Duck with diarrhea

[MegDaphneChuck]

One of my ducks was acting withdrawn and not eating on Saturday. I separated her from the flock and monitored her for about 24 hours. She still was not eating and barely drinking. Then she passed bright green diarrhea, so I took her to the vet. Exam revealed that she was not egg bound. They gave fluids, tube fed her and I believe gave her an injection for possible parasites. I was sent home with antibiotics for a possible GI infection. Unfortunately, she died by the next morning.

Naturally, I was devastated and concerned about the rest of the flock. I pulled each one out individually and observed their poop. One of the other girls had brown liquidy diarrhea and I isolated her. Yesterday her appetite was good, and she ate regular feed with oats mixed in, and did pass some more normal looking stools and I started her on the antibiotic as a precaution. Today she is still energetic, squawking up a storm, but not eating much. But now the diarrhea is clear liquid.

I have an appointment with a vet in a few hours, but I'm wondering if anybody has any idea of what could be going on. I love all my ducks and I can't bear the thought of losing any of them.

 

[Isaac 0]

How did your vet visit go?

Diarrhea can be caused by several problems. If you have a vet near, it may be good to start with a fecal flotation to rule out internal parasites, and a presumptive gram stain to check the bacteria load in her stool.

 

[MegDaphneChuck]

The vet prescribed Panacur as a dewormer for 3 days. She recommended regular feed, and Gatorade or Pedialyte instead of water to replenish electrolytes.

We'll see how it goes. Silver doesn't appear to be eating much, but she is drinking and her energy is good.

 

[Isaac 0]

The vet prescribed Panacur as a dewormer for 3 days. She recommended regular feed, and Gatorade or Pedialyte instead of water to replenish electrolytes.

We'll see how it goes. Silver doesn't appear to be eating much, but she is drinking and her energy is good.

Let us know how it goes.

 

[Isaac 0]

Just as a note for the Gatorade, and Pedialyte. Bacteria grows very well in it, so make sure to replace the mixture daily.

 

[MegDaphneChuck]

I took Silver back to the vet yesterday because she wasn't improving and actually seemed a bit worse. The vet prescribed Flagyl (fully explained) and gathered a fecal sample. Fecal floatation is negative for parasites, but we're still waiting on results for Giardia.

She's still not eating on her own, so today I've been basically "spoon feeding" baby food mashed peas, Ensure vanilla and Pedialyte to her. She hates me, lol, but the food is going down.

 

[Isaac 0]

I took Silver back to the vet yesterday because she wasn't improving and actually seemed a bit worse. The vet prescribed Flagyl (fully explained) and gathered a fecal sample. Fecal floatation is negative for parasites, but we're still waiting on results for Giardia.

She's still not eating on her own, so today I've been basically "spoon feeding" baby food mashed peas, Ensure vanilla and Pedialyte to her. She hates me, lol, but the food is going down.

Let us know if the Metronidazole works. The bright green feces you were seeing sometimes suggest there is an infection of sorts at play.

You may consider weighing her daily to see if she's getting enough food inside her still. A 5 -10% decrease in weight over a few days suggest tube feeding.

 

[MegDaphneChuck]

Update -- Silver wasn't showing much improvement on Saturday, so I took her back to the vet. I'm now feeding her Oxbow Critical Care Herbivore feeding formula by syringe. Today she has really perked up and actually made a few pretty normal stools, but she's not eating on her own, other than some random peas.

Giardia test results won't be back until Monday.

The vet recommended Panacur for the rest of the flock too, and I'm done with half of them. Feeling more optimistic...

 

[MegDaphneChuck]

Silver continues to improve! Her stools are pretty solid now, energy is good and she's happily eating thawed peas. I'm still syringe feeding her, as she's still not interested in eating her feed. I let her out in the yard to visit the rest of the flock (at a distance) and she joyfully greeted everyone and took a long bath in the pool. She has one dose of Flagyl left.

The rest of the flock is doing well, and I'm almost done with Panacur for them. Still awaiting Giardia results.

 

[Isaac 0]

Thanks for the update, glad to hear she is doing better.