5 week old pekin quickly fading

[Kgriffith0712]

Hello everybody, I typically read other people's post and this is the first time I'm posting. I have five five-week-old peeking ducklings. This evening, the ducks went swimming in a kiddy pool while their pen was being cleaned. I noticed one of them was lethargic not interested in drinking, swimming, grooming. It actually got out of the pool and just stood there. Its tail was close to the ground with the tail feathers fanned out. I notice the strange Behavior so I walked over and without a struggle I was able to pick it up. Which is a bit odd as they usually run and will try to get out of your grip. I held it in a towel while the rest of them played in the pool and it started to close its eyes. Once their pen was clean they were placed back in it and while the others were pruning, eating and drinking ..it sat there under the heat lamp doing nothing but trying to rest. I watched for bowel movements and didn't see any poop. So my first thought was maybe it was constipated so I checked it vent/butt and didn't see any poop around it. But then I thought maybe it wasn't pooping because it was dehydrated from not eating or drinking. I picked it back up and made some scrambled eggs with some broccoli and coconut oil and tried to feed it and give it water and it was all attempts were unsuccessful. The strange thing is as soon as I put it down and it spread its tail feathers spread out and its tail was close to the ground again as it just rested. I'm not sure what to do I also noticed small little pimple like sores on the top of its feet. Unlike a bumblefoot I've seen before on the bottom of the foot its feet are not swollen there just a little red. Not sure if this is the beginning of an infection or bowel obstruction. This time around their pen has been fairly damp lately as they have been getting in their water more than usual. Luckily they now have all dry bedding and I have managed to contain the water that they spill. Any help would be wonderful...

 

[Kgriffith0712]

Hi everyone... I wanted to provide an update today because I think that I found what was wrong with him. And I want to spread the word in case anybody else looks up this post or hears of something similar.
Not just listening to what everyone had to say on here but also doing a bunch of research myself I found cases of other ducks That suffered from seizures and tremors. Similar to my little guy, they were able to eat drink and poop but would seize occasionally. The more I read, I realize that this can be from mineral/vitamin deficiencies, as someone had stated in this blog, but specifically and niacin deficiency. Yesterday after seizing twice in my hands and having shakes similar to somebody who has palsy, I ended up running to the drug store and buying non Flushing niacin. Seeing as it's water-soluble and you really can't OD on it I crushed up a quarter of a 250mg pill and gave it with his "soup". the remainder of the pill I threw into their big water for everyone to enjoy.
after coming home from work I was prepared to see anything but was hopeful the second I saw him and realized he no longer had twitches. He still had some shaking but no tremors/twitches like he had had the past two days and.. . the entire time that I've been with him he hasn't had one seizure nor has he had a "freak out". The last batch of ducks that I had raised had bright orange beaks as to these ones have a dull yellow beak. The last ones that I raised, which happened to be my first ones, were fed a boatload of fruits and veggies as well as crickets and mealworms on a everyday to every other day basis. These ones have only had treats once a week. Therefore it is my determination that this was definitely a vitamin imbalance. And as everybody said on here, ducks do have different nutritional needs compared to chickens. I was also too happy to see that once I put him back in his pen he moved around and would fluff and stretch his wings almost normal. The past two days he would just stand there almost in a comatose state

 

[PirateGirl]

Not all medicated feed is created equal. Not all medicated feed has the same medications in the same quantities. Not all feeds are available in all geographic locations. Also, medicated chick starter does not necessarily have the same medications in it today as it did years ago. What was unsafe in the past is no longer manufactured today. To cover all bases it is easier to say stay away from medicated chick starter than to say it's all safe, but the reality is that much of the medicated chick starter manufactured today is safe for ducklings. Also chick feed may be lacking in duckling nutrition in other ways.

http://metzerfarms.blogspot.com/2011/11/can-medicated-feed-be-used-for.html

 

[Kgriffith0712]

so I haven't posted in awhile because I didn't want to jump the gun again in case things Got better then got worse. I was sure it was a vitamin deficiency because at first it seemed to help given him the extra niacin.. but that only lasted a couple days and he relapsed. I felt crushed since I thought he was on the upswing...... But being a week since this all started happening, I am glad to say he is almost back to normal. Early in the week I started noticing discharge by his eyes which I started to wonder if maybe he had a infection. So I started him on some antibiotics and continued to give him a Pedialyte organic baby food, sweet peas, and niacin mixture. Needless to say was starting to eat on his own (with the others in their pen) by Thursday night. He just got out of a bath in the baby pool (about an hour ago) and you could barely tell which one he was As he was splashing around and grooming himself just like the others. He was given some separate pampering yesterday and I was happy to see that he has some of his strength back as he was trying to get away from me when I was wrapping him up in a towel. each night I like to sit in monitor his behavior for about a half hour 45 minutes just to make sure that he is progressing. His twitches and shakes are gone. Thanks everyone for all of the help and support.

