Baby Duck Having Seizures

[zombieduck]

On Wednesday night my Rouen chick (I'm not sure how old she is maybe around 11-10 weeks?) had a seizure at around 9:30 pm. I was letting her stay in a cardboard box with her mate and I heard a loud thump from inside as I let them sleep in my room for just that reason in case anything goes wrong.

When I looked inside she was on her back and her mate was standing on her (which I'm sure didn't help!) so I set her out on the floor upright and she sat there completely dazed for about 30 seconds before just "snapping out of it". At this time I didn't know it was a seizure and moved them into a larger storage container having no idea what was happening.

I will say the box was too small for them but they throw an absolute fit if I tried to put them anywhere else (i.e. the storage container) to allow them more space and the female duck would go as far as to jump straight up and out so it was literally impossible for me to house them there.

Moving along about three hours later after the first thump I heard another only this time when I checked I saw the cause. The female was sitting with her legs straight back behind her and her head laid back as far as it would go, her eyes rolling back and forth. All obvious signs of a seizure.

I tried comforting her for about 10 minutes or so and not long after that I went to bed but I stayed up since each time she had another seizure she would hit the inside of the storage container and I knew what was happening. I let her mate stay with her to avoid any excess stress and this continued until she had a really bad seizure at around 5:50 am at which point I had to actually remove the other duck so he wasn't injured by her as she had fallen onto her side and was kicking as fast as her legs would go.

At this point I decided to move them outside into a cage where I put them during the day since the sun was coming up anyway. I kept a check on her about every 30-40 minutes after that but as far as I could tell she didn't have another seizure after going outside. I always change out the bedding in the box where they sleep everyday and rinse out their cage outside everyday sometimes twice to avoid any disease.

For most of yesterday she just stood around with her head tucked back into her shoulders drinking water but not eating. Towards the end of the day she seemed to maybe be getting some energy back and I decided to leave her outside overnight in the cooler air because that seemed to help. This morning, however, she's back to the same thing. Standing around in the back corner not cuddling with her mate or paying any attention to him (which if you've seen them at all up until this point you'd know that's highly unusual.) Her droppings are green and watery and I still don't know that she's eating anything as she didn't show any interest this morning when I refilled their food dish which tells me she probably isn't.

I also noticed that her feathers are still wet from yesterday which is a sign she isn't grooming - possibly from before I woke up to check on them but I'm not 100% sure on that. It almost seems like food poisoning considering the other duck shows no signs of infection from something like dirty bedding. I don't have shavings in the cage outside I will say - I just lay under pending on the floor and rinse off the poop when I have to as that's all I have access to. I noticed also this morning that her feathers seemed dirty so it could have been from having seizures again last night (again no way of knowing for sure.) I wish I could keep them inside for observation but I don't have anything big enough to avoid injury to them for me to do that. I tried putting her in the tub this morning - more to rinse off the funk from last night than anything - where they like to swim but she just kind of sank and stood there for a second before jumping out. That's how you know something is wrong if she doesn't want to go for a swim. She honestly seemed to be getting better yesterday now I'm not sure..

Might she have gotten too hot and dehydrated in the box? Or eaten something off the ground? I only let them out on the ground under my supervision but it's hard to tell what they're eating with their faces buried in the grass. Another thing to note before I go is that she seemed really hot almost feverish leaning over her in the storage container I could feel heat radiating off of her. Could have been nothing but just thought I would mention it.. I'm really scared of losing her because I've worked really hard taking care of the two of them since I got them at Rural King last month and I know it will devastate her mate more than anything if she dies.

UPDATE: Can confirm that she is having seizures this morning and now she doesn't seem to care about drinking water either

 

[chickens really]

What type of shavings do you use?

 

[zombieduck]

What type of shavings do you use?

I don't have any shavings

 

[chickens really]

Hmmmm?.........Sorry....

@Amiga

 

[zombieduck]

Hmmmm?.........Sorry....

@Amiga

To clarify I use paper in the box they used to sleep in inside and I just rinse out the cage they stay in outside when necessary as I said above. I will add that I saw her have another seizure this morning and she isn't drinking now either I don't think..

 

[Miss Lydia]

@zombieduck Have you been adding any brewers yeast or Niacin to their feed since they were ducklings? Most of us have to feed our ducklings chick starter and it doesn't contain near the amount of niacin a duckling needs for proper leg health and to keep them from having neurological problems which could be why your seeing seizures at her age now. I'd rec getting some " plain niacin" not time released or flush free it has to be plain or Brewers yeast/Nutritional yeast and start giving that to her and your drake also. Or you can also try a B complex vitamin from Walmart or some other store that sell human vits
if using niacin you'll need to give them 150mgs a day mixed into 1gal of water. If you use B/N yeast it's 1 Tab per cup of feed. This maybe something entirely different than a niacin issue but we have seen some great recoveries from giving either of these. You need to move asap though in starting these those seizures sound rough on her.

 

[zombieduck]

@zombieduck Have you been adding any brewers yeast or Niacin to their feed since they were ducklings? Most of us have to feed our ducklings chick starter and it doesn't contain near the amount of niacin a duckling needs for proper leg health and to keep them from having neurological problems which could be why your seeing seizures at her age now. I'd rec getting some " plain niacin" not time released or flush free it has to be plain or Brewers yeast/Nutritional yeast and start giving that to her and your drake also. Or you can also try a B complex vitamin from Walmart or some other store that sell human vits
if using niacin you'll need to give them 150mgs a day mixed into 1gal of water. If you use B/N yeast it's 1 Tab per cup of feed. This maybe something entirely different than a niacin issue but we have seen some great recoveries from giving either of these. You need to move asap though in starting these those seizures sound rough on her.

I've always fed her meat bird crumbles and never just plain chick starter. I did decide to put a little apple cider vinegar in her water since I've seen more than one person say it works to perk their ducks up when they're unwell and I think I even saw something about helping with poisoning/infection if that's what it is? I thought it might be a niacin problem but then I saw it usually happened with ducks that had only plain chick starter available to them and much younger than mine :/

 

[Miss Lydia]

What is the niacin content in your meat bird crumbles it maybe enough. ACV is a good tonic for our birds and us but I don't think it will cure seizures.

 

[zombieduck]

What is the niacin content in your meat bird crumbles it maybe enough. ACV is a good tonic for our birds and us but I don't think it will cure seizures.

I can't find it anywhere on the bag or doing a google search as the niacin content. Also I have an odd suggestion (not that I would just give it to them!) but I have a drink enhancer that I use that has vitamin b3, b6, and b12. However, it has high caffeine content and it says not to give to children so I can't imagine it would be safe for a duck but I was wondering what your thoughts were? I'm freaking out and that's all I have with vitamin b in it right now.

(Or if that's even the type of vitamin b she needs for that matter..)

 

[Miss Lydia]

No caffeine is poisonous to animals. Try and get some B complex crush it up and give her that in her water. mix it real good. Make sure what you buy has at least 150mgs of niacin in it.