3 Week Old Duckling Won't Eat

[DuckDuckDixon]

I run a Muscovy duckling rescue in Florida. Currently, I have a three-week-old duckling that has almost completely quit eating and drinking. Three nights ago, I moved her and her two “siblings” out onto my lanai. I set the pen up exactly the same as it had been inside, including the same food and the same heat lamp. (The weather has gotten consistently nice enough that they really don't need a heat lamp, but it's there for them just in case they want it.) Up until the night I moved them outside, the duckling had been full of life and happy. Now, she just lays around in the pen while her siblings run around her. She moves to be with them from time-to-time but doesn't interact with them, even if they try to connect with her. She’s clearly not feeling well. Last night, I moved them back inside, just in case something about being outside stressed her, but she hasn’t changed.

She eats Mazuri Waterfowl starter floating in water, and she also has it available dry. She also has clean water available, though she typically drinks the water with the feed mixed in.

I have not seen her poop since she nearly stopped eating and drinking, so the first thing I think I need to do is find a way to get her doing that. So, any recommendations on that one would be welcome.

Since realizing the problem, I’ve done the following things to keep her going:

• Given her Nutri-Drench directly daily
• Plied her with all her treats with no success
• Fed her Exact baby formula for birds
• Plied her with other types of duckling feed with no success
• Wiped her vent with a wet cloth (even though there’s nothing there to indicate pasty butt)

I’m on the verge of giving her fluids subcutaneously, but since she is eating and drinking small amounts, I haven’t yet taken that step.

Help?

 

[sourland]

Is she better this morning?

 

[DuckDuckDixon]

Is she better this morning?

I'm afraid not.

 

[Everose]

Try giving a little bit of yogurt to keep her from getting stasis, and she might benefit from some molasses or corn syrup mixed in to get glucose to her brain I usually give these two things mixed with water via syringe.

 

[DuckDuckDixon]

Try giving a little bit of yogurt to keep her from getting stasis, and she might benefit from some molasses or corn syrup mixed in to get glucose to her brain I usually give these two things mixed with water via syringe.

I'll try that. What is stasis?

 

[Everose]

Well this term (stasis) really comes from my experience with rabbits and not chickens or ducks. It's where the stomach basically shuts down or collapses because the baby isn't eating or drinking enough. The stuff in yogurt that turns it from milk to yogurt really gets their little digestive tracts going and I find that they respond really well.

This is not something I've learned from some fancy avian (parrot) vet and it actually came from my experience with other types of ailing babies. It has worked for me many times, but you won't see many people with chickens or ducks telling you to do this. Most people will say to give it gatorade or some other artificially flavored and colored hydrating drink. I prefer to do things a little more naturally so I use water (the number one hydrating ingredient in gatorade) and yogurt with some type of natural sugar.

 

[Everose]

Also some scrambled eggs would help

 

[RosemaryDuck]

Since you run a rescue, do you have a vet who can see this little one? I'd be inclined to get x rays. It sounds like maybe she has a blockage or something along those lines, if you haven't seen her poop. The issue here is if you keep giving fluids and food and it has nowhere to go, you're likely making the problem worse.

 

[KaleIAm]

Since you run a rescue, do you have a vet who can see this little one? I'd be inclined to get x rays. It sounds like maybe she has a blockage or something along those lines, if you haven't seen her poop. The issue here is if you keep giving fluids and food and it has nowhere to go, you're likely making the problem worse.

x2

I'm not trying to be contradictory, just sharing information. My avian veterinarian told me not to use even tiny amounts of dairy in birds. She explained it as they are not mammals, never nursed from their mothers, and never developed the enzymes to digest milk.

 

[Everose]

And yet many people say that dairy products are a very good treat to give birds.
Dave Holderread says in his book about ducks that milk is a very good source of protein.
Also avian vets are for parrots not actual important livestock animals like ducks.