Ducks hate NutriDrench?

[LT71689]

My two Pekins are 4 weeks today. They've given me a little bit of a scare this past week with some heavy panting so I read everything I could in a panic that they had aspergillosis, and came across a lot of recommendations for Nutridrench as a general overall health booster so I picked some up.

We tried the Nutridrench in their water in the amount specified on the bottle last night and they wont go near it. I usually find their water jug half empty when I wake up, drinking is in their top 5 favorite things to do all day, I'm constantly refilling and replacing the water, but this morning I could tell they'd only just barely touched it and probably in a moment of dire need (or they hadnt figured out it tasted bad yet and gulped it down) They went crazy like always for their refilled food bowl but didnt want to touch the water.

I mean I cant blame them, the stuff does stink and probably tastes bad too. They're not on their death beds or anything so I dont want to go the forcefeed method and traumatize them while trying to make them "better". Is it worthwhile to dilute it (probably quite a lot) and give it to them over a longer period of time? If they wont take it at the right dosage then it's just going to go to waste so I imagine it cant hurt to just put in the amount they will tolerate, but I wonder if theres a better way that will actually be effective. Is there something I could sneak it into like eggs or oats that they might gobble up before realizing they don't like it (and would I use the direct feeding dosage rather than the water dosage or something else?)

 

[416bigbore]

If it were me, I would try only half the dose mixed in their water to see if that makes the difference. Might have to try another brand?

 

[Isaac 0]

Overheating would be much more likely than aspergillosis, what are you keeping their brooder temp at, could you post a video of them panting? With a respiratory/fungal infection you're likely to see other symptoms accompany the heavy breathing, like eye discharge, coughing, wheezing, lethargy, tail bobbing, and or sneezing. If you are just seeing the panting its likely heat-related.

One thing people should understand is there is often a noticeable, but subtle difference between breathing caused by heat, and breathing caused by a respiratory/fungal infection. Breathing caused by heat the duck is breathing in and out fairly rapidly to exert the heat out of its body, birds with a possible respiratory/infection, breath more heavily, and slowly, they are trying to breathe, but are having a hard time doing so.

If it was Aspergillosis administering vitamins would do little as far as treating the birds, since Aspergillosis is caused by fungal spores the area in which they're being kept in should be cleaned and disinfected daily to prevent the further spread of the spores.

I give most of my birds medications either orally or via a tube, giving orally we'll be a bit easier for you.

Here is some information regarding that,

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...dications-to-all-poultry-and-waterfowl.73335/

 

[LT71689]

Overheating would be much more likely than aspergillosis, what are you keeping their brooder temp at, could you post a video of them panting? With a respiratory/fungal infection you're likely to see other symptoms accompany the heavy breathing, like eye discharge, coughing, wheezing, lethargy, tail bobbing, and or sneezing. If you are just seeing the panting its likely heat-related.

One thing people should understand is there is often a noticeable, but subtle difference between breathing caused by heat, and breathing caused by a respiratory/fungal infection. Breathing caused by heat the duck is breathing in and out fairly rapidly to exert the heat out of its body, birds with a possible respiratory/infection, breath more heavily, and slowly, they are trying to breathe, but are having a hard time doing so.

If it was Aspergillosis administering vitamins would do little as far as treating the birds, since Aspergillosis is caused by fungal spores the area in which they're being kept in should be cleaned and disinfected daily to prevent the further spread of the spores.

I give most of my birds medications either orally or via a tube, giving orally we'll be a bit easier for you.

Here is some information regarding that,

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...dications-to-all-poultry-and-waterfowl.73335/

I posted some videos here and had some folks assure me it was just heat/regular Pekin behaviour https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/3-week-old-pekins-breathing-troubles.1394299/

The vids are from outside that day but they breathe like that consistently indoors as well. It subsides for a bit if I let them out of the pen onto the concrete floor and they seem pretty content to hide under the dining table for a few hours and nap, but eventually the panting starts back up.

Their nares arent *clogged* but they're not 100% perfectly clear either - I've been giving them a chance to dunk their heads in some warmer water a couple times a day for the last few days but they're still a bit whistle-y and that might be adding to the panting a bit too.

I've got photos of their pen here - https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...r-setup-pictures-wanted.1394508/post-22900743

They're out in the open in my kitchen/dining room. They didnt want anything to do with their heat lamp so I took it away a little while ago and despite me feeling like my house is freezing (a/c is always on, I'm literally sitting under a winter blanket right now) they continue to pant. I've been wrapping ice packs in towels and setting them in the cage and they fight for who gets to lay on top of it.

