Acting normal but duck not interested in food???

[Miss Lydia]

I know they do.

 

[KCNC06]

I'm never sure if it's better to start a new thread with the same subject or piggyback on one that already exists...so I'm trying the piggyback method first.

One of my girls, Bill, has been off with her eating for a little over a week. She still eats, just not as much as usual and has started losing weight which I know is bad. She's almost 4.5 yrs old, a question breed (her parents are White Layer Hybrid). It started with her wanting to spend more time soaking in the bathtub. She'd float in the tub all day if we let her which isn't normal for her. This had me concerned at first but then I remembered that her sisters go through phases where they just want to float all day and night and I'm not worried when they do it so I convinced myself it wasn't anything to worry about. She wasn't doing the tail bob like she had an egg ache and I couldn't feel anything unusual in her belly so I just assumed she was going through a float phase.
She did that for a few days and then didn't have as much interest in the tub. When she stopped wanting to float all day her appetite seemed a little lower, but all the ducks were a little quiet and wanted to sleep under their sun lamps more. (I guess I should have added that she's an indoor girl along with a few of her sisters who moved inside after injuries...I know, indoor isn't normal but I'm quite certain it's not the cause of whatever's going on so if we can skip past that I'd appreciate it.)

Anyway. All the indoor girls were quieter than usual and not begging for snacks as much. But it was during our first real cold spell and everyone, outside fowl and humans included, were a little sleepy. Once the cold passes, she seemed to perk up a bit but still wasn't eating as much as she should. I started giving her more fish since that's her favorite and she would eat that better than anything else. I also started adding Thrive from Morning Bird to her water to try to make sure she was getting other nutrients. (https://morningbirdproducts.com/pro...sick-bird-formula?_pos=1&_sid=d50a46695&_ss=r) She seemed to have more energy after drinking water with that mixed in.

Then everyone in the house started acting "off" again around the time our very senior dog started going down hill. He was almost 15 yrs old so it was just normal old age. But he was getting extra attention because he wasn't eating, then things got quiet when he passed, so everyone has been acting a little weird.

Anyway. Bill still isn't eating well and has me quite concerned now. She still wants to play bitey with me, but her energy just isn't there. I haven't been able to come up with other symptoms so I'm at a loss of what's wrong other than maybe being in a cycle of not eating making her feel off, so she doesn't want to eat, which makes her feel off. Not sure if that makes sense explaining it like that but it's how I feel after a migraine that's lasted a few too many days.

I'm wondering if it's too risky to try tube feeding her if I don't know what caused her to not eat as much as usual. Or if it's worth trying since it should get nutrients into her and that might be enough to give her energy to eat more. I have the tube and syringe to tube feed but don't have the Kaytee formula currently. I do have a small tub of First Formula (I think that's the name) from Morning Bird though.

I've never tube fed anything though and that has my tummy a little nervous feeling. I've started looking for a vet that treats ducks but haven't been able to find any near us. The closest is over an hour away and I'm a wee concerned about making that drive if they gave me not good news.

Editing to add, she is still drinking well and poops. Her poops are looser than usual since she's not eating as much but she does poop. Also, I can't really imagine she would have eaten something she shouldn't have. She's a very snobby eater and doesn't eat things that aren't in her food dish, snuffle mat or being hand fed to her.