foxytinlizzy
In the Brooder
- May 13, 2019
- 8
- 19
- 14
Hello this is a Hail Mary for me so I really hope somebody can steer me in the right direction. My friend and her family were/are victims of the recent flooding. She brought some duck eggs in an incubator over to my house as the water was rising. She is still trying to obtain housing, but of all the eggs, only one hatched (on March 22nd.) I have zero experience with ducks but I love all animals and am tending this duck until she secures a new home.
Alfie (the duck) has been strictly a house duck and was thriving - he (or she...not sure but suspect a female) has quality feed and grit and water as well as cracked corn and mealworms etc. He gets at least 2 baths daily in the bathtub, has his own toys, and sleeps in an open plastic tote right next to me that I fill with paper shreds for bedding + towels. During the day he is either on the floor on old towels and puppy pads or in the tub. If I go anywhere, Alfie comes with me. Spoiled is not even the word for it!
Now for the emergency - and let me preface this with the fact that there is absolutely no veterinarian to treat him - avian, yes. Waterfowl, no. I even paid for the online Ask-A Vet and did not receive an answer! - Exactly 7 days ago, Alfie just stopped eating altogether. He still drinks ample water, plays, swims, etc. No food. No grit. No treats. Nothing. I thought ok maybe he has an upset stomach and he will eat tomorrow. Nope. So then I felt his crop and did not feel anything hard in there but I massaged it firmly anyway in case there was something that needed to get moving. Third day I started adding a broad spectrum bird antibiotic to the water thinking maybe he has a hidden infection. No change. 5th and 6th day I was panicked and tried gatorade but he didnt go for it. Then I put some honey in his water and that gave him a boost. Obviously I have no intention of tube feeding him because I don't want to asperate him. So, yesterday morning I went out and bought some Ensure Plus and an eyedropper. Not gonna lie, it is a struggle, but I manage to get his bill open, and will drip 5-7 drops on the back of his tongue at a time. Then he shakes his head and some goes all over and I hope the rest went down his throat. I don't want to forcefully shoot the Ensure down his throat, but a couple times I actually got him to swallow it. Today he is lively and talking up a storm. Still refuses food. Oh I forgot - He has been and still is pooping all week - obviously with no food it has been yellow to green to white and sometimes dark. But always diarheaa.
I have read countless articles but I am now so lost I don't know what to do at this point. Oh Also, 2 nights ago, I didn't think he would survive the night, as he started violently shaking his head and having weird episodes where he would chatter his bill, start shaking his head, then run full speed in any direction until he hit the wall or one of us could grab him to stop him. He did that for about 6-8 hours. The next morning (yesterday morning) he was normal again and has not had any head shaking since! Hopefully that will be a symptom to help shape your answer/advice. I just came across the flushes information, but need advice - If he is suffering a poisoning, it has been 7 days...would a flush even do anything? He is in the bathtub right now talking and paddling around - we gave him an eyedropper full of Ensure this morning - But the new symptom was he also drank a ton of water this morning and started to vomit - I figured it would just be water BUT it was brown and was mostly liquid but there were a few chunks of brown as well. The Ensure was strawberry and pink and he didnt vomit any yesterday. Could this be old blood (internally)? Like I said, any advice or point me in the right direction here, because I am flying solo on this one - Thank you in advance for any help you guys can offer!
Kristin
Alfie (the duck) has been strictly a house duck and was thriving - he (or she...not sure but suspect a female) has quality feed and grit and water as well as cracked corn and mealworms etc. He gets at least 2 baths daily in the bathtub, has his own toys, and sleeps in an open plastic tote right next to me that I fill with paper shreds for bedding + towels. During the day he is either on the floor on old towels and puppy pads or in the tub. If I go anywhere, Alfie comes with me. Spoiled is not even the word for it!
Now for the emergency - and let me preface this with the fact that there is absolutely no veterinarian to treat him - avian, yes. Waterfowl, no. I even paid for the online Ask-A Vet and did not receive an answer! - Exactly 7 days ago, Alfie just stopped eating altogether. He still drinks ample water, plays, swims, etc. No food. No grit. No treats. Nothing. I thought ok maybe he has an upset stomach and he will eat tomorrow. Nope. So then I felt his crop and did not feel anything hard in there but I massaged it firmly anyway in case there was something that needed to get moving. Third day I started adding a broad spectrum bird antibiotic to the water thinking maybe he has a hidden infection. No change. 5th and 6th day I was panicked and tried gatorade but he didnt go for it. Then I put some honey in his water and that gave him a boost. Obviously I have no intention of tube feeding him because I don't want to asperate him. So, yesterday morning I went out and bought some Ensure Plus and an eyedropper. Not gonna lie, it is a struggle, but I manage to get his bill open, and will drip 5-7 drops on the back of his tongue at a time. Then he shakes his head and some goes all over and I hope the rest went down his throat. I don't want to forcefully shoot the Ensure down his throat, but a couple times I actually got him to swallow it. Today he is lively and talking up a storm. Still refuses food. Oh I forgot - He has been and still is pooping all week - obviously with no food it has been yellow to green to white and sometimes dark. But always diarheaa.
I have read countless articles but I am now so lost I don't know what to do at this point. Oh Also, 2 nights ago, I didn't think he would survive the night, as he started violently shaking his head and having weird episodes where he would chatter his bill, start shaking his head, then run full speed in any direction until he hit the wall or one of us could grab him to stop him. He did that for about 6-8 hours. The next morning (yesterday morning) he was normal again and has not had any head shaking since! Hopefully that will be a symptom to help shape your answer/advice. I just came across the flushes information, but need advice - If he is suffering a poisoning, it has been 7 days...would a flush even do anything? He is in the bathtub right now talking and paddling around - we gave him an eyedropper full of Ensure this morning - But the new symptom was he also drank a ton of water this morning and started to vomit - I figured it would just be water BUT it was brown and was mostly liquid but there were a few chunks of brown as well. The Ensure was strawberry and pink and he didnt vomit any yesterday. Could this be old blood (internally)? Like I said, any advice or point me in the right direction here, because I am flying solo on this one - Thank you in advance for any help you guys can offer!
Kristin
