Dizzy Twitchy Clumsy Crested Duckling

[BeastyBird]

Yesterday I took home a pair of very young ducklings with problems from the local feed store, a lame runner duck and a dizzy crested duck.

At first I was really concerned the crested had something serious and contagious, or maybe wry neck. It walks low to the ground, holds its head a bit too much to one side, is twitchy/shivery almost all the time, stumbles to one side as it walks and frequently ends up on its back.

Thing is the duckling does not act sick as it loves to play in a tray of water, eats, grooms and flaps its little wings.
And so it occurred to me to look up if its condition was related to the breed as I know silkies are more prone to head injury if they have a vaulted skull...
...what I found horrified me.

It seems crested ducks can have all kinds of issues including those plaguing Dizzy and symptoms can get worse with time and never better, and Dizzy is already pretty bad.

As horrible as this news is at the very least it seems I do not have a duck with a horrible contagious condition and that I did not bring home a risk to my current birds yes?

Has anyone else out there had a crested duck plagued by genetic problems? And if yes can you elaborate on their symptoms?
Is there anything I can do for Dizzy besides give it a chance and hope it adapts?


EDIT: oops this was supposed to be posted under ducks, sorry

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

That's great that you rescued those ducks!

I don't really know what you can do for it, but just make sure it's not trampled by the other ducklings.

 

[BeastyBird]

That's great that you rescued those ducks!

I don't really know what you can do for it, but just make sure it's not trampled by the other ducklings.

Yeah when I asked the feed store what they were going to do with them they could not give me a straight answer so I told them "give them to me free and I will give them a chance" and they obliged. They likely would have just been rid of them D:

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Maybe you shouldn't introduce the 2 new ducks to the other ones, because they might be picked on or trampled or they might still have a disease.

 

[BeastyBird]

Maybe you shouldn't introduce the 2 new ducks to the other ones, because they might be picked on or trampled or they might still have a disease.

The other ducks are from the same store from the same pen ("hatchery mix") so if it is contagious the damage has been done. There are 6 total in a nice big plastic kiddy pool full of straw (so there is soft bedding for Dizzy to land in and only round edges to run into) and so far there is no trampling at all, if anything Dizzy is the one banging them around actually!

Now, I do have chickens and I do worry every time I bring in new birds that I will bring in a contagion, thing is at best I can keep these guys 50 feet away from the chicken run. I know 100 feet is ideal but I figured any distance is better than none, and thankfully all signs are pointing to Dizzy's issue being genetic.

 

[BeastyBird]

Sorry I got a little preachy, I just feel so bad for Dizzy.

I am not condemning people that buy crested ducks or those who breed them in responsible ways to try and avoid the problems (such as breeding crested to non crested) what I am saying is that I personally will never buy one or ever breed them now that I know the facts

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

I feel so sorry for that poor duck. But it's great that your giving it a chance.

 

[BeastyBird]

I am not sure if it would help much but I have called the feed store I got the duck from and told them they need to inform the hatchery. I am hoping the hatchery may be able to reevaluate their breeding stock and prevent another Dizzy from being born.