I knew the Nutridrench wont help for a fungal infection and have gotten past that particular fear, but in all my panic-reading on duck health (or lack of) I figured it couldn't hurt to give them a boost for other reasons - the vitamin/nutrient booster powder supplied by the farm I got them from only lasted about a week and its possible the feed they're on (also farm supplied) might not have the extra niacin content they need (so we started on nutritional yeast today - they're both a bit pigeon-toed) and from the lack of helpful response from the farm they came from I kinda get the impression that they're not super concerned one way or the other... I'd like to have that peace of mind knowing that I did everything *I* could to ensure they're as healthy as possible and I didnt screw anything up because their original farm told me it would be a piece of cake and there was nothing to worry about

 

[DuckyDonna]

Nutridrench is gross as is B-complex. I recently had a sick girl and I used a little 1ml syringe to administer both to her. I couldn't get her to eat anything that had either on it so I had to resort to the syringe.

 

[nmr]

Overheating would be much more likely than aspergillosis, what are you keeping their brooder temp at, could you post a video of them panting? With a respiratory/fungal infection you're likely to see other symptoms accompany the heavy breathing, like eye discharge, coughing, wheezing, lethargy, tail bobbing, and or sneezing. If you are just seeing the panting its likely heat-related.

One thing people should understand is there is often a noticeable, but subtle difference between breathing caused by heat, and breathing caused by a respiratory/fungal infection. Breathing caused by heat the duck is breathing in and out fairly rapidly to exert the heat out of its body, birds with a possible respiratory/infection, breath more heavily, and slowly, they are trying to breathe, but are having a hard time doing so.

If it was Aspergillosis administering vitamins would do little as far as treating the birds, since Aspergillosis is caused by fungal spores the area in which they're being kept in should be cleaned and disinfected daily to prevent the further spread of the spores.

I give most of my birds medications either orally or via a tube, giving orally we'll be a bit easier for you.

Here is some information regarding that,

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...dications-to-all-poultry-and-waterfowl.73335/

Any chance you have a video on how to open a duck bill? :-D I've been having a similar problem with a duckling and can't for the life of me get nutridench or vetrx directly into her mouth---I end up putting it in the water, or trying to trick her by coating treats with it (doesn't work with the vetrx).

 

[LT71689]

Any chance you have a video on how to open a duck bill? :-D I've been having a similar problem with a duckling and can't for the life of me get nutridench or vetrx directly into her mouth---I end up putting it in the water, or trying to trick her by coating treats with it (doesn't work with the vetrx).

Mine like to chew on my fingers. I havent had to actually hold their mouths open but I imagine if I could get a good grip on them (or have my husband do it) while they attempted to eat my hands I could get a bill to stay open for a moment. One of thems goofy enough to try to swallow a whole finger like a worm so he'd be easy

 

[Isaac 0]

Any chance you have a video on how to open a duck bill? :-D I've been having a similar problem with a duckling and can't for the life of me get nutridench or vetrx directly into her mouth---I end up putting it in the water, or trying to trick her by coating treats with it (doesn't work with the vetrx).

No, I do not, @casportpony might. I might mention that VetRX shouldn't be given orally, as a matter a fact, I don't really advocate the use of it all, but I suppose that's just my personal opinion. How I administer kind of depends on the age of the duck, how old is yours? If you're having a hard time getting her mouth open, try gently pinching the side corners of her mouth, and it should open.

Why don't you tell us what's going on with your ducks?

 

[LT71689]

I mightve found a possible solution - I don't think they like the color! Their pen water jug is a clear plastic so they can see that it's turned the water brown. I put down a deep bundt pan when I let them out into the kitchen and it's black, so they cant tell that the water is a darker color. They go right to it with no issues. They also search the bottom of the pan for treats they think might be there that they cant see which helps trick them into cleaning their nares better than they do when left to their own devices

 

[DuckyDonna]

I don't have a video but I've given lots of meds orally to my ducks.

What I do is get a towel and wrap the duck in it so I have good control and it's wings can't flap. I'm holding it close to my body with my left arm and I am sitting in a chair.

I take my left hand and hold it's head. Using my left thumb and index finger I pry open its mouth, insert syringe and squirt. I have control of it's head the whole time with that hand.