Ducks with special Needs

[naturallyhorses]

Hi there and I am sorry you and your duckling are going through this.

It might be hard but I think its good they are fighting the wheelchair - shows spirit !

I appreciate you've been giving a lot of supplements but I don't think I saw ACE + selenium ?

One of our very few success stories this year (Wonky - his story is in the forums) definitely benefited from having the b complex and the ace + selenium - we also added honey in for energy and acv occasionally for support.

Took an age and he still sits down a lot but he is out with the other squeakers and doing ok !

It was very stressful on us as well as Wonky so pls make sure you are looking after you as much as you are this duckling.

It would be great if you could share a pic of the duckling and your set up if you have one pls !

what is ace? I am giving her so many things I did forget to add a few. I can't get it all into her everyday because there is so much but I am giving her vit e with selenium( was giving her just vitamin e started the vit e w/selenium combo this past week) I add acv when I can and I also add in diatomaceous earth. I am not sure of what the proper dose is of everything. I am also giving her thrive for sick birds.I just gave her ivermectin yesterday in case she has gapeworm.
Yes, it is very stressful and overwhelming for me and I am losing hope and energy to keep doing it.I am new to ducks so having this be my first duck experience is tough.thank you for your encouraging words!

 

[HalfWayUpAMountain]

what is ace? I am giving her so many things I did forget to add a few. I can't get it all into her everyday because there is so much but I am giving her vit e with selenium( was giving her just vitamin e started the vit e w/selenium combo this past week) I add acv when I can and I also add in diatomaceous earth. I am not sure of what the proper dose is of everything. I am also giving her thrive for sick birds.I just gave her ivermectin yesterday in case she has gapeworm.
Yes, it is very stressful and overwhelming for me and I am losing hope and energy to keep doing it.I am new to ducks so having this be my first duck experience is tough.thank you for your encouraging words!

Sorry ! ACE + selenium is vitamins a, c and e with selenium.

You are giving an awful lot and as you are giving vitamin e with selenium, i'd stick with that.

Its very difficult when you are a caring duck parent to accept you can only do what you can with what you have and know (you are doing loads btw !)

From my experience, its normal to have good days and bad days - with Wonky, I think the thing that paid off was consistency over weeks, not days.

Sometime duckies do bounce back after a day or two - but sometimes it can take weeks,

Are you able to share the care with anyone ? Even with that, I know its hard to stop thinking about them and what else you could be doing.

This is your first time and you and your little one are putting in a lot of fight - no matter what the outcome here, you are an awesome duck parent.

Sending you hugs and I am keeping it all crossed for your little one. X

 

[naturallyhorses]

Sorry ! ACE + selenium is vitamins a, c and e with selenium.

You are giving an awful lot and as you are giving vitamin e with selenium, i'd stick with that.

Its very difficult when you are a caring duck parent to accept you can only do what you can with what you have and know (you are doing loads btw !)

From my experience, its normal to have good days and bad days - with Wonky, I think the thing that paid off was consistency over weeks, not days.

Sometime duckies do bounce back after a day or two - but sometimes it can take weeks,

Are you able to share the care with anyone ? Even with that, I know its hard to stop thinking about them and what else you could be doing.

This is your first time and you and your little one are putting in a lot of fight - no matter what the outcome here, you are an awesome duck parent.

Sending you hugs and I am keeping it all crossed for your little one. X

Thank you! I just want to do all I can for her. I hope she can improve. it's been five weeks. I'll keep doing what I can for as long as I can.

 

[NuweBlareHomestead]

Hi all! This is Stevie, an 8 week old blind tricolor ancona duck. We adopted him on Sunday and took him to the vet on Tuesday for a check up. He bobs his head constantly (neuro issues?), and is reluctant to stand and walk (not sure of this is niacin/vitamin deficiency or neuro related). He eats well and manages to move around the 4x4 brooder we have him in (with Dorothy, his seeing eye duckling) but spends most of his time lying down. We also hear a slight wheeze sometimes, which was the reason we initially took him to the vet. The vet put him on a 10 day course of oxytetracycline, but it hasn't seemed to make a difference yet. We are hoping that treatment and vitamin supplementation will help get him on his feet, and that he'll be able to have a happy ducky life. We are using brewers yeast, garlic, and oregano mixed with their food, and nutri drench in their water. Where is the best place to buy B-complex? Our local feed store just has B-12.

 

[reluctant farmer]

Hi all! This is Stevie, an 8 week old blind tricolor ancona duck. We adopted him on Sunday and took him to the vet on Tuesday for a check up. He bobs his head constantly (neuro issues?), and is reluctant to stand and walk (not sure of this is niacin/vitamin deficiency or neuro related). He eats well and manages to move around the 4x4 brooder we have him in (with Dorothy, his seeing eye duckling) but spends most of his time lying down. We also hear a slight wheeze sometimes, which was the reason we initially took him to the vet. The vet put him on a 10 day course of oxytetracycline, but it hasn't seemed to make a difference yet. We are hoping that treatment and vitamin supplementation will help get him on his feet, and that he'll be able to have a happy ducky life. We are using brewers yeast, garlic, and oregano mixed with their food, and nutri drench in their water. Where is the best place to buy B-complex? Our local feed store just has B-12.

