HELP — Acute Duck Sickness (Lethargic, Sleepy, Separating from flock, shivering)

[Miss Lydia]

Sorry to hear it's metal, but being you were observant and took her in right away hopefully she'll pass them out.
Keep us updated.

 

[Galaxyfalcon]

Sorry to hear it's metal, but being you were observant and took her in right away hopefully she'll pass them out.
Keep us updated.

Are there any duck threads for people who have dealt with similar issues I can read up on? We brought her inside into a makeshift duck hospital with a friend and right now Herman is just cuddled up in her box with some straw, she didn't eat any treats. She had an anti-inflammatory from the vet and we have some antibiotics to pill her later, but is there anything else we can do in the meantime? I hung out with the girls for about an hour and they both seem call. There's fresh food and a splash-proof water with electrolytes in it.

The vet is out for the Holidays so she gave us an encouraging prognosis but there's not much we can do medically until our follow up appointment next Tuesday.

 

[Miss Lydia]

All we have here on BYC is https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...appetite-falling-weight-loss-lethargy.873138/
since your vet gave you an encouraging prognosis keep that in mind as you read this above.
We're all pulling for Herman
Maybe try some warm water over a little feed made like soup and see if she'll drink it. warm water may feel good going down.

 

[Galaxyfalcon]

All we have here on BYC is https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...appetite-falling-weight-loss-lethargy.873138/
since your vet gave you an encouraging prognosis keep that in mind as you read this above.
We're all pulling for Herman
Maybe try some warm water over a little feed made like soup and see if she'll drink it. warm water may feel good going down.

Thanks I'll take a look at the thread. I wish the vet was available; Herman vomited a little bit earlier but has been drinking. I'm just worried if she's not feeling good she might not each too much, but it's still the first day.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Loss of appetite is normal according to the link I posted.
I'd try a little feed with warm water made soupy and see if that gets her to eating.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Hows is Herman doing today?

 

[Galaxyfalcon]

She's doing a bit better but still not great. She's drinking a lot which is encouraging, so we have a water supply with nuti-drench and electrolytes. She hasn't vomited that we've seen since last night which is also really encouraging. She also seems to bit a tiny little bit more active than yesterday. We switched her sick-buddy to Juniper who is an excellent example and seems to be encouraging Herman to drink. Herman is still spending a lot of time in her little box but she'll come out for a few minutes at a time, stretch, clean a little, stand in a corner, etc before heading back to box.

We filled up the bath tub and let the girls have a little swim for 10 minutes or so and then pat dried them before going back to the little duck hospital. We're trying to trick Herman into "eating" a duck slurry like you suggested so we have a very watery slurry of duck pellets and peas blended into a soup right next to the water for her and we're waiting to see if she will take some.

She got quite fat for winter so I'm not immediately worried about her not eating, but we want to keep her strength up so I may attempt to feed her with a feeding syringe if we don't see her eat anything in the next few days. We're having to pill her for her antibiotics so we're kind of doing sad-pill time anyways.

Situation is complicated by the fact that we're separating the boys and girls outside since the boys are being oddly mate-crazy for winter, but the girls and boys still want to be together so they're sitting on each side of the duck run complaining and our girls inside the house can hear that and get a little stir crazy (at least Juniper does).

I'll try to post some pictures and keep you all updated. Any other ideas or advice are welcome.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Hopefully she'll try drinking some slurry. Do you need the info on tube feeding? @casportpony put together great info. I had to tube feed one of my Runners a couple of years ago. I'm sure it saved her life along with antibiotics. How's her poop looking?

 

[Galaxyfalcon]

I haven't seen her poop today, but yesterday it was a bit watery...it didn't immediately concern me because she's on antibiotics which messes with digestive tract and she also has been drinking but not eating. I'll keep an eye on it.

I have a post and a video tabbed open on tube feeding; I have some really small 1mL feeding syringes sort of like this and was considering just using that to start with vs an actual tube.

 

[Miss Lydia]

This gives good info and is so much easier than using a syringe only.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/go-team-tube-feeding-updated-12-29-2019.805728/