Duck with Fused Neck Vertebrae - Suggestions?

[EmilyH419]

I have a very special duck named Sassy who has developed differently from her flock sisters. She's the only Saxony I have in my flock, so it's hard to compare development, but by the time they were a few weeks old I noticed that she was holding her head oddly. I hadn't seen this in her before, so I was worried about her nutrition. I gave her and the other ducklings plenty of Brewer's yeast and other supplements while feeding them non-medicated starter crumble.

At 7 weeks, her head/neck problem was growing more pronounced, so I took her to see a vet. Sadly, the vet told me that two of her vertebrae had fused. Her trachea appears to be straight (according to vet), and she walks around and eats and drinks fine. Recently, however, she has started sitting on the bank of my lake more instead of free-ranging and swimming with her sisters. Before, they would always stay near her and she would swim with them. Now she spends her days by their coop alone. When she tried to call to her sisters, her voice is weak and squeaky. Although she's still eating and drinking fine, I'm worried by the sudden change in behavior. None have laid eggs yet, and I'm worried they're still growing and her neck may be limiting her more.

Is this an issue anyone else has ever had? What do you all suggest for her care?

 

[Granny Hatchet]

welcome to BYC.
@casportpony ? I keep forgetting who does ducks.

 

[Isaac 0]

Sorry to hear about your duck.

I once had a Dominique Cockerel that had a severe deformity in which it looked like his neck was "S" shaped like similar to how your duck looks.

Sadly, around nine/ten weeks of age, his condition declined and he wasn't able to move around well, had problems balancing, became lethargic, so I figured the best thing to do was to put him down.

I think the most you can do with these types of birds is just offer them the best supportive care you can provide, and just take it week by week and see how it goes. Supportive care, would include setting out multiple feeding and watering stations for her, offering it to her often, if she doesn’t seem to bathe by herself, do some supervised playtime in water to keep he hygiene up, as to avoid lack hygiene-related problems like sticky eye, wet feather, etc.

 

[Ratchnick]

How old is your duck? Any grey on the head?

 

[EmilyH419]

How old is your duck? Any grey on the head?

She turns 11 weeks tomorrow. She might have a little grey, but it's hard to tell.