Call duck acting off

[FunnyfarmMidwest]

I have a female call duck aged around 9 months old. She is acting really lethargic and sick today and has been off for the past couple days I’m not sure what could be wrong with her. She’s really lethargic, I picked her up and she didn’t try to fly she just put her head down, I noticed she had a slight limp a couple of days ago but it seemed to get better. The bottoms of her feet look ok and I couldn’t feel anything wrong with her leg. I just don’t know what’s wrong with her and I’m at a loss. Some help would be greatly appreciated. She doesn’t want to fly and won’t do much at all. I’m terribly worried.
@Isaac 0
@Pyxis
@casportpony
@WVduckchick
@Miss Lydia

 

[FunnyfarmMidwest]

I also notice that she is holding her head close to her body. She is eating and drinking and still walking around with the other ducks. I will add that I’m not sure when she last laid an egg because they always hide them.

 

[HalfWayUpAMountain]

Hi there and I am sorry you have a poorly duck.

Do you have an area where ducky can be contained and still see the others ? I would feel inclined to seperate and monitor intake and outputs for a while as well as givem ducky a rest.

I do like to throw in vits to their water with some honey or adding to their food (a bit like people really !).

I hope your duck improves soon.

 

[FunnyfarmMidwest]

Hi there and I am sorry you have a poorly duck.

Do you have an area where ducky can be contained and still see the others ? I would feel inclined to seperate and monitor intake and outputs for a while as well as givem ducky a rest.

I do like to throw in vits to their water with some honey or adding to their food (a bit like people really !).

I hope your duck improves soon.

I do have a shed that I could bring her into, but I feel that that would stress her more. I will add that she is eating, drinking, and pooping fine. I checked to see if she was egg bound but I didn’t feel anything. I’m really at a loss as to what could be wrong with her... maybe Issac will see this soon and have an idea...
I will add some electrolytes to their water.

 

[Pyxis]

I was going to suggest egg binding, but if you didn't see evidence of that, maybe not. Still might be worth getting some calcium gluconate into her.

Do any parts of her leg with the limp look red, or swollen, or are they hot to the touch?

This will sound gross but check her over really well for wounds and possible flystrike. The flies have been really bad this year and I've dealt with two cases myself, one a pekin drake that was given to me because the owner didn't know what to do and the other a Call drake that I caught very early. Especially check around her vent. If she's been laying around a lot she might have a buildup of poop, which is what a fly might lay its eggs in.

Have you noticed if she is pooping? If so, can you get a picture of the poop?

 

[Isaac 0]

Sorry to hear about your duck.

I would agree that bringing her into a confined area where feed and water are near would be best. If you feel she might get stressed bringing her inside, instead, you can set her in the coop, inside a dog kennel where she can at least see and hear her other flock mates.

Since sick birds tend not to eat as much, they're metabolic enegery levels tend decrease, which often results in a lowered body temperature. Therefore, some sort of supplemental heat (heating pad) in place, might be good depending on what the current temperatures are in your area. Watch for signs of overheating.

Before you set her in, I would highly suggest getting a baseline weight on her now using a food scale so you can track if she's losing any weight.

Do you have any pictures of her poop? Could you post a few pictures of her, or better yet a video? How does her abdominal area feel, hard, soft ? Could you feel up and down her legs for signs of swelling, bruising, warmness, etc? Have you done a full-body physical examination on her for anything abnormal?

 

[FunnyfarmMidwest]

I was going to suggest egg binding, but if you didn't see evidence of that, maybe not. Still might be worth getting some calcium gluconate into her.

Do any parts of her leg with the limp look red, or swollen, or are they hot to the touch?

This will sound gross but check her over really well for wounds and possible flystrike. The flies have been really bad this year and I've dealt with two cases myself, one a pekin drake that was given to me because the owner didn't know what to do and the other a Call drake that I caught very early. Especially check around her vent. If she's been laying around a lot she might have a buildup of poop, which is what a fly might lay its eggs in.

Have you noticed if she is pooping? If so, can you get a picture of the poop?

Thanks much for replying. I checked her and her leg over very well but found nothing. Nowhere in her leg was hot to the touch or swollen. No wounds present and no fly strike that I found. I am very familiar with flystrike because my rabbit had it. Yes she is pooping and it looks normal. I’ve attached a picture of her poop from this morning. I will try to pick up some calcium gluconate. I just don’t know what is wrong with her. She does seem a bit better tonight thankfully.

 

[FunnyfarmMidwest]

Sorry to hear about your duck.

I would agree that bringing her into a confined area where feed and water are near would be best. If you feel she might get stressed bringing her inside, instead, you can set her in the coop, inside a dog kennel where she can at least see and hear her other flock mates.

Since sick birds tend not to eat as much, they're metabolic enegery levels tend decrease, which often results in a lowered body temperature. Therefore, some sort of supplemental heat (heating pad) in place, might be good depending on what the current temperatures are in your area. Watch for signs of overheating.

Before you set her in, I would highly suggest getting a baseline weight on her now using a food scale so you can track if she's losing any weight.

Do you have any pictures of her poop? Could you post a few pictures of her, or better yet a video? How does her abdominal area feel, hard, soft ? Could you feel up and down her legs for signs of swelling, bruising, warmness, etc? Have you done a full-body physical examination on her for anything abnormal?

Sorry to hear about your duck.

I would agree that bringing her into a confined area where feed and water are near would be best. If you feel she might get stressed bringing her inside, instead, you can set her in the coop, inside a dog kennel where she can at least see and hear her other flock mates.

Since sick birds tend not to eat as much, they're metabolic enegery levels tend decrease, which often results in a lowered body temperature. Therefore, some sort of supplemental heat (heating pad) in place, might be good depending on what the current temperatures are in your area. Watch for signs of overheating.

Before you set her in, I would highly suggest getting a baseline weight on her now using a food scale so you can track if she's losing any weight.

Do you have any pictures of her poop? Could you post a few pictures of her, or better yet a video? How does her abdominal area feel, hard, soft ? Could you feel up and down her legs for signs of swelling, bruising, warmness, etc? Have you done a full-body physical examination on her for anything abnormal?

I just went out to check on her at 7 and to my surprise she was honking up a storm and running around with the others. She still isn’t acting completely herself so I will continue to monitor her closely. I have left her with the others as of now because it’s supposed to stay above 70 degrees. I will see if I can get a food scale to weigh her. She is eating, drinking, and pooping well. I posted a picture of her poop above. I will post some pictures of her in the morning. She is also holding her head higher this evening. I felt her abdominal cavity earlier and it normal in comparison to my other female. I didn’t feel anything hard. I also felt up and down her legs. No swelling or bruising but I did notice one leg felt colder. I did examine her. I found something odd. She will NOT spread her wings away from her body. She tried to get up on my deck by jumping and would not open her wings like she always does. She also did not fly with the other ducks today. I gently tried to extend her wings away from her body a bit but I could tell she didn’t like it and her wings were shaking like she has something hurt in her wings or under them. I didn’t find anything but I didn’t want to keep looking and stress her out so I put her back in the duck house.

 

[FunnyfarmMidwest]

Do you think she could have been flying and landed wrong and injured herself. That’s the only thing I can think of.

 

[FunnyfarmMidwest]

Today she looks not good again like she did yesterday morning. She is holding her one wing very low to the point that it is almost touching the ground. I just dont know what could be wrong with her.