Duck acting drunk, wobbly head

[ethelandfred]

This morning my male duck went from completely fine to stumbling and losing his balance and acting like he was drunk.

Upon picking him up his neck/head was bobbing and listing backwards and all around. His beak and feet were hot to the touch.

I immediately thought poisoning or botulism because I had no idea what else could cause this. I syringed some molasses and then some charcoal slurry into him, put him in a tote and let him calm down. I syringed more charcoal into him an hour or so later, he was still wobbly and reeling but seemed better. His droppings were loose but normal colored and foamy.

An hour after that he was standing and his head was no longer bobbing.

I brought him back out with his mate and he drank some, ate a little lettuce (he is usually a glutton) his balance is still a little off but he is feisty again and getting more charcoal into him proved to be a chore.

His droppings are now liquid and white. I'm very confused as to what this could be. The pair is housed separate from but with goats and they occasionally get into the goats bedding and poo (much to our dismay) we just fixed this but I'm curious if that could have even have been a cause.

Any ideas?

 

[ethelandfred]

Could a stroke or seizure be the culprit? I'm at a loss.

 

[casportpony]

Can you take him to a vet?

-Kathy

 

[ethelandfred]

Can you take him to a vet?

-Kathy

Unfortunately no, I would like to but there aren't any within my vicinity. The closest is hours away.

 

[ethelandfred]

I've done a lot of researching but his symptoms seem to range from botulism/poisioning to seizures to Mareks to Cocci. I'm at work now but plan to keep a watchful eye on him when I'm home to check his eating habits/droppings.

Is there anything I should be giving him antibiotic wise? I have been putting acv in the water and adding rolled oats to their feed because my female still has loose droppings from when she was ill but her symptoms weren't the same and she took a full week to even get back to herself.

 

[ethelandfred]

I should mention too that while his head was bobbing it would also settle on his back with his eyes staring straight up. He has stopped doing this, but at the time he couldn't hold his head up or straight.

 

[eggorthechicken]

Not sure how old he is but I had one duck hatch out with similar symptoms. It hatched late also. I gave it electrolytes and within a few hours it was fine and never did it again. Again, this was right after hatch.

 

[ethelandfred]

Not sure how old he is but I had one duck hatch out with similar symptoms. It hatched late also. I gave it electrolytes and within a few hours it was fine and never did it again. Again, this was right after hatch.

Fred is about a year old, not completely sure as he just showed up one day out of the blue. It was a very weird expierence for sure to go from a-okay to this almost seizurey/drunk state. Thanks for the reply!

 

[ethelandfred]

He is eating quite well and acting himself but these are some droppings, the top was in the pen and bottom outside. I'm concerned about this limey/green color? What could cause this?

 

[casportpony]

Can you put him in a pen and feed him nothing but crumbles? If after that he is still pooping green I would be suspicious of a bacterial infection.

-Kathy