Duck cant walk! Wont eat!!

[jmc]

Dear Bleenie, do I feel for you!!!

I can only offer you my support on this one.

hang in there--and your scovy boy, too.

I know you've had some tough duck times lately, if i remember correctly.

peace

 

[Bleenie]

He's started using his legs a little bit, he was picking himself up some yesterday.

he's been eating quite a bit more and still drinking tons of water. he's still pale though.

His poop was REAL poop yesterday too!!! i dont think ive ever been so excited over POOP!

He is still on the back porch under a light & seems to be doing a lot better. I can't think of anything that would have scared him & their coop door is only about 1ft off the ground.

i checked for broken immediately though, he didnt feel painful anywhere on his legs... I am still baffled as to what happened, unless the cold did sieze up his leg joints and it's just taking a really long time to loosen them up.

 

[keeperofthehearth]

Oh, that is good news, Bleenie!

Sounds like Sidney will come around given some time and rest. You know he could have fallen fm a roost or banged himself into something if he was flying/trying to fly.

I've had a few of my girls take off when they were soaking wet and NOT quite make the carport or house roof, banging into the wall and falling smack down onto the cement drive 8'-10' below. Scared me half to death! I also had a young Scovy sometime back that went lame practically overnight. He could barely walk and kept dragging himself everywhere. I was going to catch and put him somewhere to rest quietly by himself but he'd panic everytime we almost caught him which I was afraid was going to do more damage to him than leaving him alone. When I gave out treats, especially of peas, I would try to get close to him and make sure he got extra.

After about a week of dragging himself around, (& it was painful to watch ), almost overnight he got better and I couldn't tell him apart fm some of his other siblings. I never did figure out exactly what happened to cause him to go lame but him getting better suddenly made me wonder if he hadn't "slipped" something and he was able to get it to pop back into place.

that Sidney continues to get better, that his color will improve & that he will be back to his old self soon

for you & please keep us posted.

 

[Bleenie]

He very well could have run into a post trying to fly around on the inside of the run, or caught the roost and fell. everyone else just got their wings clipped when we moved them but since hes been all 'sickly' he hasnt yet. he will be as soon as he goes outside though!!

He's holding his feet flat & putting weight on them & his legs so i am VERY hopeful, he just needs to get more food down him. he's eating now but not like he normally would.

thanks for the support everyone!! i would have had a breakdown if i'd lost him! it was hard enough losing my drake, Blue, last year.

 

[Bleenie]

He's making 'duck noises' again now too!!!!

 

[jmc]

Bleenie, that is great. However odd it seems.

And Barb, I must add you in here, also:

thank you both for the information about your odd temporarily lame birds. Good to know about

and to hear your thoughts about poss. causes.

I actually had wondered maybe that Sidney (sp?) might have had a stroke. But I happily see that is not the case!!!

 

[keeperofthehearth]

He's making 'duck noises' again now too!!!!

Go Sidney!!!!! I am soooo glad that Sidney seems to be on the mend. Keep us posted on his progress.

Does his color seem any better?​

 

[anothercrazychick]

I'm wondering if he didn't have a "touch" of botulism. Botulism is especially common in waterfowl, as they are always mucking about in mud and decaying guck on the ground (my ducks' water bucket is just atrocious within hours of giving it to them). With a full blown case of botulism, survivability is poor. However, with a mild case, the bird may well survive, but it takes many days, if not weeks for the bird to show drastic improvement. Signs of botulism (acute poisoning): paralysis or weakness in the legs, progressing up to the wings, then to the neck. A bird that is big trouble will not be able to swallow, due to paralysed muscles in the neck, and they can even start to drool. They will lose appetite completely, as well. http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/19/botulism Paralysis comes on quickly - usually within 6-10 hours of eating whatever it is that contained C. botulinum bacteria. Not every bird gets the same symptoms and some may not have an acute case of poisoning (and thus, lesser symptoms).

Although it's too late to treat him with a charcoal flush now (needs to be done immediately upon seeing the first symptoms) I'll post instructions on how to give one in case you ever see these symptoms again. I'm not 100% positive by any means that this is what your duck has, but it's worth it to know what to do if you ever need to do a charcoal flush.


Flushing toxins using activated charcoal:

Go to your pet supply store and pick up activated charcoal (for fish tanks). Crush up into a very fine powder, about 3 tablespoons. Mix this with half a cup or so of water- enough that the charcoal is mostly suspended but not so much that you've diluted it too much. Now, while you're at the pet supply store, pick up some airline hosing too (again, for fish tanks). You'll also need a catheter tip syringe, 35 cc. Measure the distance from the duck or chicken's bill to the crop (in a duck's case, the length of the neck or about 10-12 inches). Cut the hose to this length and make sure the end isn't sharp. Fit the other end onto the syringe (you may have to heat the end of the tube to fit it onto the catheter tip syringe). Suck up a full syringe full of the charcoal mixture, making sure that you suck all the liquid out of the tube before you stick it down their throat. Open the bird's mouth- at the back of the tongue, there's an opening, called the glottis. This is the opening to their windpipe and NOTHING should ever go down this opening. As long as you avoid this hole, you'll be fine. Wet the tube, then slide the tube down the throat (someone is holding the bird now). If you hit resistance, stop- if you are far enough down the throat, administer the fluids slowly. If not and you still have a lot of the tube sticking out, then pull back and gently slide it down again. Sometimes it's just the position of the neck that causes problems. Administer the 35 cc or however much the bird can take. Do it slowly enough that you can monitor if any fluids are coming back up the throat. If this happens, pull the tube out (pinching the tube so no further fluid comes out) and drain the birds throat and mouth, then lift the head up to allow the bird to breathe. This doesn't happen very often, especially if you are careful. To increase effectiveness of the charcoal, repeat this procedure every 6 hours for 24 hours.

Laura

 

[Bleenie]

UPDATE:
Sidney can turn around by himself now & is standing (more of a squat) a little. hes eating a lot more & drinking regularly...good poop!

he's being good & staying in the low container he's been in. he's still using his wings to keep his balance, but only when he turns. his color is getting better, slowly.



Thanks so much Laura, i appreciate the info!

they get 2 tubs of water, refilled everyday but i just replaced those with a large waterer, so that it would stay cleaner & fresher. it very well could have been what you mentioned, since i didnt change to the waterer until after Sid came in.

everyone else is still doing just great. they got moved out into a bigger pen & coop for the winter, i didn't want to keep them with the chickens because of the mess.

i will keep everyone posted on how hes doing in the next few days.

 

[Bleenie]

Here's a picture of him "standing". you can see how pale he still is, but thank goodness its getting better.