Duck unable to walk- acting drunk

[Nomoreducks]

I have a 4 month old harlequin that has been having episodes where he struggles to walk. He is fine one minute and the next he is floppy and discombobulated when trying to walk. It’s hard to explain so I’ll post a video if I can. He flaps his wings haphazardly and unevenly while moving his legs close to the ground. Then he sits and his wings held crooked, neck and head listing to the left and tail feathers posing to the left. When picked up he feels very limp or weak. It’s like he had a seizure or is partially paralyzed during these episodes.

The first time it happened two days ago, the incident occurred over the course of only 10 minutes or so. Then he was able to walk and hold his wings normally. The other ducks were bullying him really badly as well because they knew he was sick. The next day as soon as we let them out of the coop they started bullying him in the enclosure and then I realized he was having another episode. This second episode observed lasted almost the entire day.

I took him to the vet that same morning of the second episode and he had no clue what was wrong. I’ve never been to an avian vet before but I’m pretty sure this doctor was the worst! I wonder if he’s actually ever even seen a duck in his office before. So that said, I can’t really go off of anything that this guy said or did not say. The vet gave us some antibiotics and sent us home. However I’m not really sure he has an infection of any kind. At the vets office he just sat quietly on the table without any one holding him down which was quite odd. After returning home from the vet we isolated him in our garage and I’ve been monitoring him closely. He seems weak and has not been eating or drinking very much.

Today- the third day- he’s not had an episode yet. He was brought out to forage with the rest of the flock and I’ve had to keep the others from bullying him but he seems to be acting somewhat normal even if he is apprehensive and weak.

Could this be a parasite causing some neurological issues? It’s not a steady decline as he will have these episodes and then appear to be OK and walk like normal.

Some basic facts- our ducks are enclosed in a coop during the night. They have an enclosure with sufficient water food and pools which they stay in for about four or five hours a day. The remainder of the time they are out foraging on our property. They usually stay in the yard and at the edge of the wooded areas. No other duck out of the seven are experiencing any issues like this. They eat purina duck pellets and get weekly treats from the kitchen. We have been raising this little guy since he was about 7 weeks old. The only other thing I can think to say is that we have been dealing with mites for about a week now and I have been using permethrin spray to treat both ducks and their habitat.

 

[Nomoreducks]

 

[Nomoreducks]

 

[Nomoreducks]

 

[Regina Larsen]

Coming and going is odd. Does not look like seizure activity, just ataxia.
Selenium/e deficit or pasturella?
Any change with the meds?

 

[Crazy Maizie]

@HollowOfWisps
@Miss Lydia
@Isaac 0

 

[Miss Lydia]

Can you explain how you are putting the permethrin on them and their coop? Asking because maybe your drake is having a reaction to the Permethrin?
Do they have swimming water all the time? usually, if ducks have swimming water they rarely get mites. My chickens had mites a few times and my waterfowl never did.

Have you ever given your duck's niacin? I would continue to give the antibiotic but I would also go and get Liquid B complex and if your duck is eating good. Place 1 ml onto a nice tasty treat like mealworms or something he really likes. Don't put it into his water because it dilutes it too much.
I'd also stop using the Permethrin.
Of course I may be way off base here but you have to start somewhere to figure out what is going on.

 

[Nomoreducks]

Coming and going is odd. Does not look like seizure activity, just ataxia.
Selenium/e deficit or pasturella?
Any change with the meds?

He has not had any episodes since Friday. And I believe he started eating and drinking more. Whether it’s a correlation to the antibiotic is to be seen.

 

[Nomoreducks]

Can you explain how you are putting the permethrin on them and their coop? Asking because maybe your drake is having a reaction to the Permethrin?
Do they have swimming water all the time? usually, if ducks have swimming water they rarely get mites. My chickens had mites a few times and my waterfowl never did.

Have you ever given your duck's niacin? I would continue to give the antibiotic but I would also go and get Liquid B complex and if your duck is eating good. Place 1 ml onto a nice tasty treat like mealworms or something he really likes. Don't put it into his water because it dilutes it too much.
I'd also stop using the Permethrin.
Of course I may be way off base here but you have to start somewhere to figure out what is going on.

