duck hunched, raspy voice, and wet feather?

[tonilynw]

Hi,
my current vet is not taking new duck patients and the closes place is a hour away. Was wondering if any body has advice.
he's hunched over, raspy voice, doesnt really quack- its more of a whisper, ive washed him down with dawn soap and blown dry him to help get rid of wet feather. I have a video of how he walks below. I give him brewers yeast daily, I give fresh water and electrolytes and probiotics in another water container along with veggies and watermelon. I help him in the kiddie pool to swim around daily. 2 videos, one he's whispering, the 2nd he's walking. 3 pictures.
thanks in advance

 

[Crazy Maizie]

How long has this been going on? What feed is he on?

I can't say for sure what is wrong as it could be anything if its a male. If it were me, I would cut out all treats and only feed him his feed for now. I would give him nutri-drench which is a vitamin complex supplement. I would also stop with the baths for now as if he's not feeling well, it's not helping. If he has wet feather, its probably a secondary symptom to whatever is causing the main issue. You can just cleanse the oil gland with dawn dish soap to help clean it. Plus, you need to take away any bathing water while they get over wet feather - just keep out containers that they can dunk their heads in, but not climb in.
I would dose him with b3 for his niacin needs - brewer's yeast is ok, but not enough if there is a real deficiency. Nutritional yeast has more vitamin b3 content than brewers, but at this point it might help to give him liquid vitamin b3 to help get it into his system.
Make sure he has fresh water available in addition to the water with electrolytes. Some don't recommend probiotics all of the time since most feeds contain them. I only supplement with probiotics when there is an issue.

 

[tonilynw]

How long has this been going on? What feed is he on?

I can't say for sure what is wrong as it could be anything if its a male. If it were me, I would cut out all treats and only feed him his feed for now. I would give him nutri-drench which is a vitamin complex supplement. I would also stop with the baths for now as if he's not feeling well, it's not helping. If he has wet feather, its probably a secondary symptom to whatever is causing the main issue. You can just cleanse the oil gland with dawn dish soap to help clean it. Plus, you need to take away any bathing water while they get over wet feather - just keep out containers that they can dunk their heads in, but not climb in.
I would dose him with b3 for his niacin needs - brewer's yeast is ok, but not enough if there is a real deficiency. Nutritional yeast has more vitamin b3 content than brewers, but at this point it might help to give him liquid vitamin b3 to help get it into his system.
Make sure he has fresh water available in addition to the water with electrolytes. Some don't recommend probiotics all of the time since most feeds contain them. I only supplement with probiotics when there is an issue.

its been going on for about a month or a little longer. the feed is called "purina flock raiser".
The duck walks around, but not nearly as much as my other duck. I believe my other duck is a female. She doesnt look anything like this duck. It breaks my heart to see the duck like this. would you know if there's anything I can give him/her to help push any parasites out?
can I order nutri drench on amazon? or chewy? is there a certain brand for b3 to give him/her? I wouldn't want to give the duck something they shouldn't have.
thanks.

 

[Crazy Maizie]

Flock raiser is good, but I would definitely get the b3. To my knowledge, if its liquid any would work. The capsules could be "flush free" and you don't want that because it goes through their system too fast.
I'm not sure if nutri-drench can be ordered from those places, but tsc and other animal sites would have it or even a local farm store.
Females have a loud quack from my understanding, males have more of a whisper quack.
I have muscovy, so their sounds are a bit different.
Hopefully some one else will jump on here to help you out as well.

 

[Crazy Maizie]

This thread has a similar situation - with good advice: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/hunched-up-duck.806530/

You could perhaps try a charcoal flush, it would help to flush toxins out if he got into something he shouldn't have. The thread explains how to do that as well.

 

[Crazy Maizie]

Oh, also is he eating ok and poo look normal (for a duck)?

 

[Crazy Maizie]

Here's a good resource for niacin and ducks.

https://metzerfarms.blogspot.com/2011/03/are-my-ducklings-leg-problems-due-to.html

 

[tonilynw]

Oh, also is he eating ok and poo look normal (for a duck)?

what's normal poop for a duck? im new to owning ducks. Also, the charcoal flush seems a little dangerous for me to do myself. I asked my coworker (he use to work on a farm with ducks) if he would be willing to help me do the charcoal flush and he told me that he didn't want to help just incase the duck end up dying :/ ill have to do more research on it. Im sorta surprised on the little information im able to find about ducks on the internet.. unless im looking in the wrong spots haha. Thanks for your input! I really appreciate everything. I really want to help the little guy out.
EDIT: yes, duck seems to be eating and drinking. walks around here and there but not as much as my other duck. I bought Nutri-drench today. I put that in the ducks water with mealworms to encourage the duck to feed on the Nutri drench. Its difficult to feed directly in the ducks mouth.

 

[tonilynw]

Here's a good resource for niacin and ducks.

https://metzerfarms.blogspot.com/2011/03/are-my-ducklings-leg-problems-due-to.html

I don't think my ducks legs look anything like this

 

[Crazy Maizie]

Normal just means anything that isn't neon or blood seen in feces. As far as the charcoal flush, I would do a search here. Many have done it and it isn't harmful, but I've never done it - so can't give advice on the implementation. I was just giving it as an alternative in case the duck has gotten into something that it shouldn't.
I would just give it the nutri-drench and niacinfor now and see if there is improvement and then go from there.
A good resource for ducks is Storey's guide for ducks.