-poultry-and-waterfowl.73335/

Yeah, I can see the anatomy in her throat well with the smaller tube. The 18fr tube...I don't know. It seems to block my view too much and I get worried. I haven't tried feeding her without a helper yet so I do the feeding and my helper does the holding. I sit in front and slightly to her left so I can usually see her glottis pretty well still with the tube sliding to the right of it.

 

[KCNC06]

@casportpony

With the "art" part of tube feeding, figuring out how much to feed, is the 5% of their normal weight the definite max that they should be fed or is the feel of their crop a better way to judge? I've been feeding 85-90 ml per feeding since the highest weight I ever got weighing Bill was right around 4 lbs and 5% of 4 lbs would be 91 ml (I think). She gets a bit of food boob at 90 ml but when I gently squeeze her crop it feels pretty soft. I'm not sure if it's suppose to feel firm like my Chunksters' crops feel after they've had a good pig out though.

She's gaining weight most days but not a lot. I think the biggest gain has only been about 0.12 lbs. She's still doing great drinking water on her own but she's being an absolute brat about what she's willing to eat on her own. Which isn't completely unusual. I've been tempted to try going over the 90 ml a little but I don't want to do that if it's going to hurt her crop.

 

[KCNC06]

@Miss Lydia
I'm still dealing with Bill and her weight, continuing tube feedings because her weight hasn't gotten up to normal yet. That alone has me stressed and worried because it's been going on so long. She's up a pound but still needs to gain half a pound before she'd be 5% under what I guessed she should weigh.

I've been continuing to watch for other symptoms and watching her poop. She started having some clear "discharge" with some of her poops, it looks like the discharge they get when they're feeling...frisky so I didn't want to be too concerned about it. Last night though it looked like the clear discharge stuff had a little blood tiny to it. The clear discharge isn't with every poop and it doesn't always have the hint of bloody color to it, but I'm still worried. Her poops have a somewhat sour smell but I've read that apple cider vinegar can cause their poops to smell sour. If that's true maybe that's the cause of the smell change. As of today, acv is out of their water so I can see if that changes anything. I don't have any pictures of her poop or the discharge currently but wanted to kind of follow up with you and see if maybe you had any ideas about...I don't even know. Could this be some sort of bacterial something in her system?

I know in an ideal world she'd be seen by an avian vet but it's just not as easy as most folks on the interwebs makes that sound. I've wondered if avian vets are just more expensive in our area because they're so few and far between or if folks just have a lot more money than we do. The only avian I know of is the one I don't like or feel comfortable with and he charges and arm and a leg to not give any answers.

I got this Flockleader Recover911 stuff to add to their water, hoping the probiotics and everything will help her. (https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/flockleader-recover-911-for-severe-stress-8-oz-81054)

Other than the weird poops and her appetite not being what I want it to be, she's still mostly her normal self. She wants to play biting with me and her squeaky plush toys, seems to drink a normal amount of water and is a vicious beast when I drop a few minnows in her water dish. She'll eat as many minnows as she can.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I'm sorry you can't get her up to speed on her weight. The flock-recover looks pretty good. I've never seen it or seen anyone here mention it so maybe it's a new product . Sure worth trying though. But I wonder if even though you are tubing her she still isn't getting all the nutrients she needs. Like she won't eat feed right? Minnows could be making her poop smell off too. Just like mealworms will.
I do understand about Avian vets we have none around us and no vet that will see poultry that actually know anything about them.
As for the tiny bit of blood in her clear discharge I am going to try and tag @casportpony I really don't know what to tell you in the meantime if you can get some pictures that would be good and will help.
the fact she is mostly herself gives hope that whatever is going on isn't life-threatening.

I know blood in poop can be a sign of coccidiosis but I just don't want to go down a path that isn't needed.