Emergency, sick duck

[Miss Lydia]

Wonderful Christmas present!!

 

[kwik-kwak]

Yes it is a nice gift for sure In the other topic I added some pictures, I'll put them here as well. Karel was the sick one, that is the duck with the light beak. I took the pictures yesterday, the day after he was so sick. It's still going well today

 

[kwik-kwak]

Unfortunately, it didn't go well this morning. He was all right when he got out of the night house. But about an hour later I saw that he was lying in the coop. The symptoms were again the same as last time. Difficulty walking, he lifts his leg but can't put it forward so he bends it back in the air and falls over. The overall control over his body is reduced, he also feels weaker when I lift him.
After I found him and put him on his legs (if I lift him a little he can put his legs down), he recovers quickly. I repeat the lifting a few times until it takes small steps on its own, then motivate it to keep moving.
He was now also sneezing a bit again, while this was over in between.
I was thinking and thought, maybe this could be a congenital abnormality of his muscles/nerves. Especially since he recovered two days in between. Sneezing doesn't sound very logical then. If anyone recognizes this, I'd love to hear it!

I want to help him but don't know how...

It's not freezing at the moment (not even tonight), so I don't think it's the cold. An attack from an animal can also be ruled out, we were at home and both our and our neighbor dog were in the garden.

He has been on extra niacin since he was with us (three weeks old). As a duckling he did show some signs of deficiency, then he also fell through his legs now and then, but that looked very different than now. Could it be that a deficiency at a young age produces these kinds of symptoms later on?

 

[Miss Lydia]

It may have. His legs may just be weak. What niacin are you giving him? When we have a duckling be or duck show lameness the first thing we recommend is BComplex with liquid or crushed. It works better when they already show lameness. As for the sneezing he could have something respiratory going on. Is there discharge from his nares? Eyes clear? Breathing normal? And it could be dust or feed causing sneezing. Something in his environment. Looking at his legs do they bow at all?

 

[kwik-kwak]

The special thing is that he normally (now also) does not suffer from anything. He walks, runs, stands on tiptoe and regularly takes a nap on one leg. He certainly doesn't look weak. It's really only been on these two moments, same thing for the sneeze, this was really only on those two moments too. His nose has no discharge and his eyes are clear and clean.

I got the vitamin from the vet. It is a small bag with various vitamins (also B3) in powder form. I live in Bulgaria (Europe) so they probably don't have the kind you mention here.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Hopefully, the vitamins will help him. I know with so many of us living in different parts of the world it's hard to find what we in the states can find. I hope this will resolve and you will see him back running and enjoying life again very soon.

 

[kwik-kwak]

Thanks for thinking along!

I hope so too. Fortunately, he is now completely happy again. It was really two short moments where he was extremely sick/paralyzed. So it remains a bit of a mystery for now, I hope he just stays his happy self and doesn't have an 'attack' anymore.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Good to hear.I wonder if this could be a nerve problem? Maybe in his back area low down.

 

[Galaxyfalcon]

I'm not sure if this is helpful, but we hatched ducklings in June and when they were about 4 months old, one of the girls started having similar problems. At first shaking/shivering, then unable to maintain her balance, falling over while trying to preen or scratch. Eventually wobbly legs, like she was walking drunk. Eventually I found her laying tipped over on her side, and later the same day she was flipping over onto her back in the "bird death pose"

We had her put to sleep and did a necropsy (I was concerned about an infectious disease) but the results were that she had suffered some kind of spinal injury, which had begun healing but was healing in a weird way. We still don't know how she managed to get the injury, we suspect she jumped off a rock or jumped from their tallest bath tub and landed wrong but we may never know.

Some of the symptoms your little guy is showing remind me of that, especially the sudden onset. It might be something worth mentioning to the vet as a possibility.

 

[kwik-kwak]

Thanks for the responses. Fortunately, nothing strange happened in the meantime.

I can imagine that it is a nerve problem, perhaps indeed from the back. He is always a little clumsier than our other duck but usually knows his limitations and I never see him doing dangerous things, unlike our other duck.

Did it completely disappear with your duck in between or did it continue to move abnormally? I find it so typical that at first he seems more dead than alive and after a short time (first time about an hour, second time about ten minutes) he is completely recovered.

For now I don't think a vet can do much as they are not an avian vet and it is also quite unusual to come here with a duck (most people have them for the meat/eggs and slaughter an animal if there is a problem). They can help with basic problems such as a wound or a broken leg, but I think this is getting a bit too complex for them.
Especially because he's just 'normal' now, I'm afraid they'll simply say that there's nothing wrong and I don't think that's worth the stress.

Somehow I'm afraid it might be something genetic. We bought it at a market from someone who sold ducks and chickens for slaughter. So they are not directly bred with a view to a long and healthy life. If it's a back problem I hope it can recover. Time will tell I guess.