Duck acting weird

[Serina1]

I am new to ducks, just got our first two this spring. Now our white layer, is acting weird and I have no idea what to do or what could be wrong. She was walking around this morning, then suddenly collapsed and couldn’t get up. She could move her legs but they didn’t hold her up. I gave her a dose of poultry drench vitamins, she stood right up and walked like nothing happened. Then this afternoon she was walking out in the front yard, and her legs just went weak again. She laid there for 5 minutes and then got up and walked away. I am so confused on what is going on. Thank you in advance for help!

 

[Isaac 0]

Sorry to hear about your duck.

Could you post a video of her doing this? To post a video, you'll need to upload it to a video platform like yotube or vimeo, then copy/paste the link here.

How old is she? What is/ and has she been fed as a diet? Have you checked up and down her legs for signs of swelling, bruising, discoloration, splinters, etc?

 

[Serina1]

Sorry to hear about your duck.

Could you post a video of her doing this? To post a video, you'll need to upload it to a video platform like yotube or vimeo, then copy/paste the link here.

How old is she? What is/ and has she been fed as a diet? Have you checked up and down her legs for signs of swelling, bruising, discoloration, splinters, etc?

I haven’t videoed her little episodes yet. All I have is one of her after when she was panting.
she is about 5 months old. She gets purina duck pellets, she is free range in our yard during the day, then in a coop at night. She does get peas and green beans, because she loves them. I have looked all over on her and there is no signs of bruising , or cutsor scrapes.
we have noticed that when it happens it’s when she lays flat (like when she is in like a mating pose) then all of a sudden she can’t get up, her eyes get wide and she starts to kind of squeak

 

[Isaac 0]

I haven’t videoed her little episodes yet. All I have is one of her after when she was panting.
she is about 5 months old. She gets purina duck pellets, she is free range in our yard during the day, then in a coop at night. She does get peas and green beans, because she loves them. I have looked all over on her and there is no signs of bruising , or cutsor scrapes.
we have noticed that when it happens it’s when she lays flat (like when she is in like a mating pose) then all of a sudden she can’t get up, her eyes get wide and she starts to kind of squeak

Has she laid any eggs yet? Does she sometimes "splay" her legs out backwards when she lays down? Are these the only kind of symptoms you're seeing? How does her abdominal area feel, hard, soft?

 

[Serina1]

She started laying on September 4th. She laid a soft shell egg on the 5th, then nice eggs for a few days, then yesterday morning a super small egg with a hard shell and a small soft shell egg. None today.
She never lays with her legs spread back. When she has had her episodes today she kept trying to stand but kept falling over so I would go sit with her and pet her to calm her down and then after a bit she would get up. The last episode was the worst, she couldn’t stand for at least 45 minutes.
she is eating great, drinking water, looks great. Her abdomen was soft when I felt it. Just these weird episodes and panting.

 

[Isaac 0]

Before, I make an actual suggestion I would like to see a video of her doing this. So, this is just me thinking out loud.

Since she has a recent past history of laying deformed eggs (nothing uncommon with new layers) there is a possibility that she has been attempting to pass an egg today, but is having difficulty due to the abnormal shape of the egg, whether it be a soft egg, or an abnormally large egg we don't know. What can happen with these abnormally shaped eggs, is sometimes they'll end up pressing up against the bird's obturator nerve located near their pelvic cavity.

If there is a decent amount of pressure against the Obturator nerve, this can sometimes cause short term paralysis of the legs. The problem tends to resolve itself overnight, but you may be able to help by administering a calcium supplement like Tums, calcium citrate, or calcium gluconate.

Here is some info on Obturator paralysis.

http://www.majesticwaterfowl.org/mm...lysis is more common,or who lay abnormal eggs.

 

[Serina1]

Thank you! If she has another episode I will definitely film it (didn’t think of that at the time) I will definitely give her a calcium supplement. She does get oyster shells but doesn’t seem to like them much. I tried yogurt once and she just flung it everywhere . She just had me baffled on what’s going on. And no avian vets near me thank you for your help!

 

[Serina1]

Well she hasn’t had a episode so far since 4:30 yesterday afternoon. She laid this egg at 8:30 this morning. It’s her smallest one yet. I am hoping this was the problem but I will have to wait and see. She ate pellets and her lettuce and peas this morning, drinking great.

 

[Serina1]

this is one of her episodes, or part of it. It lasted three minutes. She kind of whines during it and just sits there looking scared and her feet twitch a bit then stands up and acts fine