Duck sudden paralysis and death

[WhiteTreeOfGondor]

This morning when I let my ducks out, one of my Ancona girls tried to follow the others but kind of fell out of the coop instead. When she tried to walk she fell forward stiff with her legs stretched behind her. I picked her up and checked her over but didn't see any injury. She took a few steps after that but then just stood still and very stiff. She was also trembling. I moved her to a quieter coop but she died within a couple hours. It was very sudden. I locked them up a bit late last night when I got home, so I just counted them and didn't notice if she was having issues then. But earlier in the day she had been fine. She also laid an egg last night that was in the coop this morning. I don't know if it was a sickness, internal injury, shock, or what. Does anyone know what could have caused such sudden horrible symptoms? I thought maybe botulism at first, but she was stiff and not floppy.

 

[ruthhope]

Sad for your girl and you. I don't know what happened

 

[Miss Lydia]

I’m very sorry. It’s so hard to know what happened since they are so good at hiding things from us many times until it’s too late. A necropsy would be the only way of knowing.

 

[Pollo Blanco]

Sounds like poisoning, based on the elimination of being egg bound.

 

[WhiteTreeOfGondor]

Sounds like poisoning, based on the elimination of being egg bound.

I also thought maybe it was lead poisoning and she had eaten some BB pellets, as my brother had been shooting some in the area. I checked the container and they are steel with zinc coating, but they do say "this product can expose you to lead" on the back.

 

[Magnolia Ducks]

This is symptoms of botulism as well. I would check to make sure you don't have any mouldy feed or anything rotten she could have eaten.

 

[Pollo Blanco]

I also thought maybe it was lead poisoning and she had eaten some BB pellets, as my brother had been shooting some in the area. I checked the container and they are steel with zinc coating, but they do say "this product can expose you to lead" on the back.

I was thinking something possibly a food item. Unfortunately avocado got a couple of my ducks a few months back.

 

[WhiteTreeOfGondor]

I was thinking something possibly a food item. Unfortunately avocado got a couple of my ducks a few months back.

Oh no. I know you're not supposed to give them avocado but I didn't know it could actually kill them . We were gone almost all that day so no one gave them any food scraps. I don't know of anything she could have gotten into, but I wouldn't rule it out.

 

[WhiteTreeOfGondor]

This is symptoms of botulism as well. I would check to make sure you don't have any mouldy feed or anything rotten she could have eaten.

I give them fresh feed daily, but I wondered about botulism because things have been hectic lately and their big pool is overdue for a cleaning. I penned the other ducks out of it until I can get to cleaning it just in case. Can botulism be a stiff paralysis rather than floppy though?

 

[Pollo Blanco]

I give them fresh feed daily, but I wondered about botulism because things have been hectic lately and their big pool is overdue for a cleaning. I penned the other ducks out of it until I can get to cleaning it just in case. Can botulism be a stiff paralysis rather than floppy though?

There is a rigor mortis period after death, and it eventually goes away.