Duck- Shock/Help

[staceymal56]

Not sure that my first post went through. I looked and don't see it. : /

I have a duck (pekin) that has been gimping. We have been giving them brewer's yeast in their food. Have seen no visible injuries. It has been able to balance itself after a minute or two, get in/out of pool (Supervised), go in/out of duck house with a small ramp, walks around.

Today the cat got close to the ducks, through a fence, and the ducks got up and began to walk off. The limping duck tried to get up, fell to its side, and began flailing its legs. Since this time the duck lays mostly on its side, saw it drink once, and scoots if moving at all. I picked the duck up to put it by water, but it tried standing flailing its legs and head /neck shifted left to right. There seems to be no balance what so ever. Is the duck in shock (been a few hours) or is it possible the duck had a stroke or something? The duck is about 4-5 weeks of age.

 

[Debs Flock]

Not sure that my first post went through. I looked and don't see it. : /

I have a duck (pekin) that has been gimping. We have been giving them brewer's yeast in their food. Have seen no visible injuries. It has been able to balance itself after a minute or two, get in/out of pool (Supervised), go in/out of duck house with a small ramp, walks around.

Today the cat got close to the ducks, through a fence, and the ducks got up and began to walk off. The limping duck tried to get up, fell to its side, and began flailing its legs. Since this time the duck lays mostly on its side, saw it drink once, and scoots if moving at all. I picked the duck up to put it by water, but it tried standing flailing its legs and head /neck shifted left to right. There seems to be no balance what so ever. Is the duck in shock (been a few hours) or is it possible the duck had a stroke or something? The duck is about 4-5 weeks of age.

Oh gosh! Sorry this happened!! You've come to the right place. Welcome to BYC!

What are you feeding the ducklings? How much brewers yeast do you add to their food? Did the cat come into physical contact or just close visual?

I'll tag some other members that are more knowledgeable than I am. They will probably have more questions. Can you post some video or pics of the little pekin?

@casportpony
@Miss Lydia
@Amiga

 

[Amiga]

My first thoughts. First, @staceymal56 -

Is the little one still with you? What have you done since you posted?

Okay. Could be seizures from B vitamin (especially niacin) deficiency. Some ducklings are just seemingly more sensitive to this than others.

Could be toxins. That includes botulism from getting into dead plant or animal matter.

Could be cardiovascular, though that's a little young for that. But if there are congenital heart problems, could be.

In any case, a quiet, clean safe place with fresh water and food and comfy bedding for rest, preferably where she can see the others or perhaps have one buddy with her.

Poultry vitamins with electrolytes in the water twice a week.

A little brooder-temperature bath time, no soap. At 4 weeks, the duckling would need to have 75 to 75F water to float in, with constant supervision. Watch how she moves, look for injuries or anything out of the ordinary, including odor.

A good duck vet is always best and not always possible.

What is their feed? They have water 24/7? Temperatures? All other ducklings fine?

For toxins, at this point if it has been going on a while I would add charcoal to her drinking water, a teaspoon per pint, though some might think that's not enough - so take a look at the charcoal slurry recipe here
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/700526/flushes-for-aiding-in-toxin-removal#post_9508213

At the same time, remember too much charcoal causes constipation.

If it's niacin deficiency, here is a writeup I prepared to save time.

Response for ducklings with likely niacin deficiency

People often get confused about what to use, so please stick with me here

You have some options.

I would go with brewer's yeast. Forgive me for using capital letters, but for anyone else who may casually look over this thread, NOT baking yeast, NOT winemaking yeast. Brewer's yeast is a nutritional supplement and it provides niacin and a few other vitamins.

Ducklings need about three times the niacin chicks do. And some ducklings get leg problems or seizures if they don't have enough niacin.

If you cannot find the brewer's yeast, or if you happen to have (here come the capital letters again, please forgive me) PLAIN niacin - NOT no-flush, NOT timed release, then dissolve 150 mg niacin per gallon of water for the duckling’s drinking water.

Another approach is to use B Complex capsules, and use the B3 - niacin - levels as a guide. Again, 150 mg B3 per gallon of drinking water.


Keep the little one on the supplements for about 8 weeks.

Sometimes it only takes a few days to see improvement.

You can also see how it went for Qwackers and Bentley from these threads.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/857143/treating-wry-neck-in-crested-duckling-edited-title

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/761308/peking-duckling-with-crooked-neck-help