Quackersmom
In the Brooder
This will be long winded but I want to give you as much information so that you may be able to assist me quicker and better. Thank you in advance for reading my post and helping me.
Ok first off I live in Florida. Our temps average 75-95 degrees each day.
I have wanted ducks all my life, I have also been trying out homesteading and trying to start growing my own food, considering chickens and veggie plants. I started with tomatoes. Successfully grew 2 tomato plants. So far the caterpillars keep eating them so I am dealing with that. Anyhow I got a duck. From a feed store locally. It was about 4 weeks old when I bought it. She is 6 weeks old this coming wednesday. She is a Buff. I kept her inside my home for the first week or so because she hadn't gotten her feathers yet. Bought her a pen and put her outside intermittently throughout the day for about a week to get her acclimated to our weather. She was directly on my grass which I do not use ANY pesticides because I have other animals too. During the hottest part of the day and if it stormed real bad I would bring her inside. She is eating Game & Bird Grower feed which was premixed with some sort of grit from the feed store. She has a small pool and a waterer and feeder in her pen. When not in the grass she was on pine shavings. The feed store told me I did not need to supplement because her food had niacin in it, but it is unmedicated.
Here comes the problems.
On Saturday we put her pen on our porch because it looked like it was going to storm. Around 8PM my dog was outside and alerted me to a commotion with the duck. (The dog could not get to the duck because her pen is completely closed in top and bottom and all sides) but he was barking at the duck. I walked outside to see what was going on and found the duck on its back with its legs up. I gently turned her back right and calmed her down. I brought her inside and checked her whole body to see if she got hurt somewhere. Nothing appeared to be wrong. No blood or bones poking out. Neck and legs were fine. Wings and all seemed perfect. She seemed dazed tho. So I let her stay in the house and she immediately went to the corner under my desk and just stood there facing the corner. She is normally very active, talkative and social. so this behavior is completely not normal. I sat with her for an hour trying to make sure she was alright when suddenly she started freaking out! she was flopping like a fish out of water running, falling and flailing around. I had friends over so they checked on the internet while I "corralled" her to make sure she couldn't hurt herself. I thought at once that it was a seizure. Research on this site confirmed it for me. I was able calm her down and she made it through the seizure. I immediately moved her stuff inside and put her in my bathtub. She has had about 10 seizures since then as well. During one of them she hurt her wing, looks like a broken feather. She bled a little. I stipened it with flour and it seems ok now.
So first thing sunday morning my husband and I went searching for Niacin, based on research done here that stated it may be a nutrient deficiency. The feed store I bought her at was closed. NO one had the niacin recommended. I couldn't find Brewers yeast either. So I went to tractor supply and bought new food, durmor chick starter/grower which has niacin in it. I noted that the ducks poo was neon green and severely watery. She was still drinking and eating very little.
Today I went to the feed store as soon as they opened and double checked the food situation. They didn't have niacin or brewers yeast either but they had Save-A-Chick electrolite and probotic. I bought them and mixed up them in a gallon of water. Followed the directions. She drank some immediately. I have not seen her eat today but her poop is harder and browner. Not neon anymore and not as watery.
I am currently on amazon trying to find the right supplement. I found tons of different kinds of both niacin and brewers yeast. I am leaning towards the brewers yeast bc I have two other baby ducks that are 2 weeks old(kept separate) and I want to supplement them ahead of time. I am completely lost on what kind to get. There are so many options!
Can anyone suggest a brand etc? Also, I am not going to be taking this duck to the vet. I have spent 2 nights coming to this conclusion. I don't want her to suffer. I will do what I can within my means. These ducks are supposed to be pets first. To get us used to farm life before we delve into chicks etc. Once I start supplementing if she doesn't start getting better I am going to need to put her down. I couldn't possibly do it on my own. Does anyone have any suggestions on places that would either take her as a rescue or put her down?
Thank you so much again for taking the time to read all of this.
Ok first off I live in Florida. Our temps average 75-95 degrees each day.
I have wanted ducks all my life, I have also been trying out homesteading and trying to start growing my own food, considering chickens and veggie plants. I started with tomatoes. Successfully grew 2 tomato plants. So far the caterpillars keep eating them so I am dealing with that. Anyhow I got a duck. From a feed store locally. It was about 4 weeks old when I bought it. She is 6 weeks old this coming wednesday. She is a Buff. I kept her inside my home for the first week or so because she hadn't gotten her feathers yet. Bought her a pen and put her outside intermittently throughout the day for about a week to get her acclimated to our weather. She was directly on my grass which I do not use ANY pesticides because I have other animals too. During the hottest part of the day and if it stormed real bad I would bring her inside. She is eating Game & Bird Grower feed which was premixed with some sort of grit from the feed store. She has a small pool and a waterer and feeder in her pen. When not in the grass she was on pine shavings. The feed store told me I did not need to supplement because her food had niacin in it, but it is unmedicated.
Here comes the problems.
On Saturday we put her pen on our porch because it looked like it was going to storm. Around 8PM my dog was outside and alerted me to a commotion with the duck. (The dog could not get to the duck because her pen is completely closed in top and bottom and all sides) but he was barking at the duck. I walked outside to see what was going on and found the duck on its back with its legs up. I gently turned her back right and calmed her down. I brought her inside and checked her whole body to see if she got hurt somewhere. Nothing appeared to be wrong. No blood or bones poking out. Neck and legs were fine. Wings and all seemed perfect. She seemed dazed tho. So I let her stay in the house and she immediately went to the corner under my desk and just stood there facing the corner. She is normally very active, talkative and social. so this behavior is completely not normal. I sat with her for an hour trying to make sure she was alright when suddenly she started freaking out! she was flopping like a fish out of water running, falling and flailing around. I had friends over so they checked on the internet while I "corralled" her to make sure she couldn't hurt herself. I thought at once that it was a seizure. Research on this site confirmed it for me. I was able calm her down and she made it through the seizure. I immediately moved her stuff inside and put her in my bathtub. She has had about 10 seizures since then as well. During one of them she hurt her wing, looks like a broken feather. She bled a little. I stipened it with flour and it seems ok now.
So first thing sunday morning my husband and I went searching for Niacin, based on research done here that stated it may be a nutrient deficiency. The feed store I bought her at was closed. NO one had the niacin recommended. I couldn't find Brewers yeast either. So I went to tractor supply and bought new food, durmor chick starter/grower which has niacin in it. I noted that the ducks poo was neon green and severely watery. She was still drinking and eating very little.
Today I went to the feed store as soon as they opened and double checked the food situation. They didn't have niacin or brewers yeast either but they had Save-A-Chick electrolite and probotic. I bought them and mixed up them in a gallon of water. Followed the directions. She drank some immediately. I have not seen her eat today but her poop is harder and browner. Not neon anymore and not as watery.
I am currently on amazon trying to find the right supplement. I found tons of different kinds of both niacin and brewers yeast. I am leaning towards the brewers yeast bc I have two other baby ducks that are 2 weeks old(kept separate) and I want to supplement them ahead of time. I am completely lost on what kind to get. There are so many options!
Can anyone suggest a brand etc? Also, I am not going to be taking this duck to the vet. I have spent 2 nights coming to this conclusion. I don't want her to suffer. I will do what I can within my means. These ducks are supposed to be pets first. To get us used to farm life before we delve into chicks etc. Once I start supplementing if she doesn't start getting better I am going to need to put her down. I couldn't possibly do it on my own. Does anyone have any suggestions on places that would either take her as a rescue or put her down?
Thank you so much again for taking the time to read all of this.
