6-week-old muscovy won't stop crying

[lina500]

We've got some 6-7 week old muscovies. Last week, one of them started "crying" almost continuously, sometimes for hours at a time. Around the same time this started, she had a limp for a few days. I picked her up and examined her and couldn't find any cuts or abrasions and she didn't seem to react to me touching any particular part of her. She's not limping anymore, but I can't tell if she's crying because she's in pain or not. She seems to be picked on a bit by some of the other ducks, but she always spends time with the other 4 ducklings that she was born with and I don't see any problems there.

So...why is my duck crying and is she ever going to stop? She's my favorite of this bunch and I really want to keep her, but she is driving me nuts.

 

[Buck Oakes]

I would def let a vet look over her, they don't have to specialize in birds to check if a leg is okay, also spend more time with them they could be peeping bc they miss u or bc their super bored

 

[lina500]

I've contacted a vet to see if they will see her. I don't think any of the vets here see ducks, but I made an impassioned case.

This duck is not particularly interested in humans (unless I am holding watermelon) so I don't think she misses me.

 

[Amiga]

How many drakes do you have? Could she be injured? Have you tried putting some electrolytes and vitamins in their water? Just a thought. @Miss Lydia ?

 

[lina500]

At the moment we have 3 drakes and 9 ducks, a mix of muscovies and pekins. This number is going to decrease substantially in the next day or two as I send the majority of them to my friend's farm. Two of the drakes are still young and have not yet started mating (apart from trying it on each other, funnily enough) and the third hasn't shown any interest in the muscovies at all, so I think my girl is still pure.

When she was limping it was pretty extreme, it did not look like it came from her foot, but more like her hip was completely out of alignment or something. I examined her and didn't see anything wrong, and a few days later she was walking almost normally, albeit with a slightly weird gait.

The problem is I can't pick her up without her going crazy, so it's very hard to tell what's going on with her. I don't know anything about muscovies, but all of the ones we have (all under 12 weeks old) act like feral cats when I try to pick them up.

I will make sure they are getting their proper vitamins in case it's related to diet.

 

[Amiga]

Might you be able to get her into a tub of lukewarm water? Almost sounds like she might have a pinched nerve - those can resolve, but for ducks hydrotherapy can do a world of good for many injuries.

 

[lina500]

I can do that. She does swim quite a bit and it's hot here so the water is pretty much always warm, so she may have been giving herself a bit of hydrotherapy!

 

[Miss Lydia]

I can do that. She does swim quite a bit and it's hot here so the water is pretty much always warm, so she may have been giving herself a bit of hydrotherapy!@@

@lina500 make sure the duckling can get in an out of the pool safely it does sound like it maybe pain from what ever is going on with her hip/leg. are you giving your ducklings extra niacin? Most of the time I don't even know I have ducklings or ducks my Muscovy's are so quiet so I am thinking this lil one must be in pain. If you have to pick them up for any reason walk them slowly into a corner or into their hut then pick the one up you want to examine etc. wrap in a towel this will calm them down some. Their going to freak out most ducks don't like to be picked up and most likely it has to do with predator/prey.Just we have to do it sometimes.

 

[lina500]

Thank you. I just added extra vitamins/niacin to their food and have scheduled a vet visit for tomorrow. My pekin ducks don't like being picked up, but they remain calm when I do, but the muscovies go wild. I think that's because we handled the pekins a lot as babies. I will update after I see the vet tomorrow. I hope the ride there doesn't freak her out too much!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Thank you. I just added extra vitamins/niacin to their food and have scheduled a vet visit for tomorrow. My pekin ducks don't like being picked up, but they remain calm when I do, but the muscovies go wild. I think that's because we handled the pekins a lot as babies. I will update after I see the vet tomorrow. I hope the ride there doesn't freak her out too much!

She'll probably be scared but again if your going to be holding her wrap her in a towel and cover her head lightly with the towel it really does calm them down. I am glad you were able to get her to a vet.