Duckling with cloudy eye & won't walk!

[awarmrainyday]

I have a 6 week old duckling who was raised by her mother and has been out and about with her siblings. I noticed recently that she was falling behind the rest of them, didn't run around as much and that she was getting trampled at feeding time and didn't make an effort to get out of the way. I brought her inside and the poor girl has a couple of issues going on.

First she has what sounds like a bit of congestion and sneezes/coughs occasionally, this morning when I got up her eye was cloudy and she wanted to hold it shut. I started her on Tylan last evening and rinsed her eye with saline solution and have been using Terramycin eye ointment.

Secondly she is drinking regularly on her own (water with nutri-drench in it), but won't eat. I've been trying to syringe feed her some mash feed and a little bit of wet cat food but she just shakes her head and covers me in it. She has showed a little interest in cracked corn.

Third she doesn't want to walk. She will take a few steps and sit down immediately and she keeps her legs spread wide when she walks.

I've thought about putting her on game bird food or should I continue with the grower feed? I'm using nutri-drench but I've heard of using Kickin Chicken supplement, niacin pills, or poly-vi-sol for babies. What do you think? I don't want to overload her with vitamins but she obviously needs something. Help!

(And before anyone asks, yes I brought her to work with me and she is sitting on my desk!)

 

[awarmrainyday]

So today my duckling seems to be having some trouble regulating her body temperature. I have her on a heating pad wrapped in fleece and she seems comfortable. She is drinking plenty but still refusing food. Her eye is no better or worse. Neither is her congestion. I gave her two doses of Poly-vi-sol but she still won't walk. Anybody with any suggestions?

 

[mustang56]

is it possible someone jumped on her back....?

 

[awarmrainyday]

Yes it would be possible that an adult duck stepped on her back. She would walk and then lay down and didn't try to get out of any ones way and I saw her get run over a few times. She *can* walk a little but she's wobbly and just sits down right away. If I put her on the table in front of me she will wobble her way to get against me. She keeps her butt down when she walks.

 

[mustang56]

Cataracts are the result of lens deterioration, irritation or disintegration. Cataracts can cause blurry vision, poor night vision and even blindness. An eye with cataracts will usually have a cloudy, grayish-white, opaque discoloration in the pupil. Cataracts begin small and may grow to cover the entire pupil over time.
There are Age-related Cataracts, Congenital Cataracts (inherited), Traumatic Cataracts (impact or injury) and Secondary Cataracts (brought on by diabetes, glaucoma, malnutrition, exposure to toxins or bacterial infection). Beyond this, cataracts are classified by the location of lens affliction. There are various levels of Anterior, Nuclear and Posterior cataracts. Operability depends on which kind of cataract your duck or goose is diagnosed with. Some types progress rapidly and require timely diagnosis and treatment to avoid blindness while others progress more slowly.

http://majesticwaterfowl.org/mmissue62.htm

 

[mustang56]

Give her some poly vi sol without iron....
That's what I would do, to help with the not walking... and keep her away from other animals for a couple of weeks...

Now the eye part... I honestly don't know..but am searching the internet for info...!

 

[awarmrainyday]

Hi Mustang 56, thanks for your replies. I really don't think it's cataracts because it happened overnight and her other eye is normal. I started giving her .2 cc of Tylan twice a day thinking it might be an infection since she sounds congested and I've also been rinsing it with saline and putting Terramycin ointment on it. I did .5 ml of Poly-vi-sol last night and another .5 ml this morning (half of the infant dose). She seems a little wobblier today but she's not eating and I'm not able to get much into her and I think it's making her weak. She just wants to be held and given water.

 

[mustang56]

here's an idea..... you can think about....
Effective relief from respiratory disease, crd, croup, scaly leg mites, and favus eye worm.

• For all poultry - chickens, turkeys and game birds.

https://www.amazon.com/Vetrx-Poultr...?ie=UTF8&qid=1469906208&sr=8-1&keywords=vetrx

because of the congestion....?

I wish I could be more helpful..... =(

 

[awarmrainyday]

Thank you for the idea, ai do have some vetrx but her cough/sneeze isnt that bad and I havent seen any mucous. Im really worried about her grayish eye, refusal to eat or walk and wobbliness. She will paddle around in a warm bath but I dont want to get her wet since shes not regulating her body temp. This little girl has me stumped!

 

[mustang56]

if she's been hurt.... it sounds pretty normal....to me...
she may have been poked in the eye.... and maybe one of the lids is covering her eye....?
If you don't really see any signs of infection.... I wouldn't give her antibiotics... I could be wrong... =(
but I do think we sometimes want to help them so badly, that we do more harm than good....when we don't
know exactly what's going on with our pets.
My male duck tried to or did mate with my hen that was sitting on eggs, and he hurt her badly
its taken almost two weeks to get her up on her feet, and stop the twitching of her neck...