Little Doe Homestead
Chirping
- Aug 28, 2020
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We have a Cayuga drake on our farm, he's about 4 months old. He'd been doing great ( already bigger than our 2yo runners and khakis), but within the last few days he's shown some concerning symptoms. I guess anytime an animal experiences symptoms suddenly, it's cause for concern. We've had high hopes for the guy as our breeding stud and we don't have another drake - not to mention, he's a cutie and we love him.
A while back, I started to notice that he'd been losing his voice. Now, when he quacks, it's very quiet and strained. This began maybe 10 days ago. Around the same time he began to limp. At first it was mild and I figured he'd improve, but today it's dramatic and he struggled to get to a spot outside and then just stayed there, even during feeding. I've been trying to administer a vitamin b complex pill, so that we can cross niacin deficiency off the list. We feed all of our birds turkey feed this time of year, since we mostly raise them and it makes feeding more convenient. We've just placed an order for duck feed and will no longer be taking the easy way out. However, I'm also not convinced it's nutritional since none of our other 20 ducks show any ailments at all.
Can someone please help us? Could these two problems be related? What should we be treating him for/with. We have a real soft spot for our duckies and it's really heartbreaking to see him limp, flop, and use his wings as a crutch all while he's straining to vocalize, but barely making a sound.
A while back, I started to notice that he'd been losing his voice. Now, when he quacks, it's very quiet and strained. This began maybe 10 days ago. Around the same time he began to limp. At first it was mild and I figured he'd improve, but today it's dramatic and he struggled to get to a spot outside and then just stayed there, even during feeding. I've been trying to administer a vitamin b complex pill, so that we can cross niacin deficiency off the list. We feed all of our birds turkey feed this time of year, since we mostly raise them and it makes feeding more convenient. We've just placed an order for duck feed and will no longer be taking the easy way out. However, I'm also not convinced it's nutritional since none of our other 20 ducks show any ailments at all.
Can someone please help us? Could these two problems be related? What should we be treating him for/with. We have a real soft spot for our duckies and it's really heartbreaking to see him limp, flop, and use his wings as a crutch all while he's straining to vocalize, but barely making a sound.