 

[Kgriffith0712]

I have a semi good update. After returning home from some errands yesterday, I noticed he was standing by the water drinking with his brothers and sisters. This morning I woke up and decided to get him out of the pen and sit on the floor and try to feed him the eggs and broccoli again along with his Vitamin Water (which is being given to all of them.) He would drink some of the water but wouldn't touch the food so I decided to mix the eggs and broccoli into the water almost like soup. And to my surprise it worked and he started eating the soup like mixture. Not to mention he even pooped which I was so relieved to see. The poop was a bit frothy and a brownish color. But the bad side is that he ended up having another seizure while I was feeding him. The seizure was the exact same in manner as the one I saw him have yesterday. And this morning as well as yesterday he seems to still have tremors or ticks. So I'm going to continue to research on deficiencies and try to see if we can relieve the tremors or frequency of the seizures. This may just be me thinking this, but it almost appears that his tremors get worse the more noise and commotion going on around him. But I'm relieved because if he's eating drinking and pooping he does have a better chance of surviving.

 

[Kgriffith0712]

This was him this morning a few minutes before his seizure

 

[CayugaJana]

I have a semi good update. After returning home from some errands yesterday, I noticed he was standing by the water drinking with his brothers and sisters. This morning I woke up and decided to get him out of the pen and sit on the floor and try to feed him the eggs and broccoli again along with his Vitamin Water (which is being given to all of them.) He would drink some of the water but wouldn't touch the food so I decided to mix the eggs and broccoli into the water almost like soup. And to my surprise it worked and he started eating the soup like mixture. Not to mention he even pooped which I was so relieved to see. The poop was a bit frothy and a brownish color. But the bad side is that he ended up having another seizure while I was feeding him. The seizure was the exact same in manner as the one I saw him have yesterday. And this morning as well as yesterday he seems to still have tremors or ticks. So I'm going to continue to research on deficiencies and try to see if we can relieve the tremors or frequency of the seizures. This may just be me thinking this, but it almost appears that his tremors get worse the more noise and commotion going on around him. But I'm relieved because if he's eating drinking and pooping he does have a better chance of surviving.

Hello @Kgriffith0712 !!!!

I just thought I would pop in to say I had two cayuga ducks around the same age as yours doing the same thing. It looked like they were on their backs riding a bicycle when they were having a seizure. I too noticed there was a trigger. And overstimulation is a perfect word for it. If there was a loud noise, or I would turn on a light at night, they would have a seizure. However, the good news is they both grew out of it. I just gave them vitamins in their water like you are doing. They are both adults and healthy now. The best thing I could figure out was their nervous systems took a little longer to develop than the others. In fact, most seizures in small children dissipate as they grow as well.

So not saying your little one can’t have something else going on, but chances are they will grow up to be just fine! Good luck with your little guy and let us know how he’s doing!!

 

[Kgriffith0712]

Hello @Kgriffith0712 !!!!

I just thought I would pop in to say I had two cayuga ducks around the same age as yours doing the same thing. It looked like they were on their backs riding a bicycle when they were having a seizure. I too noticed there was a trigger. And overstimulation is a perfect word for it. If there was a loud noise, or I would turn on a light at night, they would have a seizure. However, the good news is they both grew out of it. I just gave them vitamins in their water like you are doing. They are both adults and healthy now. The best thing I could figure out was their nervous systems took a little longer to develop than the others. In fact, most seizures in small children dissipate as they grow as well.

So not saying your little one can’t have something else going on, but chances are they will grow up to be just fine! Good luck with your little guy and let us know how he’s doing!!

Thank you so much for telling me this. It brings me hope that it may not be fatal.

 

[casportpony]

Not much time has passed since my last post. Unfortunately I am almost 100% it's a neurological disorder now. As I was trying to read into a couple different issues, he started freaking out it almost looks like it was swimming ...And ran into a wall and began seizing with its legs spread out on its belly and I could hear its beak tapping against the end of the pen as he seized. I was sure that he was dead. After laying there for about 20 seconds it got back up... was stumbling around and ended up laying down in the corner of the pen. It breaks my heart to see it going through this.

I am very sorry you are going though this, but I can promise you that the medicated feed you fed had *nothing* to do with this. Purina make a medicated flock raiser labeled for use in ducks, Story's raising ducks and Metzer Farms say it's safe. The medications used are 100% safe for use in ducks. If they weren't, Purina would not make a medicated feed labeled for use in ducks, right?

Hypothermia, dehydration, and hypoglycemia are what I would address first. If he were mine I would place him in a warm room (80-85 degrees), then once warm enough I would tube Pedialyte at 8-10 ml per pound, repeat in 60-90 minutes, then once more in 2-4 hours.

All caps now because this is important... NEVER FORCE FEED A HYPOGLYCEMIC OR DEHYDRATED BIRD because it can kill them.

Dehydration and hypoglycemia can cause these neurological symptoms, so that is what I would focus on. Tube feeding is much easier and safer than people think and I can teach anyone how to do it if you want to learn.

 

[AmberCamilia]

Yayy! That post just made my day -- I'm so happy for the little guy, and for you! I didn't know niacin deficiencies could cause seizures, I'm glad I know now. I had a little duck pass away from not being able to absorb nutrients and vitamins. Very sad.

Thank you so much for starting this thread. I'm sure many, many people will benefit from it. I'm still thinking of the little guy and I've got my fingers crossed, hoping he's 100% healed up!