Ducks Limping, any idea on the cause?

[Lowerbarn]

OK, we had a duck that was limping, and after a few trips to the vet, and a trial of a few different treatments, we finally got things sorted and she was fine. For reference it was a Baytril 2.5% Oral solution antibiotic that did the trick

Anyway, yesterday we noticed one of the other ducks had now started to limp, and this morning when going out to check on that one, noticed another one starting to limp too. We still have some of the antibiotic left from the treatment a few weeks ago, and i know a trip to the vets should be made, but being christmas eve and not wanting to leave things any longer, and the symptoms being exactly the same, i am going to start them on the medication.

So my question isn't really about the cure, its about the cause. Is there anything i am doing wrong or not seeing that could be causing this? all of the searches i do just mention bacterial infection and swollen legs etc, but no mention of why or how so i can try and avoid it.

They don't have any particularly difficult terrain to negotiate, the ramp into their house is reasonably easy to get up and is made of decking wood to let them grip and not slip. there is a small step up onto a paving stone into their run, but they seem to manage ok. entry and exit from the pond is ok, and they have had that for a year and not had the issue before this.

They have fresh clean water a few times a day in their drinking troughs, and they have a pond to swim in that has a pump and filter on it to circulate the water and clean it as much as possible, and in turn this is cleaned out by removing all water etc with a pond vac frequently and new water put in, so i don't think there is any chance at all of stagnant water.

The only thing that i can think of that they could possibly be getting anything from is that they seem to love to create mud holes anywhere they can swamp an area and dig, which was made 10x worse with the recent snow that then melted and caused a lot of places to end up muddy. I have now separated off another area of the garden to keep them out of the mud, but they have already started to dig around in the new bit as well, thankfully not as messy at the moment

Their food is Duck & Goose pellets, they only really eat that, and occasionally have some cracked corn as a treat, and occasionally some fresh salad type treats, plus of course whatever they find around the garden

The bedding is sawdust with straw on top, a good thick layer and then daily removal of any soiled bits, and a full removal and clean every 3-4 days

They did have a case of Lice, which we treated with diatomatious earth powder and that seems to have helped, but not sure if that could be linked?

Is there anything that i could be missing or that could be causing anything? obviously i want to get these couple of ducks better, and dont want this to keep happening due to something i am doing wrong or missing

Thank you

 

[Amiga]

Hmmm, thinking ...

There could be a bacterium in their environment that is challenging them. A vet visit next week would be good. Poultry vitamins with electrolytes and probiotics once a week might help boost their immune systems.

Are they playing hop on top much? Sometimes leg injuries are from pulled muscles.

I add a teaspoon or two of turmeric to my ducks' food daily in winter - it is a natural anti inflammatory that mine seem to do well with.

 

[casportpony]

Hmmm, thinking ...

There could be a bacterium in their environment that is challenging them. A vet visit next week would be good. Poultry vitamins with electrolytes and probiotics once a week might help boost their immune systems.

Are they playing hop on top much? Sometimes leg injuries are from pulled muscles.

I add a teaspoon or two of turmeric to my ducks' food daily in winter - it is a natural anti inflammatory that mine seem to do well with.

Talk to your vet next week and try to get a feel for what they think the cause is. I know that mycoplasma synoviae can cause lameness without respiratory symptoms in turkeys, but I don't know how common it is in ducks.

 

[chickens really]

Are they older Birds?..Pekin or heavy breed of Duck?..Could be joint inflammatory disease?

 

[Lowerbarn]

Cheers for the replies

They are not old birds, we got them in June at the point of lay, so they are still less than a year. Aylesbury most of the flock, the other one i am not sure of the breed, mixed i think, but she is large too.

Brought the worse one of the two in for a warm bath today, which she loved, certainly to look at her in there or if she was sat down you wouldn't know anything was wrong, happy as anything! and when i put her back out she was quite happy pruning herself and following the rest of them round the garden foraging, just with a lot of limping and of course a lot slower, so in terms of eating, drinking, and being herself nothing has changed

Will keep up the antibiotics and keep bringing her in for a nice soak, bit of water therapy cant hurt to take the weight of the leg and keep it moving i guess, and will see the vet as soon as they are back in after Christmas