Adult duck with weak legs???

[Duckchick2011]

Hey guys,

One of my ducks, an indian runner named Scout, has started falling. His legs seem to just give out on him and he lays down. No flopping or flipping, he just seems to get tired and lay down in the middle of running or walking or what ever. Sometimes he looks like he tripped and just gave up walking after that.

At first I thought it was just a niacin deficiency ( he has angle wing that he developed at his previous owners home) so I started giving him supplemented food and would feed him by himself. I then noticed that he was really under weight. I kept feeding him like that and he put back on some weight(he's still has room for improvement though) and for a while I didn't see the problem any more, now he is at it again.

Any clue what might be happening???

None of my other ducks are showing any issues. All fat happy healthy ducks so I don't think it is disease or parasites but then I could be wrong.

 

[Duckchick2011]

Update: He seems a little better today. Still a little weak and slow pokish(he lags behind the rest of the flock) but waddling around and no falling. Still not sure what is going on. He feels really light when I pick him up but that might be normal compared to my hefty Ancona's. I have no other runners to compare him to.

 

[Amiga]

Do you think it might be a toxin, like maybe metal toxicity?

I hope not, but it sounds like a possibility.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...te-falling-weight-loss-lethargy#post_13244769

There are some things that can be done, it depends on the case.

@Duckchick2011

 

[Duckchick2011]

Similar, I was also worried about this but his symptoms don't quite match. His appetite is fine, he eats and swallows it all down, he doesn't spit it out or throw it up. One thing I noticed is that he isn't as pushy as the Anconas so he gets pushed out of the way when they are eating. Maybe he just needs another week of me feeding him separate. (I may have to make that a permanent thing) I dunno. I'm thinking about taking him to a vet if I can. I'm going to see how he does over the rest of the week.

 

[Duckchick2011]

Okay!

I think I figured it out. Botulism, yikes!

Looked up some video's and his symptoms seem to match. Weak legs, trying to walk with wings. If so it's not a terrible case, he certainly isn't as bad off as some of the ducks I saw. Starting treatment as we speak. He is currently enjoying a warm bath in my bath tub and all the yummy food he wants.

He's taking to house life like a duck to water.

We'll see how it goes!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Okay!

I think I figured it out. Botulism, yikes!

Looked up some video's and his symptoms seem to match. Weak legs, trying to walk with wings. If so it's not a terrible case, he certainly isn't as bad off as some of the ducks I saw. Starting treatment as we speak. He is currently enjoying a warm bath in my bath tub and all the yummy food he wants.

He's taking to house life like a duck to water.

We'll see how it goes!

What are you treating him with? do you have any idea what he got into?

Sure hope he gets over it.

 

[Duckchick2011]

What I read on the internet said the most you could do is give him fresh water to flush it out of his system. There are some antibiotics available but they are only good at the very beginning of the disease when there are hardly any symptoms evident. I'm not worried. It's treatable and he looks pretty good despite being a little "off color". The ducks on the internet that got better looked a lot worse off than he does.

I'm trying to figure out just what is causing it. I have some ideas. Could have been the ditch they were playing in. Could be all the rain we had recently making everything soggy and yucky. Just not sure. Right now I have the other ducks in a different pen. It's much dryer.

I'm thinking that he got it awhile back ago. I moved him to a different pen by himself and he got better, I put him back with the other ducks and now a few weeks later he has gotten it again. So it is definitely something in the environment. It might just be the pen that they are in. It likes to stay wet and collect water, which is probably the source of the problem.
It certainly isn't something that can't be fixed though. I'm probably just going to tear that pen down, fill in the low spots and let it become part of the yard again.

Maybe there is something I could sprinkle on the ground to kill the bacteria, but I'm going to have to do more research.

Sigh* At least now I know what I'm dealing with. I'm still thinking about taking him to a vet but they would probably just tell me to do what I'm already doing.

Question: Can ducks have pedialyte?

 

[Miss Lydia]

What I read on the internet said the most you could do is give him fresh water to flush it out of his system. There are some antibiotics available but they are only good at the very beginning of the disease when there are hardly any symptoms evident. I'm not worried. It's treatable and he looks pretty good despite being a little "off color". The ducks on the internet that got better looked a lot worse off than he does.

I'm trying to figure out just what is causing it. I have some ideas. Could have been the ditch they were playing in. Could be all the rain we had recently making everything soggy and yucky. Just not sure. Right now I have the other ducks in a different pen. It's much dryer.

I'm thinking that he got it awhile back ago. I moved him to a different pen by himself and he got better, I put him back with the other ducks and now a few weeks later he has gotten it again. So it is definitely something in the environment. It might just be the pen that they are in. It likes to stay wet and collect water, which is probably the source of the problem.
It certainly isn't something that can't be fixed though. I'm probably just going to tear that pen down, fill in the low spots and let it become part of the yard again.

Maybe there is something I could sprinkle on the ground to kill the bacteria, but I'm going to have to do more research.

Sigh* At least now I know what I'm dealing with. I'm still thinking about taking him to a vet but they would probably just tell me to do what I'm already doing.

Question: Can ducks have pedialyte?

Yes they can electrolytes are good to re hydrate them we have a sticky with info on flushes for Botulism I'll be back.

These flushes have to be administered exactly as prescribed
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/700526/flushes-for-aiding-in-toxin-removal#post_9508213

 

[Duckchick2011]

Thank you!

I'll get to it.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Thank you!

I'll get to it.

I hope you can figure out exactly the cause but I tell you as messy as they can make an area when it's very wet it can get nasty in a hurry. By one of mines water bucket they had drilled into the mud till I ended up putting rocks all around to try and keep the water fairly clean it was about 1/4 mud in the bottom of their bucket . Plus all the poop mixed in to it. It's a wonder mine aren't sick . When I clean their bucket I use white vinegar mixed into the water wash the bucket good then poor the vinegar water over the area that they have used to drill into hoping maybe that will kill some of the bacteria that has accumulated there.

Keep us updated on how your duck is doing please.