He's adorable! Good luck!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Precious duckling. Maybe standing and walking causes dizziness? Just a guess though but it may take time to get your baby to feel comfortable enough to venture far. I'm glad to hear he/she has a buddy though that will help. If you have a TSC they carry Liquid B Complex. it's amazing what it can do for strengthening legs. at 4 weeks give 1 ml over something like yummy meal worms. daily. You can also order on line. Durvex is one of the best. it will say injectable but we use it orally. I wish you the best with your little one. And
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...cy-in-waterfowl.1367557/page-13#post-23140193

 

[pigcoon]

I have a special needs Pekin duck too. I want to read thru this whole thread. She has lots of issues and she's never been as bright as the others as well. She's about six years old now.

 

[wagoncab]

Hello all; I just stumbled on this thread.
I have a gosling that has crippled legs. It came out of the egg that way. Right leg sticks out behind it and left foot is twisted at the wrist and toes. Baby has a real hard time getting around but eats and drinks well. He/she is 3 weeks old now.
Both legs and feet move and with support can stand.
I need some kind of brace or something to get the backward leg to start bending the right way.
Thanks for reading.
Cindy

 

[Miss Lydia]

Are you doing any type of water therapy? warm water only. Water therapy can help build muscles. If you can post some pictures of the legs we maybe about to help. Also massage moving the leg in correct range of moton . Can the leg be bent at all in a normal position.

 

[KatrinaandPeepers]

Hey y’all! I have a nine month old blind Muskovy duck named peepers. When I rescued her we had taken my niece to a pond to feed ducks and I noticed a little yellow dot across the lake that was being picked on and trying to be drowned by two big male mallards. So obviously I knew I had to do something so I walked down to the edge and put my hand in the water and started making peeping noises and this little duck swam all the way across the pond and directly into my hand. Now this poor baby was very waterlogged and the only thing I could think of that would absorb water was the diaper that I had with me for my niece. Seeing as I didn’t have any towels and she was drenched I wrapped her up in a diaper and it helped to take a lot of the water away. I looked around to try and find her mom and there was only one other duck with babies but they were three times her size and as soon as I put her down by the mom, thinking maybe she was just the runt or smaller, the mom came over and started biting her and grabbed her by her neck and started shaking her. Obviously I was not going to stand for this kind of abuse and quickly picked her up wrapped her in another diaper and brought her home. One of her eyes was badly damaged by the mallards so we knew she was blind in one eye, but soon realized she was totally blind. My dad raised chickens and ducks growing up and I am a vet tech and have worked with ducks so between us we had quite a bit of knowledge on how to take care of her. Although at first she was a he until one day I walked up to his pen and found an egg! Imagine my surprise, especially since myself and 3 other techs sexed her as male. So he became she and luckily peepers was a good name either way but she responds to Princess now as well. When we brought her home she still had her umbilical cord attached and it fell off the day after we brought her home so she was not even a day old when all of this happened. She is now nine months old and she has her own little pen in the backyard with a beautiful bed that she gets tucked in and locked in at night to keep her safe, that she absolutely loves and constant clean water and food because she never stops eating and she has her own little pool that she loves. She swims in it at least twice a day and when she’s not swimming she’s roosting on the edge of it. . Also when it was freezing outside she was too little to be outside so she was still in the house. We had rescued her at the end of September so it got very cold very quickly and Texas had one of the worst freezes they’ve ever had. So she moved into the pack and play that my two-year-old niece had outgrown and she loved it. I put a dog bed in there and she slept in there all night that’s where she laid her first egg, and many after, and had a blanket that covered all the edges and sides so she could feel safer and not have the dogs constantly trying to look at her and get in the pack and play. She absolutely loves being in the backyard, we have about a half an acre, and she loves to go out and just go all over the yard but she is usually wherever I am, so if I’m on the patio or cleaning out her bed she is right there and constantly wants to be picked up and held. When she was little she would put her head over my shoulder and lay on my chest and as she got bigger she still does that. Now I have a blind nine-month-old 4 pound female Muscovy that requires to get her snuggles before bed with lots of nuzzling, so she still gets in the same position and throws her head over my shoulder but now she can stand on me and she will stand there and I don’t even have to hold her and I can walk around and do stuff and she just cuddles. We’ve thought about getting her a companion but quickly realized that she is very happy doing her own thing and. She’s not too fond of thunder and lightning and unfortunately this is Texas and we have that almost every week and this year it was almost all month long so she comes inside and sleeps in her pack and play whenever there’s a big storm. Her absolute favorite thing is ice cubes. All you have to do is shake a cup of ice and she loses her mind! Starts frantically trying to find them in her water bowl or pool. She is so good with people and let’s anyone pet her but only me, my mom, and niece can hold her cuz she panics when anyone else tries. She loves a good butt scratch and tummy rub which she only allows me to do since I hold her on her back to do it! I’m terrified of birds, long story, but she acts like a dog with feathers and has completely stolen my heart!