EDIT: Second tundra swan put down, severe case of botulism.

[SilverPhoenix]

Okay, I've got a second tundra swan in as of the day before yesterday. I'm thinking this swan will likely be put down when I take it in to the vet tomorrow, but I figured I'd ask on here first just in case.

The swan has good body condition, is fairly strong, and hisses at me when I approach. However, it is holding its head upside-down consistently and cannot seem to right the head. As a result of the head issue, the bird has trouble walking. It is moving the head and trying to look at me, but has some trouble. The head is mostly down a few inches from the ground. The poor bird is still trying to preen and stay comfortable, but this is difficult with the orientation of its head. I'm thinking either some sort of disease or a form of poisoning is causing this. Has anyone else had this issue with any sort of waterfowl? Any advice, thoughts, treatment options? I have been withholding food and water because head injuries and drinking/eating don't mix well. I can sub-q the bird some hydration tomorrow if needed and I'll tube feed if it comes down to it, but that doesn't solve the larger issue here.

I'm going to do some research but any thoughts or advice would be nice. I'm not giving this bird a good prognosis--even if we can find the cause there's a question of treatment and whether the bird will ever be in good enough health to be released.

 

[destinduck]

THIS swan is acting like it ingested something bad. (plastic, metal of some type) or something poisonous. Maybe it can be flushed out. I think your first bird may have died just from stress and/or shock. It happens alot with isolated wild birds. I know you have to quaratine them but as much as I hate to say it this.It is a big problem with wild waterfowl ( the isolation ) Also does your vet do X-rays? Stool samples? My personal opinion is lead poisoning.

 

[SilverPhoenix]

Yeah, I'm thinking some sort of toxin building up is a definite possibility based off of the behavior. Quite troubling! I'll see if the vet has any ideas on flushing the toxin, whatever it might be, out of its body. The symptoms are pretty awful with this bird, if the vet doesn't have any good ideas on what to do, I think putting it down is in the poor swan's best interest. It is quite stressed and unhappy currently.

I think the other swan did likely have some sort of disease, but of course being in captivity and isolated is a big stress aspect. The bird was certainly weak when it came to me, it is abnormal to be able to catch a wild swan, and I don't think the bird weighed what it should have either.

I'm more experienced with corvids and gamebirds (and songbirds in general)... Thusfar, waterfowl have been tough! I have pet ducks, but they're obviously different than dealing with wild waterfowl. I am doing my best but there's only so much one can do. They are such social creatures that it's very stressful on them to be away from others of their species. I have a pintail in care currently as well, I may call some other rehab groups to see if there are any other groups she can go to where there are other pintails in rehab.

 

[Dr. Todd]

Penn Valley is an hour and a half from U.C. Davis which has the oiled wildlife care network and International Bird Rescue's Bird Research Center headquarters (www.ibrrc.org) which would take this bird or at the very least get you in touch with someone with waterfowl experience. You need to connect with the rehabbers there that have state of the art waterbird facilities and full time veterinary staff.

Beyond that, the bird most likely has lead poisoning just like the last one did. You need to have blood tests and x-rays done to confirm diagnosis and determine appropriate treatment. This bird is in better condition than the last but needs appropriate treatment to pull through.

DT

 

[SilverPhoenix]

The swan went to the vet yesterday. Probable botulism, too advanced for anything other than euthanasia.

So he was put down peacefully...

The issue is that our waterfowl rehabber is currently not rehabbing, and does not usually accept adult birds anyway. If the swan had a decent prognosis, I likely would have sent it to a larger group with more waterfowl experience and facilities so it could recover in something better than the pen I had for it.

The problem is that my group covers multiple counties, and many of these birds come from counties far away that have no rehab groups themselves. During the winter, rehabbers are limited because we don't get a whole lot in, but now we keep getting these unusual waterfowl calls that we don't normally get during the winter. We don't even have all these waterfowl where I live, or at least not in large numbers, but an hour away is wetlands so that is where the birds keep coming from. Basically, I volunteered to take the birds for immediate intake and assessment for a few days while I find somewhere better for them to go because at least I have pens to keep them in, hence why I keep ending up with waterfowl when really my specialties are corvids and gamebirds. I'm trying to learn more about waterfowl so I can provide better care to these birds, and the other thing I need to do is make contacts within some of the larger groups so these waterfowl have somewhere better to go.

The pintail's situation has been resolved, thankfully--she has an older injury that already healed, and she'll be going to a great facility where she can live a nearly natural life but with some predator protection.

 

[SilverPhoenix]

Dr. Todd :

Penn Valley is an hour and a half from U.C. Davis which has the oiled wildlife care network and International Bird Rescue's Bird Research Center headquarters (www.ibrrc.org) which would take this bird or at the very least get you in touch with someone with waterfowl experience. You need to connect with the rehabbers there that have state of the art waterbird facilities and full time veterinary staff.

Beyond that, the bird most likely has lead poisoning just like the last one did. You need to have blood tests and x-rays done to confirm diagnosis and determine appropriate treatment. This bird is in better condition than the last but needs appropriate treatment to pull through.

DT

Oh, thank you for the advice! I will talk to the IBRRC and make some contacts for the next issues we have with waterfowl. Thank you for all of your great advice, I really appreciate it! It was too late for this swan, but I'm going to start working out plans for the next waterfowl calls I get in.

 

[Dr. Todd]

If the bird had botulism I'm surprised the vet euthanize it as botulism can be effectively treated with great recovery rates. I hope you contacted your CA Dept. of Fish and Game because I'm sure they'll want to know where the bird was found since there are usually multiple birds infected when botulism breaks out and the location where the bird was found should be monitored. For those who don't know what botulism is you can check out this link: http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/disease_information/avian_botulism/

Just to make sure, you have the federal permit to rehab migratory birds right? I'd hate to hear you got pinched after all the hard work you put into trying to save the poor swans!

 

[SilverPhoenix]

Dr. Todd :

If the bird had botulism I'm surprised the vet euthanize it as botulism can be effectively treated with great recovery rates. I hope you contacted your CA Dept. of Fish and Game because I'm sure they'll want to know where the bird was found since there are usually multiple birds infected when botulism breaks out and the location where the bird was found should be monitored. For those who don't know what botulism is you can check out this link: http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/disease_information/avian_botulism/

Just to make sure, you have the federal permit to rehab migratory birds right? I'd hate to hear you got pinched after all the hard work you put into trying to save the poor swans!

Yes, she said botulism can be treated, but by the time the swan saw the vet she felt it was too late to save the bird (and for that matter, by the time it came in). The poor bird couldn't hold up its head at all, the muscle on its neck seemed atrophied, and all-in-all it was just in bad shape. At least now next time I see that symptom, I'll know immediately what it is and get the bird in right away to start treatment.

I will check the intake form on the bird and get the exact location where it was found, and let Fish & Game know! My group has some great contacts with Fish & Game and I'm sure they'd like to be aware. If there are more swans in that area with botulism, they may be able to be saved as well.

Yes, I'm permitted under my group, so we're all legal.

We're a great group that rehabs around 1000 animals a year, and have something like a 60% success rate. I've been rehabbing for six years so I have a decent amount of experience. It's just waterfowl that I know little about, aside from my own domestics!

I really appreciate your time and great advice.​

 

[tinychicky]

good luck with your swan!

 

[SilverPhoenix]

Quote:
Aw, thank you! He was put down peacefully yesterday, but I appreciate the nice thought anyway!