Duck running in circles tilting it's neck.

[tactilecontact]

I'm going to check around tomorrow. I know there are several in the area, but I don't think anyone is available for small livestock/birds at this time of night.

 

[Lil Drake40]

Please keep us updated

 

[tactilecontact]

Will do! Thanks for the support and advice!

 

[tactilecontact]

Still no change with her condition. I kept her penned away from the other ducks while I was at work. I did also leave her some eletrolyte water to drink.

When I looked in on her, it seemed as if she hadn't drank much if any. My husband helped me to force feed some of it into her with a dosing syringe, three of them; she did swallow some, but not sure how much.

It also looks as though she hasn't pooped.
As she has just recently come off a nest, is it at all possible for her to be egg-bound so severely as to cause this sort of behaviour? Should I start treating her with yogurt and warm bath in the house?

 

[Lil Drake40]

If she has just finished up brooding she probably isn’t laying yet. It usually takes 3-4 weeks to start laying after brooding. A warm bath might give you an idea how she is feeling today. If you can afford a vet that would be the way to go

 

[MaxwellHouse]

Is there anyway she ingested something like pesticide or herbicide? I forced fed one duck using tubing with massive amounts of charcoal and water. She was acting crazy and I know some of my ducks will try to eat anything. I had to do something and the charcoal did cause her to use the bathroom a lot and within 24 hours she was fine. Well, she wasn't fine but noting acting crazy. I still had to force feed her food and water as she would not eat/drink on her own. She eventually made a full recovery and I never found out what happened. She may have not eaten anything but drank some dirty water. Botulism can grow quickly in a pond from only one dead fish.

 

[tactilecontact]

The only thing I've used in my garden - and for the first time ever - is neem oil. But I read so many reviews that said it's safe around animals. I even made sure to buy an eco safe dish detergent to mix it with. Seventh Generation. I sprayed it on my vegetable plants after I locked the ducks up for the night, and it should've been dry by morning.

It was the following day that her symptoms did show up. Have you ever heard of neem oil being dangerous to poultry?

 

[tactilecontact]

Oh, and the pond we have is just one of those kidney shaped garden pools, set up on a platform. We do change the water regularly, and we don't keep any fish in it.

 

[MaxwellHouse]

I think neem is safe as per Pubmed studies they are using neem extract as treatment for various poultry diseases.

 

[tactilecontact]

Well, she's inside my upstairs bathroom for the night. Still lethargic, but seems slightly better.

I gave her another syringe of electrolyte, plus just to be thorough, forced a couple syringe fulls of diluted plain yogurt on the off chance it was egg-related. I understand that the average is 3-4 weeks, but I did have an indian runner who came back into lay just shy of two weeks from brooding last year. She ended up egg-bound too; Portabella still has a funky swagger.

Anyway, my ailing girl now - her name is Peaches, by the way - I followed up the yogurt with a warm bath and massaged her tummy. She did expel some pretty ugly stuff into the tub. And she has perked up a little. She at least had enough awareness and coordination to attempt drying herself, which is something she couldn't do six hours ago when I put her in the pond to rest her legs (and so the rest of the flock could be let into the duck house for feed).

Here are pictures of the materials she squeezed out in the tub. There's hardened poop masses, both white and yellowish stuff, and even a bit of clear stringy stuff that sort of looks the consistency of egg white. It looks like what Portabella pooped out last year after she was egg-bound, so I don't know what else to make of it.