Anyone have a guess at what could be wrong with my duck? Video & pic

[Happyflower]

My rescue duck (4-5 weeks old) seems to have really small wings and I am wondering if that could cause balancing problems in walking. The wings seem to be the same size as when she was 1 week old, even though his body has quadrupled. Here is a photo of her swimming and doesn't it seem like she is too low in the water?

She is still having troubling falling over when she walks, and I thought it was since she tried to escape her cage and hurt her legs. It has been almost a week and while improving, she is still having problems. Nothing is swollen or hot to the touch and her legs look the same. I touch her all over and nothing seems sensitive. But a week ago she was walking and exploring all around me when I would sit down with her outside. Now she wants to just stay sitting next to me. Other than the shaking problem she has had since she was found, nothing else seems abnormal. She is getting niacin and electrolytes in her water with water fowl feed mixed half and half with oats. She seems happy and even when she flips over and can't get back up, she seems happy to just lay there, not stressed like she used to. She even tried to fall asleep one time.

Here is a video of her walking before she stopped wanting to so much.

 

[duckyfromoz]

She does seem unbalanced and shakey...But I really couldnt say what the cause of that could be other that vitamin deficiencies or some neurological.

 

[nettie]

is she low in the water right off the bat or is that after a few minutes? Being low in the water seems to happen with ducks that are a little waterlogged (usually with my ducks its due to them being lazy about preening... perhaps she can't preen well due to her balance issues?)

The little dinky wings sounds pretty normal for her age. The wings seems to be the last thing to grow.

As for what you can do.... Definitely supplement her diet with brewer's yeast or niacin. You should be able to get one or the other from a grocery store or feed store. You can also give her vitamins (you can give her baby vitsmins as long as they don't have iron. You can also put some pediolyte (electrolytes for kids) in her water to help her out.

 

[Happyflower]

Well she starts out this low swimming and gets worse after about 5 minutes or so, but the picture is from the 3rd time swimming and she is actually up a little higher than the first and 2nd time. It is hard for her to preen herself unless she is wedged against something like a stuffed animals in her cage. She seems like a little porcupine since all her feathers are coming in.

I am giving her Merrick's Blue Ribbon electrolyte pack in her water with added niacin. Should I give her additional vitamins too? I have been finding bugs outside for her yesterday and she LOVES them, little slugs, grubs, rolly pollys... She gets water fowl food starter un-medicated(24%) mixed half and half with oatmeal. She doesn't see to like peas though. She has had a little lettuce, but that doesn't seem all that nutritious.

I am hoping she just has a strained leg muscle and letting her rest for a couple more weeks will heal it up and letting her swim will keep it loosened up. I just don't know, she started off with that shaking problem from the very start and has really improved in controlling herself and was getting stronger. But one day I put her in a cage and she escaped through the wires to come to me and since then she has trouble walking. The video is a day before she started to have trouble walking.

 

[kitkatbahr]

I hope she is ok. What a cutie.

With the peas, have you tried squishing them for her? That is how I started my little Pekin on them, and she loves them now. They are warm too, when I give them to her. LOL I take them out of the freezer, put them in a container in the fridge in water (enough for a few days) so they thaw. Then when I feed them to her, I take out what I want to feed her and put in a small bowl, run hot water over them to warm them up from being in the fridge. Leave them set for just a minute so they are warm, not hot (or cooked), drain off the water, then feed them to her. She didn't like them cold right from the fridge. Spoiled ducky! LOL


Also, I got her romaine lettuce and feed her the dark green parts of that, but not the harder, crunchy part. I think it is better for her than regular lettuce as it has more vitamins, etc. That too, is something my little one goes nuts for.

Good luck with her.

Kathy

 

[Happyflower]

Thanks Kathy,

I will try to warm them up, she is treated like a queen!

I have romaine in the fridge, so I will try that too.

 

[spamee34]

I think sometimes they drink too much water and do become waterloged. Usually when my ducks are waterloged it begins to run out their mouth as if they are throwing up. Then I just let em go with out for a few hours till they are normal again. It does look like she has a balance issue tho so maybe she can grow out of it with the vitamins if not she really should be in shallow water .