Female duck not eating well - tube feeding questions

[KCNC06]

Oh wow, we have a mini Dachshund who turned 15 in December thankfully other than his eyesight isn't good and his hearing he seems to be in pretty good health. I sure am going to dread when he starts going down.
Could be they are grieving they do that when a flock member passes and most likely they thought of your dog as a member of their flock. Just keep up with what you are doing and hopefully, you'll get her through this. Keep watch for any other symptoms too.

Aww. I've learned that's a benefit to smaller dogs, they tend to stay with us longer. Hopefully your boy has a lot of years left.

Having Bill feeling unwell now may be more stressful than it would be at some other time. Coming off a year of last year though, I lost a family member and then my best friend last January, went through crazy health scare stuff with another family member for a few months, then my husband's injury...and his wound that took over four months to heal (12 cm x 6 cm full thickness leg wound ). By the time that healed our dog was heading down hill. It's just been a lot after a lot. So as silly as it might be to pray for a duck, that's where I'm at. Hoping and praying that getting some extra nutrition in her will help turn her around.

 

[Miss Lydia]

You have had a lot going on and our animals pick up on the stress of it all. It's not our fault this happens things happen in our lives that bring on stress snd sadness but just like us our pets are sensitive to what we are feeling. Hopefully, You, your husband, Bill, and the rest of her flock will all heal through this. Let me know when you begin to notice a good change in Bill, Usually after 2-4 days they begin to feel better once they get good nourishment into them.

 

[KCNC06]

You have had a lot going on and our animals pick up on the stress of it all. It's not our fault this happens things happen in our lives that bring on stress snd sadness but just like us our pets are sensitive to what we are feeling. Hopefully, You, your husband, Bill, and the rest of her flock will all heal through this. Let me know when you begin to notice a good change in Bill, Usually after 2-4 days they begin to feel better once they get good nourishment into them.

I'm definitely hoping she perks up more soon. Last night she wanted to sleep on my leg which is one of her favorite sleeping spots. Pins me into an uncomfortable position and climbs back before I'm able to reposition myself. She hasn't wanted to sleep cuddled next to me, or standing on me, for a little while now so I'm hoping it's a good sign that she was back to insisting on forcing me to be her bed. She also gave me a good arm bite yesterday evening that left a small bruise. That's one of her absolute favorite games when she's feeling her best. Bites my arm and shakes her head like she's trying to murder me. Thankfully she's on the smaller side, that would probably be a terrible game with a big duck!

 

[Miss Lydia]

What is her breed? I sure couldn't imagine my Muscovy drake grabbing my arm he'd probably take a chunk and he is my cuddler .

Aww it sure sounds like your making progress with her. I love it.

 

[KCNC06]

What is her breed? I sure couldn't imagine my Muscovy drake grabbing my arm he'd probably take a chunk and he is my cuddler .

Aww it sure sounds like your making progress with her. I love it.

I'm not sure what her breed is exactly. Her parents are White Layer Hybrids and since hybrids don't breed true I'm guessing you get an assortment of whatever breeds they use in that hybrid mix? We hatched 19 ducklings from our 4 White Layers back in 2019, some are super small, like around 3 lbs with smaller beaks and webbies, others are up in the 4-5 lb range. Bill has a slightly more slender and upright shape than most of her sisters.

Bill's energy didn't seem as good yesterday. I just don't get it. Then this morning I lost one of her sisters, Eggna. We brought her inside in early December because she wasn't running to the food with the rest of the flock. Once she came inside though she was walking and eating just fine. Weekly her separate from the other indoor girls for a week so I could watch for anything that might be a symptom of anything but she seemed fine. She walked well, ate like a champ, and seemed overall happy. Then she saw one of our other indoor girls who came in over the summer when her bad leg bothered her enough that it made her want to keep to herself and not walk much. Once these two saw each other it was like old friends being reunited. They had hatched 2 days apart back in 2019 so they were probably always buddies.

Eggna hasn't had any issues until a few days ago when she started limping like her buddy sister. I couldn't see or feel anything wrong with her legs though and she was walking almost exactly like her sister with the bad leg. And didn't even limp all the time. Since it was mostly just when she was following her limpy sister we chalked it up to a case of "monkey see monkey do". Then this morning she wasn't acting right, didn't want to get off her pillow bed, I carried her to the couch and held a bowl of water for her to drink from and she was sipping on it looking alert, even tried hissing at the cat to scare him away. And then all of a sudden she was gone. She passed in my arms with her head up and alert, she looked like she was just loafing there watching TV. I'm absolutely heartbroken. And obviously even more anxious about getting Bill back to healthy. Talking to the pet cremation place and the first thing he said was "I'm so sorry you're having to use us again so soon." And I lost it. They just brought our dog's ashes home on Monday this week.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I am so very sorry. They can hide illness so well that a lot of the time we don't even know they are sick until it's too late. I had the same thing happen with a little bantam cochin just recently.
With Bill all you can do is keep working with her and hopefully, she'll get over this. What it is we just don't know.

 

[KCNC06]

I am so very sorry. They can hide illness so well that a lot of the time we don't even know they are sick until it's too late. I had the same thing happen with a little bantam cochin just recently.
With Bill all you can do is keep working with her and hopefully, she'll get over this. What it is we just don't know.

Bill's whole attitude seems to change after a tube feeding. Doesn't want to be around me. I feel so bad. I've seen her swallow some things that I was sure we're way too big for her over the years, like baby fish that are a good 6" long (a 6" "minnow" is pretty big all around). And I'm using a pretty small tube, haven't tried the 18 that's recommended in the tube feeding instructions threads, so I know the tube isn't thick enough to be hurting her. But she still acts like I've hurt her. Just holding her beak makes her act like she's being abused. *Sigh*.

 

[Miss Lydia]

They just don’t understand we’re trying to help them. She’ll get over it once she’s back to feeling good again then you can help her get over it by hand feeding her a favorite treat. If you think she is eating enough on her own you can stop the tube feeding.

 

[KCNC06]

They just don’t understand we’re trying to help them. She’ll get over it once she’s back to feeling good again then you can help her get over it by hand feeding her a favorite treat. If you think she is eating enough on her own you can stop the tube feeding.

I definitely don't think she's eating enough on her own yet. She did eat two good size chunks of baked salmon this afternoon though.
I also don't think I saw anything about how much weight they should gain during tube feeding, and how quickly they should be gaining. I know my stress level probably isn't helping her, I'm getting kind of exhausted from it myself...and losing my sweet cuddle buddy this morning certainly hasn't helped.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Do you also give her feed? She needs a well-balanced diet. Maybe try mixing some of the fish in with her feed just a small amount to see if she'll eat it that way. You def need to continue tube feeding her if she still isn't eating much.