hHELP WITH SICK DUCK

[pirtykitty]

one of my 9 month old welsh harlequin females is gasping a lot. I brought her in this evening to check her.. She has wetness going down both sides of her beak.. and I can hear her breathing.. she is very light for her age.. but has been eating. could this be the mycoplasm bacteria infection and if so what can I get at the tractor supply or feed store to treat.. or take to vet.. only trouble is we don't think we have a vet that can treat ducks..
thanks for any help

 

[Amiga]

Okay, I can get you names of medicine from Storey's Guide:

erithromycin (Gallimycin)
tetracycline (Aureomycin, Terramycin)
tylosin (Tylan)

Does the duck possibly have something stuck in its throat? Can you gently touch the neck and feel if there is anything going on there?

 

[Amiga]

If it is an infection, make sure you get some supplies for disinfecting their area.

 

[froggie71]

Sorry your duck is ill. It's hard to tell exactly what is wrong with a breathing issue without a diagnosis, but if you can't bring to a vet and are prepared to treat yourself there are somethings to try. First is she wheezing? How about contracting when she breathes in? If wheezing a steamy room can help. We had a duck wheezing. I caught early. Brought her inside and gave her steam showers for 10 min everytime I heard her wheezing. This help easy her breathing. We then gave her Terramycin if you can't get that Agramycin and Baytril (our local wildlife refuge's vet uses this) is good for respiratory infections and safe for ducks. We had no idea why she was having a respitory issue and hoped we were able to help her. It could be from something as simple as a change in weather to something she breathed in from straw or hay and could be bacterial or viral. We were lucky and guessed right, because this happened in fall 2008 and she is perfectly fine now. Hope your duck gets well soon. Keep us updated.

You should be able to get these antibiotic from a feed store. Also when I was having this problem Terramycin was hard to find, but I was told they were taking it off market and replacing with Agramycin.

 

[pirtykitty]

I have her in the house right now in large pet carrier with heating pad wrapped in towel rolled up on one side.. I couldn't get her into vet today as he is out of town.. But will take her in at 9:15 in the morning..
I will let her out this evening to run with the others and eat again. She won't eat out of my hand . never has.. and then back in the pet carrier for the night with heating pad... I'm giving her water with vitamins everyso often today. but have to guide her to the water as she won't come to me, trys to get way..
What supplies will I need to clean night pen if its viral etc.
The vet called this morning treats ducks. thank goodness..

I don't think anything is stuck in her throat..I could run my hand down neck last night

 

[Amiga]

When I worked on farms, we used something called Virkon. It didn't produce nasty vapors like bleach, and had a good reputation for killing bacteria, fungi, and wiping out viruses (can't kill those because technically they are not alive - but that is another topic

)

Virkon comes in a powder (reminded me of Tang). Not drinkable!

I would mix up enough to clean off my boots before and after a trip to a farm, to prevent carrying anything unwanted.

I used to buy the large container, but you should not need that much.

Low-tech, you may just want to use something like detergent and hot water, followed with some vinegar and a change of bedding. Don't forget walls, if there are any. Then there are the alcohol-based products.

The feed store may have something they recommend.

One reason I don't promote the bleaches or vapor-producing chemicals is that I get an awful asthma attack around that stuff, so I reckon it may not be good for ducks, either.

It's work, I know, and what a time of year to have to do this. But, healthy happy ducks are worth it, I think.

Hang in!

By the way, if it just happens to turn out to be a fungal problem, Borax in hot water has been the best thing I ever used for mold and mildew.

 

[gcmitchell7]

Does Denaguard work for Ducks? People say it works very well for chickens

 

[pirtykitty]

I have used vingegar and water in the past.. I know bleach is a no no cause of the fumes... they pen is raised with hardware cloth bottom with under supporting boards.. three sides have doors that open that are solid for wind break three sides have hard ware cloth cover .. there is a roof but between the roof is hardware cloth.. it's 6 foot by 8 foot.. it's going to be fun to disenfect. Hopefully will have a fairly warm day when I do it so it will dry out...

 

[ultasol]

I've heard Oxine water flushes can do wonders. I would check out first state vet supply and possibly contact Mr. Peter Brown (who owns First State). I was talking to him the other day about a gander, and he and I ended up talking about the uses of various drugs in waterfowl VS chickens.

I don't think anyone knows it all, esp without diagnostics, but he seems to know what he is doing.

 

[pirtykitty]

I took Amy back to Vet. today for him to see Her... He said her lungs were clear. and her heart sounded good.. I still have one more week of bayril to give her and he gave me another bottle to start her on after this one is gone.
He also said that I might have to start bringing her in later in year when tempt reaches 90 degrees and then also in winter when it gets bad.
I know hubby isn't going to go for this..
How many of yall have had a duck with an upper respertory infection and after they got over it what kind of problems did they have or did they get well no more problems.. Did they start laying eggs again later too etc..