- Oct 20, 2013
- 7
- 0
- 7
Hello all,
This is my first post on this forum. I hope someone can help me with the following:
I have two 5-week old ducklings. They sleep in a clean box with wooden bits on the floor. During the day, they spend outside in the garden. They also have a small pound where I clean the water daily. Their diet is a mixture of corn, oatmeal, soya and quinoa (all crushed in a powder, and mixed with water so they can swallow). They also eat a lot of grass and lettuce (not the bad kind). Both of them have been growing up normally, playing outside and laying on my lap during the night. When going to bed, I place them in their box inside a room where temperature is around 20C (68F).
Today I woke up and went to feed them when I realized one of them (the bigger one) was not moving much. When I took them to the garden, I noticed he couldn't move his neck at all, and remained curled close to his body. Because of this, I noticed he can't drink and eat normally like the other duckling. I took them both to the box again (I was afraid the ill one could drown in the pool).
I did my reading on internet, and found a bunch of duck disease related articles. But, none of them seem to fit in my duck's living habits. Both of them live in very clean conditions, and have unmedicated food.
What my duckling has, reminds me of a neck strain I had when I was a kid. I remember I couldn't move the neck for a whole day. It was very very painful, and the only thing I could do was sit on a couch and watch TV. I don't remember what my parents gave me but after one or two days I was back to normal.
One of the ideas I came across on internet was to give my duck Magnesium Sulfate as apparently it is a muscle relaxant. I found two or three links about it being helpful. The duckling can still drink water, but has some problems eating. We are holding his food bowl close to his peak and he's eating little bits. I'm worried that he'll end up like some ducklings I read about: the paralysis getting worse and worse until ending with the death of the little fella.
At the moment, my duckling can:
- Stand up and lay down
- Move a little bit inside his box
- Drink little sips of water, and small sips of food
- He still does his 'quak quak' sound
What he can't:
- Keep balance very well.
- Move his neck. He has very little movement of it. It doesn't seem paralyzed (like a gelatin) but strained and unable to stretch it.
Please help, as I've got very attached with both duckings and I would really miss loosing this one
I'm adding a picture of how he looks like at the moment (see how his head is close to his body? well, he can't stretch it at all...)
Thanks,
Nicolas
This is my first post on this forum. I hope someone can help me with the following:
I have two 5-week old ducklings. They sleep in a clean box with wooden bits on the floor. During the day, they spend outside in the garden. They also have a small pound where I clean the water daily. Their diet is a mixture of corn, oatmeal, soya and quinoa (all crushed in a powder, and mixed with water so they can swallow). They also eat a lot of grass and lettuce (not the bad kind). Both of them have been growing up normally, playing outside and laying on my lap during the night. When going to bed, I place them in their box inside a room where temperature is around 20C (68F).
Today I woke up and went to feed them when I realized one of them (the bigger one) was not moving much. When I took them to the garden, I noticed he couldn't move his neck at all, and remained curled close to his body. Because of this, I noticed he can't drink and eat normally like the other duckling. I took them both to the box again (I was afraid the ill one could drown in the pool).
I did my reading on internet, and found a bunch of duck disease related articles. But, none of them seem to fit in my duck's living habits. Both of them live in very clean conditions, and have unmedicated food.
What my duckling has, reminds me of a neck strain I had when I was a kid. I remember I couldn't move the neck for a whole day. It was very very painful, and the only thing I could do was sit on a couch and watch TV. I don't remember what my parents gave me but after one or two days I was back to normal.
One of the ideas I came across on internet was to give my duck Magnesium Sulfate as apparently it is a muscle relaxant. I found two or three links about it being helpful. The duckling can still drink water, but has some problems eating. We are holding his food bowl close to his peak and he's eating little bits. I'm worried that he'll end up like some ducklings I read about: the paralysis getting worse and worse until ending with the death of the little fella.
At the moment, my duckling can:
- Stand up and lay down
- Move a little bit inside his box
- Drink little sips of water, and small sips of food
- He still does his 'quak quak' sound
What he can't:
- Keep balance very well.
- Move his neck. He has very little movement of it. It doesn't seem paralyzed (like a gelatin) but strained and unable to stretch it.
Please help, as I've got very attached with both duckings and I would really miss loosing this one
I'm adding a picture of how he looks like at the moment (see how his head is close to his body? well, he can't stretch it at all...)Thanks,
Nicolas
