3 year old Magpie acting strangely

[duckmama84]

Hello! As title suggests, my 3 year old Magpie, Dolly, is acting strange. Please see attached video: Dolly Duck sick

https://imgur.com/a/Ry5bkT3

She's always been a little "off," we almost lost her when she was just a few weeks old, she gained weight slowly but got to a decent size and even won a blue ribbon at the fair.

A few months back we noticed notches on the sides of her head. We think our gander was trying to mate her. We removed the geese from the ducks. She healed but the skin never fully went back to normal. It looks like she might have scratched open the wounds again, so I think we'll need to bandage her head.

This evening my son found her on her back in the duck enclosure. He brought her inside and it was almost like she was having a seizure maybe? She was flopping around, head bobbing around, and flipping upside down, opening and closing her beak, almost like she's gasping (but no noise coming out). She wants to walk, but she kind of scoots backwards. Husband didnt feel anything broken. We have her under a warm shower, my husband felt around to see if she was egg bound (she has been laying eggs regularly) but he didn't feel anything.

Any ideas? I've given her a small dose of DViSol, and I have oats waiting for her when she's done in the shower. She's eating fine, laying down.

Thank y'all so much for any and all help!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Aww bless her heart. Sure does sound like she had a seizure. Do you have any drakes could they have over mated her? These wounds on her head how long have they been there? What are you feeding her besides oats?

 

[duckmama84]

Aww bless her heart. Sure does sound like she had a seizure. Do you have any drakes could they have over mated her? These wounds on her head how long have they been there? What are you feeding her besides oats?

We have two drakes, they never seem to pay her any attention but I guess really anything is possible. We usually keep the drakes away from the hens unless we're wanting to hatch eggs. I haven't seen any of the other hens pick on her either. But I do have cameras out back so I will probably record the next few days if/when we put her back out there.

Right now they're eating a combination of the DuMor layer feed, fruits/veggies and oats. Son puts fresh water in their pool and waterer daily and usually once a week we'll add vitamins to the water.

She's wrapped in a towel right now in the dark bathroom.

Thank you for responding. I figured if she makes it through the night we'll reach out to the vet if she still seems off tomorrow.

 

[DuckyDonna]

Oh, that is so sad to see! From the looks of her head I would NOT put her anywhere near a drake until this is sorted out. I would also dry her off good and put her in a dog crate or something where she's kept quiet and can feel safe.

 

[Isaac 0]

Dolly is in Critical condition, she needs immediate care ASAP. The first thing I would do is take her out of the water, she has lost water repellency, and sick birds are often hypothermic, set her in a dog kennel placed in a warm, dimly lit, stressful free place in the house. Provide feed and water, but since she is experiencing seizures make sure its shallow enough that she won't be able to drown.

Once she is stabilized get a quick check of her weight using a food scale, do it now, and that way you'll be able to tell if she is losing any weight (note that she'll probably lose weight overnight as she expels the food that's in her crop currently) If she loses 5% percent of the weight over the next few days, I would start tube feeding her. Getting the supplies now to do that would be a great idea.

I would get an 18/20 french red rubber catheter for water, and a size 30 for feed. Easier to aspirate with water if you are using a larger size catheter, these can be obtained online. Get some Kaytee Exact baby bird formula, which can be found at PetSmart/Petco. Also, get a 60ml or 35ml catheter tipped syringe which can be found at any feed store.

https://www.amazon.com/Catheter-Syringe-Syringes-Care-Touch/dp/B01J4F92QE
https://www.petsmart.com/bird/food-...xact-hand-feeding-baby-bird-formula-3819.html
https://greatmedicalsupplies.com/su...red-rubber-urethral-catheters-each-rr0020.htm
https://greatmedicalsupplies.com/su...l-purpose-robinsonnelaton-catheter-351030.htm

If she loses 5% of her weight she'll NEED to be tube fed, get these now.


https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/tube-feeding-q-and-a.1215032/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ng-guide-pictures-under-construction.1064392/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/tube-feeding-ducks-updated-5-7-2020.1211994/


Since she has had some wound bites, It makes me inclined to think she may have a bacterial infection which can cause seizures. If a vet is an option, ALWAYS take her there.

 

[duckmama84]

Wow, okay, thank you! I forwarded all this to my husband, we'll get started on this now. Thank you!

I was just looking up vets when I saw your comment. We've only ever needed them once and they actually did more damage and we lost our pekins a few years back, so I'm looking for someone more reputable.

I'll post an update when I have an update. Thank you again!

Dolly is in Critical condition, she needs immediate care ASAP. The first thing I would do is take her out of the water, she has lost water repellency, and sick birds are often hypothermic, set her in a dog kennel placed in a warm, dimly lit, stressful free place in the house. Provide feed and water, but since she is experiencing seizures make sure its shallow enough that she won't be able to drown.

Once she is stabilized get a quick check of her weight using a food scale, do it now, and that way you'll be able to tell if she is losing any weight (note that she'll probably lose weight overnight as she expels the food that's in her crop currently) If she loses 5% percent of the weight over the next few days, I would start tube feeding her. Getting the supplies now to do that would be a great idea.

I would get an 18/20 french red rubber catheter for water, and a size 30 for feed. Easier to aspirate with water if you are using a larger size catheter, these can be obtained online. Get some Kaytee Exact baby bird formula, which can be found at PetSmart/Petco. Also, get a 60ml or 35ml catheter tipped syringe which can be found at any feed store.

https://www.amazon.com/Catheter-Syringe-Syringes-Care-Touch/dp/B01J4F92QE
https://www.petsmart.com/bird/food-...xact-hand-feeding-baby-bird-formula-3819.html
https://greatmedicalsupplies.com/su...red-rubber-urethral-catheters-each-rr0020.htm
https://greatmedicalsupplies.com/su...l-purpose-robinsonnelaton-catheter-351030.htm

If she loses 5% of her weight she'll NEED to be tube fed, get these now.


https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/tube-feeding-q-and-a.1215032/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ng-guide-pictures-under-construction.1064392/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/tube-feeding-ducks-updated-5-7-2020.1211994/


Since she has had some wound bites, It makes me inclined to think she may have a bacterial infection which can cause seizures. If a vet is an option, ALWAYS take her there.

 

[Isaac 0]

Wow, okay, thank you! I forwarded all this to my husband, we'll get started on this now. Thank you!

I was just looking up vets when I saw your comment. We've only ever needed them once and they actually did more damage and we lost our pekins a few years back, so I'm looking for someone more reputable.

I'll post an update when I have an update. Thank you again!

I'd suggest bringing her to a vet, if the one you saw last time did more bad then good, I would suggest finding a different one, but if you are unable to I would follow what I posted above.

Online may take a few days for the tube, so you can try your veterinary office, or a human medical store, as a last result you could get some aquarium tubing from a health store, it'll do the job but the ends can sometimes be hard to smooth down and it's quite rigid.

Could you post a picture of her next poop?

 

[DuckyDonna]

HOw is your duck?

 

[Isaac 0]

Hi, there!

Just checking in to see how your bird is doing. Updates to these type of threads are quite useful for people in the future experiencing the same problem.