Help ....... 4 month old Sebbie acting off

[chickenzoo]

Last night was the first night outside the pen for my two Sebbies and my 3 Mandarins. They were all fine this morning.... but by afternoon Sebastian my male was in a little chicken house away from his sister, which he normally does not stray too far from. He came out and proceeded to do normally goose behavior. When I checked on them later he was laying with the ducks away from sis with his head down and just flicked his wings when I called him. He just acts off and he seems a little warm and a little off balance. He drank but was not interested in me giving him food although he played with a grass stem. I don't know what is wrong....my ducks have been out in the yard for a year or two with no problems. I don't know what he may have gotten into, he has been grazing in the yard during the day since I got them, but only for a few hours. any suggestions???????????

 

[threehorses]

Does he know how to get to the water and food now that he can get loose? Have you actually seen him doing so?

Any possibility that the others beat him up a bit? Did you check him thoroughly for injury?

Any chance that he could have gotten into anything like a stagnant pond, puddle water, compost, maggots, wet/sour feed?

 

[chickenzoo]

Hi, I was with him on and off all day. He knows were all the water spots are ........... he follows we to each one while I fill them up. I don't know how much feed he got today, he ate a lot last night and was mostly out grazing the grass all day today. They were muddy from playing in muck under some pens that might have had some lime in it............... He is in the bath tub with his sister right now. He is drinking, just not interested in food. No one messed with him that I know or could tell......... no injuries I can find. He just looks depressed some, just not his vocal self. He normally loves to see hubby, but he just flopped next to him with no vocal noise, no nibbling fingers.

 

[threehorses]

The thing that I was immediately concerned about, and your post supports my concern, is the possibility of botulism. I was "fishing" for information that might have pointed towards him getting into something like a mucky spot that might have maggots or droppings or soured feed, etc. And the area under the pens sounds like that type of place.

The off balance concerns me.

I would consider giving him a bit of a flush just in case something he ate was either toxic or could have been carrying botulism. I would make it a very light flush, not a hard one, because the cause is really still not known.

I've used a molasses flush on ducks before and it worked well. With any flush, you should also give electrolytes in the water to counteract against dehydration. The flush literally flushes out their digestive tract, so you will want to get him to eat pellets/crumbles that you wet. They are a lot more likely to eat their wetted pellets than dry when they don't feel well.
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Molasses Flush:

1 cup Molasses
2 ½ gallons water
5 – 6 grams Durvet vitamin and electrolyte powder * Optional
Use as a “flock flush” when you cannot administer flush directly to each individual bird.
! Do not exceed 8 hours ! ! After 8 hours replace Molasses flush with vitamin and electrolyte water !

Or this:

Activated Charcoal Slurry
1 tsp. Activated Charcoal Powder
½ tsp. Psyllium Seed Husks or Flax Seed Meal
8 oz. – Pure Water

Or try:

1 tsp. Activated Charcoal Powder
8 oz. – Pure Water
Dose 6 – 8 times daily

If you are administering ANY Drug or drugs to you poultry, or if they are drinking Oxygenating Water, please wait at least 1 hr., before you give them the Charcoal Slurry. This will ensure that the Activated Charcoal will not inadvertently absorb or otherwise adversely affect your other treatments.

These flushes will cause slight to moderate dehydration as they work to expel toxins and foreign matter from you fowl’s system. It is important to use care when administering flushes. Be sure to monitor your fowl before, during, and after the administration of a flush. After flushing, offer a steady supply of vitamin and electrolyte fortified water until a full recovery is made.
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