EMERGENCY SICK DUCKLINGS

[Emma234]

I have two 3 weeks old duckling. They refuse to eat their duck feed and have bad diharrea. One of them can't even get up anymore. I tried giving them brewers yeast but they aren't eating enough so it doesn't seem to work. The vet gave me treatment for coccidiosis without doing any lab tests, but they still refuse to eat anything. Please help me i don't know what else to do.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

The vet gave me treatment for coccidiosis without doing any lab tests, but they still refuse to eat anything. Please help me i don't know what else to do.

Welcome to BYC!

They need enough of the treatment on board for their guts to feel well enough to eat anything.

Have you been able to get treatment into them? What is the treatment being used/prescribed?

What are you feeding?

Hope your babies feel better and recover quickly.

 

[Emma234]

Welcome to BYC!

They need enough of the treatment on board for their guts to feel well enough to eat anything.

Have you been able to get treatment into them? What is the treatment being used/prescribed?

What are you feeding?

Hope your babies feel better and recover quickly.

Thank you so much for the reply. The treatment is called sulfadimidine and I put it in their water. They stared taking it only a few hours ago. I was feeding them chicken feed with 17% protein because i couldn't find any feed for ducks in my town. At some point they stopped eating their feed and would only eat boiled eggs, cucumbers or oats but now they are refusing to eat even that. One of them even puked today.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

At some point they stopped eating their feed and would only eat boiled eggs, cucumbers or oats but now they are refusing to eat even that

How are they doing today?

Do you have them with a heat source?

 

[HollowOfWisps]

When they stopped eating their feed did they have the diarrhea at that point? or did that start shortly after they were only eating the eggs oats and cucumbers? How much of the oats, eggs and cucumbers were being offered before with the feed?

Edit: if you were feeding a lot of the eggs oats and cucumbers before with their feed that most likely is your problem. Ducklings are like kids and those extras are like dessert to them. When given the option they will stop eating the feed and start to only eat the extras such as the oats, eggs and cucumbers. This leads to nutritional deficiencies, lethargy, digestion problems, leg problems, overall feeling unwell and even death. Not to mention those cucumbers are very high in water which will make their stools very watery.

 

[GlicksChicks]

Thank you so much for the reply. The treatment is called sulfadimidine and I put it in their water. They stared taking it only a few hours ago. I was feeding them chicken feed with 17% protein because i couldn't find any feed for ducks in my town. At some point they stopped eating their feed and would only eat boiled eggs, cucumbers or oats but now they are refusing to eat even that. One of them even puked today.

Have they always been eating chicken feed? In your OP you said they wouldn't eat their duck feed. Did you mean chick feed?

If you are feeding them chicken feed, the issue is most likely a lack of Niacin. Ducks need more Niacin than chickens do to thrive. They need it to grow as well as help their organs function as needed. They would benefit from some extra Niacin. There are drops, powder, pills, etc. that you can use to give them more Niacin.

 

[Miss Lydia]

@Emma234 how are your ducklings?

 

[GlicksChicks]

When they stopped eating their feed did they have the diarrhea at that point? or did that start shortly after they were only eating the eggs oats and cucumbers? How much of the oats, eggs and cucumbers were being offered before with the feed?

Edit: if you were feeding a lot of the eggs oats and cucumbers before with their feed that most likely is your problem. Ducklings are like kids and those extras are like dessert to them. When given the option they will stop eating the feed and start to only eat the extras such as the oats, eggs and cucumbers. This leads to nutritional deficiencies, lethargy, digestion problems, leg problems, overall feeling unwell and even death. Not to mention those cucumbers are very high in water which will make their stools very watery.

And they said in one of their posts that they were feeding them chicken feed, which lacks the Niacin the ducklings need to operate correctly. It helps with growing as well as organ function in ducks.

 

[Emma234]

When they stopped eating their feed did they have the diarrhea at that point? or did that start shortly after they were only eating the eggs oats and cucumbers? How much of the oats, eggs and cucumbers were being offered before with the feed?

Edit: if you were feeding a lot of the eggs oats and cucumbers before with their feed that most likely is your problem. Ducklings are like kids and those extras are like dessert to them. When given the option they will stop eating the feed and start to only eat the extras such as the oats, eggs and cucumbers. This leads to nutritional deficiencies, lethargy, digestion problems, leg problems, overall feeling unwell and even death. Not to mention those cucumbers are very high in water which will make their stools very watery.

I think they started having problems when they stopped eating their feed. Is there any chance for the leg problems to get better if i sprinkle their food with brewers yeast?

 

[HollowOfWisps]

I think they started having problems when they stopped eating their feed. Is there any chance for the leg problems to get better if i sprinkle their food with brewers yeast?

I would remove all extra food eggs, oats, cucumbers everything, but the chicken feed and give them a good poultry vitamin supplement. At this point with not eating feed you could continue feeding brewers yeast, but I would highly recommend adding something with a little more oomph. If you can get it at your local farm store or online I would dose with Poultry Cell daily for the next 2 weeks. It has not only niacin, but also a little bit of everything to help correct any deficiency issues. I would also consider Durvets B complex.