Duckling dying? please help!

[Amiga]

actually nevermind. there was a tiny tiny bottle of "flush free" 50mg in some random generic brand. is that what i want? it was hidden behind the rest and is the only one here....

I think flush free is another way of saying timed release.

 

[Ekaufee17]

and one final thing... noticing that some of the powdered fruit drink mixes have about 80mg of niacin in them. its almost like a powdered gatoraide. would that work or is that something to avoid?

 

[EJPedrazzi]

I couldn't tell you 100% on the powdered drinks, although I give my ducklings that sav-a-chick stuff which seems to be very similar to Emergen-C - I wonder if that would be an alternative for now? I'll check the ingredients.... Hmm, I think the human stuff has far too much vitamin C and sugar for little ones. I would try and stick to tuna or rice bran for now until you can get regular niacin or duck food

 

[aaajjss1]

makesure the duckie stays warm, give her a hot water bottle or a hot rice bags to lay next to if you need to not too hot but warm

 

[Ekaufee17]

I made a slush of brewers yeast and water and added just a pinch of some low sugar powdered "propel" which is high in niacin as well. She did manage to get some of that down. I crushed up some yeast tablets and sprinkeled it over their food as well, although she still hasn't gone near it. Did have a couple spurts of diarrhea afterwards... not sure if that is good or bad. Put the ducklings back in their brooder in the barn but was wondering if I should have the sick one in my room? The other ones really don't seem to care that they are pushing and shoving her all over the place. Poor thing can barely lift her head...

 

[EJPedrazzi]

Oh good! Hopefully you will see her gain some strength if it is a niacin deficiency.

I would separate her if they're jumping all over her as you don't want her to get crushed, but equally make sure she doesn't get lonely. Is there one other smaller duckling you can put her with? Or maybe even a teddy bear? You certainly don't want to stress her even more.

Good luck and keep us posted

 

[Amiga]

and one final thing... noticing that some of the powdered fruit drink mixes have about 80mg of niacin in them. its almost like a powdered gatoraide. would that work or is that something to avoid?

The commercial drinks like that have so much sodium and sugar, I think that would hurt more than help. Apple cider vinegar (a teaspoon in a quart of water ... just my feeling, not scientific), and a little mashed sardine or tuna (packed with no salt, no oil, no broth, just fish and water) in water to make a "soup" for niacin. Worms have niacin in them. It's generally found in animal matter.

 

[Amiga]

Oh good! Hopefully you will see her gain some strength if it is a niacin deficiency.

I would separate her if they're jumping all over her as you don't want her to get crushed, but equally make sure she doesn't get lonely. Is there one other smaller duckling you can put her with? Or maybe even a teddy bear? You certainly don't want to stress her even more.

Good luck and keep us posted

ditto

I would have her in sick bay with a buddy.

 

[Weep-weep Ducks]

Please keep us posted on how your little duckling fares. I have a soft spot in my heart for khaki campbells, and this is a good learning topic for me, too.

I had a similar issue last year with a khaki duckling who was three weeks old. I knew something was wrong one morning when I filled a shallow kiddie pool and everyone splashed and played except Gaga. She just stood there in the water, motionless, her head pulled close to her body. Took her to the vet that day, they tested a poop sample, nothing wrong. Checked her neck for swelling, nothing there. They gave me some soft kitten/puppy food and syringes so I could feed her slurry to help her keep her strength up, because she wasn't eating her normal chick starter. So I fed her like that for three or four days. But during that time she began to behave almost as if she was 'drunk'; the others would settle in for a nap, and Gaga would stand next to them, wobbly, starting to pitch forward and then catching herself. I cuddled her up a few times to try to help her sleep, the poor thing. Then she started falling over. The first time it happened I got a sick feeling. She would fall onto her back, peeping and legs kicking in the air, and the others seemed frightened by it. Gradually it happened more and more often, and I was desperate to find an answer. Botulism didn't match her symptoms, because her neck wasn't limp; I know I caught sites mentioning vitamin deficiencies (probably here among others), but I didn't know what to give her. It seemed like she was having seizures. For awhile we could get her symptoms to subside by holding her and stroking her head, but over the course of that last night, it just got worse and worse. There is nothing more awful and more draining than a death vigil, be it for a person or an animal. She died sometime in the early morning hours.

I finally tracked down a veterinarian via phone who was on a list of recommended vets by state on Metzer Farm's website. He was the one who recommended Mazuri (tm) waterfowl feeds for my ducks. But when I described what happened to Gaga, he said it actually sounded like West Nile virus. And sure enough, there was an outbreak of West Nile encephalitis in my area last year, in which at least one person died. Reading Storey's Guide to Raising Ducks also supported this conclusion, because the updated edition mentions West Nile symptoms in ducks and it resembled Gaga's symptoms. Problems like botulism kill quickly, but West Nile lingers for days. Unfortunately, when a duck gets that, nothing can be done for them. So our attempts to make Gaga as comfortable as we could were the best thing we could have done.

I hope your duck gets better, and that the niacin does the trick. If I ever run into that problem again, I will be sure to look for non-time release niacin myself. Here's hoping your little one pulls through. Fingers crossed for you,

Sharon

 

[Miss Lydia]

Please keep us posted on how your little duckling fares. I have a soft spot in my heart for khaki campbells, and this is a good learning topic for me, too.

I had a similar issue last year with a khaki duckling who was three weeks old. I knew something was wrong one morning when I filled a shallow kiddie pool and everyone splashed and played except Gaga. She just stood there in the water, motionless, her head pulled close to her body. Took her to the vet that day, they tested a poop sample, nothing wrong. Checked her neck for swelling, nothing there. They gave me some soft kitten/puppy food and syringes so I could feed her slurry to help her keep her strength up, because she wasn't eating her normal chick starter. So I fed her like that for three or four days. But during that time she began to behave almost as if she was 'drunk'; the others would settle in for a nap, and Gaga would stand next to them, wobbly, starting to pitch forward and then catching herself. I cuddled her up a few times to try to help her sleep, the poor thing. Then she started falling over. The first time it happened I got a sick feeling. She would fall onto her back, peeping and legs kicking in the air, and the others seemed frightened by it. Gradually it happened more and more often, and I was desperate to find an answer. Botulism didn't match her symptoms, because her neck wasn't limp; I know I caught sites mentioning vitamin deficiencies (probably here among others), but I didn't know what to give her. It seemed like she was having seizures. For awhile we could get her symptoms to subside by holding her and stroking her head, but over the course of that last night, it just got worse and worse. There is nothing more awful and more draining than a death vigil, be it for a person or an animal. She died sometime in the early morning hours.

I finally tracked down a veterinarian via phone who was on a list of recommended vets by state on Metzer Farm's website. He was the one who recommended Mazuri (tm) waterfowl feeds for my ducks. But when I described what happened to Gaga, he said it actually sounded like West Nile virus. And sure enough, there was an outbreak of West Nile encephalitis in my area last year, in which at least one person died. Reading Storey's Guide to Raising Ducks also supported this conclusion, because the updated edition mentions West Nile symptoms in ducks and it resembled Gaga's symptoms. Problems like botulism kill quickly, but West Nile lingers for days. Unfortunately, when a duck gets that, nothing can be done for them. So our attempts to make Gaga as comfortable as we could were the best thing we could have done.

I hope your duck gets better, and that the niacin does the trick. If I ever run into that problem again, I will be sure to look for non-time release niacin myself. Here's hoping your little one pulls through. Fingers crossed for you,

Sharon

Weep -weep I always thought west nile was spread by mosquito's how could a 3 week old duckling come down with it?or can it spread in other ways too?