This little guy has not had an episode since last Friday- the day he went to the vet. So far so good and only missed one dosage of antibiotics thus far!

We followed the dilution ratios on the bottle and sprayed the coop and the enclosure. We added new straw and pine pelleted bedding after it was nearly dry. Ducks were free ranging during the spraying. The next day we followed the dilution ratio’s to spray directly on the ducks and sprayed with a spray bottle 1 to 2 squirts under each wing, back of neck, and above vent. That same day we still saw a bunch of mites in their coop so we cleaned it out and sprayed everything again thinking we didn’t do such a good job with our bottle sprayer. This second application to the coop and enclosure was applied using a gallon sprayer ( the kind that you would use for pesticides- it was brand new). It was 2 days after spraying ducks and 2 days after spraying coop that the drake had his first episode. We never saw any mites on the ducks but we thought we should spray in case we they were there but just not able to be seen.

They do have access to swimming pools all the time. I asked the vet to see if he saw any mites on the drake when he was in for his appointment and he did not find any but he still advised us to spray them again. So we sprayed all the ducks same as before one week after first application. I’m not going to use the permethrin on the ducks anymore because I just don’t feel the need. However I do want to try and rid their coop and enclosure as we have indoor/outdoor dogs. What would you recommend in-lieu of the permethrin?

I’m not sure that this duck has received enough niacin. I didn’t raise him from duckling. I got him when he was just starting to get his big boy feathers with four 1 year old harlequin females. About once a week I give niacin to the flock on a plate of kitchen treats but he’s at the bottom of the pecking order so I’m not sure he is getting much of that. They have access to purina duck pellets all day. I’ll have to find some liquid B complex and see if he’ll eat what I give him- I know he likes strawberries. He’s still not as people friendly as the ones raised by me from ducklings. Can I get the liquid b at a pharmacy or will the dosage be different if not formulated for animals?
Thank you!!

 

[Regina Larsen]

This little guy has not had an episode since last Friday- the day he went to the vet. So far so good and only missed one dosage of antibiotics thus far!

We followed the dilution ratios on the bottle and sprayed the coop and the enclosure. We added new straw and pine pelleted bedding after it was nearly dry. Ducks were free ranging during the spraying. The next day we followed the dilution ratio’s to spray directly on the ducks and sprayed with a spray bottle 1 to 2 squirts under each wing, back of neck, and above vent. That same day we still saw a bunch of mites in their coop so we cleaned it out and sprayed everything again thinking we didn’t do such a good job with our bottle sprayer. This second application to the coop and enclosure was applied using a gallon sprayer ( the kind that you would use for pesticides- it was brand new). It was 2 days after spraying ducks and 2 days after spraying coop that the drake had his first episode. We never saw any mites on the ducks but we thought we should spray in case we they were there but just not able to be seen.

They do have access to swimming pools all the time. I asked the vet to see if he saw any mites on the drake when he was in for his appointment and he did not find any but he still advised us to spray them again. So we sprayed all the ducks same as before one week after first application. I’m not going to use the permethrin on the ducks anymore because I just don’t feel the need. However I do want to try and rid their coop and enclosure as we have indoor/outdoor dogs. What would you recommend in-lieu of the permethrin?

I’m not sure that this duck has received enough niacin. I didn’t raise him from duckling. I got him when he was just starting to get his big boy feathers with four 1 year old harlequin females. About once a week I give niacin to the flock on a plate of kitchen treats but he’s at the bottom of the pecking order so I’m not sure he is getting much of that. They have access to purina duck pellets all day. I’ll have to find some liquid B complex and see if he’ll eat what I give him- I know he likes strawberries. He’s still not as people friendly as the ones raised by me from ducklings. Can I get the liquid b at a pharmacy or will the dosage be different if not formulated for animals?
Thank you!!

I use powdered brewers yeast in feed daily. For oral B (plus e) you can get infant Poly-Vi-Sol *WITHOUT* iron.