Is it botulism?

[sherrybintally]

Hello. I have a duck that shows signs of botulism poisoning. I have 3 ducks and she is the only one with symptoms. She has spells where she can't hold her head up and I found her two days ago literally laying on her head with her head and neck folded under her body. She has had three of these spells that I've noticed starting Sunday evening. Every time it happens, I use my silly remedy for everything wrong with a duck (so far)--run water in the bathtub and let them float awhile and then see if they will eat some pieces of tomato. I wrap her in a towel and hold her head up for her if she can't. After these spells, she suddenly comes out of it, gets up, flaps her wings, starts quacking and having a good time. She had a perfectly normal day yesterday and then last night she had two very bed spells one after another. I have kept her isolated at night and the poor thing has continued laying a pretty egg every day.

Does this really seem like botulism that she would just go through these spells and then have extended periods of time when she seems absolutely fine? or could it be something else?

I really don't know of any source of rotten food she would have eaten. My husband says it came from their pool water that I didn't empty often enough.

Suggestions on what is wrong with her and if there is anything else I can do for her?

 

[Miss Lydia]

Hello. I have a duck that shows signs of botulism poisoning. I have 3 ducks and she is the only one with symptoms. She has spells where she can't hold her head up and I found her two days ago literally laying on her head with her head and neck folded under her body. She has had three of these spells that I've noticed starting Sunday evening. Every time it happens, I use my silly remedy for everything wrong with a duck (so far)--run water in the bathtub and let them float awhile and then see if they will eat some pieces of tomato. I wrap her in a towel and hold her head up for her if she can't. After these spells, she suddenly comes out of it, gets up, flaps her wings, starts quacking and having a good time. She had a perfectly normal day yesterday and then last night she had two very bed spells one after another. I have kept her isolated at night and the poor thing has continued laying a pretty egg every day.

Does this really seem like botulism that she would just go through these spells and then have extended periods of time when she seems absolutely fine? or could it be something else?

I really don't know of any source of rotten food she would have eaten. My husband says it came from their pool water that I didn't empty often enough.

Suggestions on what is wrong with her and if there is anything else I can do for her?

I'm thinking if botulisim she would be showing the signs constant, but here is the link on how to treat. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/700526/flushes-for-aiding-in-toxin-removal#post_9508213 what breed of duck is she how old and what do you feed her and is she crested?

 

[sherrybintally]

She is a 1 year old Khaki Campbell. My other 2 are the same breed but a year older. They have eaten Dumor brand layer pellets from Tractor Supply forever and they get a small handful of scratch grain and a quarter cup (?) of those dried meal worms you can buy as a treat everyday. She is not crested. Also, if it makes a difference I only have hens.

If not botulism, what else do you think it could be? give me some ideas to research...

Thank you for the info on flushes...

 

[Miss Lydia]

She is a 1 year old Khaki Campbell. My other 2 are the same breed but a year older. They have eaten Dumor brand layer pellets from Tractor Supply forever and they get a small handful of scratch grain and a quarter cup (?) of those dried meal worms you can buy as a treat everyday. She is not crested. Also, if it makes a difference I only have hens.

If not botulism, what else do you think it could be? give me some ideas to research...

Thank you for the info on flushes...

If she is laying an egg daily then thank goodness we can scratch off egg bound. How about greens are you offering any? chopped collards Romine lettuce, kale all are good choices of greens and loaded with calicum, which if she is laying maybe she is having too much calcium leaching from her bones. Even feeding layer doesn't mean she is getting enough and can cause weakness. Oyster shells added on the side is another good way to offer extra calcium. Poultry vitamins added to their water daily may help too. I wish I could offer more suggestions, Liquid calcium added to water for a few days may help too. at least you could rule out calcium diff.

 

[Amiga]

Miss Lydia may be onto something with the calcium. Your duck seems to be having seizures. Those can be caused by electrolyte imbalance, lack of some nutrients, inflammation of nerve cells, some other things, I am sure.

Good for you, taking time out with her. I have some ducks that just need more of some nutrients. It will take some time for you, but you may need to find out what she needs extra. Romy and I have a little sweet ritual late at night I go into the duck pen with her "special." That's mashed peas with Neocalglucon, 1.5 mL. She eats hers out of a ramekin, and then we all have a few peas as a late night snack.

With your girl, to be cautious, I would start putting some powdered activated charcoal (not from briquettes, but the dietary supplement) in her water for the next couple of weeks and see if there's any improvement. Activated charcoal is used for detox - it absorbs harmful chemicals from the gut.

 

[sherrybintally]

They do have crushed coral/oyster shell free feed. I really only ever see one of them eating it though.. I don't give greens regularly simply because I don't have them but they got some tomatoes every day while I had tomatoes in the garden and then I bought tomatoes and sparingly gave some to them everyday. I was trying to stop doing this so I didn't have to buy tomatoes. Maybe I shouldn't do this though.

I can also bake and crush egg shells as they seem to sort of like them.

I'll see if I can get some charcoal too.

 

[Miss Lydia]

They do have crushed coral/oyster shell free feed. I really only ever see one of them eating it though.. I don't give greens regularly simply because I don't have them but they got some tomatoes every day while I had tomatoes in the garden and then I bought tomatoes and sparingly gave some to them everyday. I was trying to stop doing this so I didn't have to buy tomatoes. Maybe I shouldn't do this though.

I can also bake and crush egg shells as they seem to sort of like them.

I'll see if I can get some charcoal too.

I hope you can figure it all out and help your duck, please keep us updated..

 

[sherrybintally]

Well, she has had one spell already tonight. Repeated the routine, bath, held her head up until she could hold it up herself, tomato, and tonight I tried feeding baked, crushed egg shells too. She gobbled them down like she hadn't eaten in a week. Guess we shall see what the rest of the night brings...

 

[Baylor]

I had one doing the exact same thing so I separated her for a week and gave her extra vitamins and she hasnt done it since. I still dont know the cause it gave me a heart attack watching her seizure or what ever it was. I came up on her in the same exact position and I thought for sure she was dead so when I reached down to pick her up she reacted and stood up normal - weird! It has been over a month and she is normal or appears normal again!

 

[sherrybintally]

Well, to my knowledge she only had that one spell last night. She ate some of the baked eggshells again this morning when I let her out. Interestingly, she didn't lay an egg this morning. I sure hope this is passed. It's nerve raking wondering if I'm not going to keep a close enough eye on her so I can try to rescue her and that I'll find her dead instead.