Help! Duck collapsing

[Lilybljm]

I raise calls and one of my girls, about five years old, can’t hold herself up. She’ll walk a bit and then collapse. She doesn’t have any sort of infection on her feet as far as I can tell, nor does she have any lost strength (even in the legs) or appetite. When she does walk, it doesn’t look abnormal, though she does arch her wings up to prevent tipping, like a balance. I can only assume either her legs or somewhere else is in pain or something worse is going on. I’m not sure if maybe a male got overaggressive and she’ll recover or if this is a vet trip. I have already isolated her with two of her favorite female companions and she doesn’t seem at all upset, but she tips and falls if she so much as bumps into anything and I’m getting concerned. It’s been happening for 4 days now. She hasn’t been isolating herself, is not lethargic or fluffed up, has a healthy appetite and gets excited for treats, and doesn’t seem at all inactive. She’s also not egg bound from what I could feel. She’s been keeping her toes on her right foot only curled when seated so I don’t know if that foot could be the culprit. She can stand easily as long as nothing bumps into her and has yet to try wing walking. I’m at a loss.

 

[Aunt Angus]

I raise calls and one of my girls, about five years old, can’t hold herself up. She’ll walk a bit and then collapse. She doesn’t have any sort of infection on her feet as far as I can tell, nor does she have any lost strength (even in the legs) or appetite. When she does walk, it doesn’t look abnormal, though she does arch her wings up to prevent tipping, like a balance. I can only assume either her legs or somewhere else is in pain or something worse is going on. I’m not sure if maybe a male got overaggressive and she’ll recover or if this is a vet trip. I have already isolated her with two of her favorite female companions and she doesn’t seem at all upset, but she tips and falls if she so much as bumps into anything and I’m getting concerned. It’s been happening for 4 days now. She hasn’t been isolating herself, is not lethargic or fluffed up, has a healthy appetite and gets excited for treats, and doesn’t seem at all inactive. She’s also not egg bound from what I could feel. She’s been keeping her toes on her right foot only curled when seated so I don’t know if that foot could be the culprit. She can stand easily as long as nothing bumps into her and has yet to try wing walking. I’m at a loss.

My Welshie has had this happen twice. I think my girl is just clumsy and gets sprains. It looks for all the world like she's dying. I can't say for sure that's what's going on with your girl, but it's a possibility.

I would put my duck in a smallish crate (to limit her movement) with fluffy towels, food, and water. I'd leave her in the coop with her sisters, and in a say she'd be doing much better. She'd limp for a while - maybe a few hours thr next day - and then be right as rain.

Of course, I'd check for areas of tenderness and lack of movement, and do an overall assessment (crop function, poop, appetite, etc). And she always checked out fine in those areas.

Are there any other symptoms or signs of illness?

 

[HeatherKellyB]

I'm so sorry. Does she fly? How's her breathing? Since it's been 4 days, I'd say this warrants a trip to the vet, if you have one that's experienced with ducks. Any chance she could have gotten into something harmful and ate it? What do they eat? Any chance her food got moldy before you noticed it? I'm just trying to think of any possibility. Right now, my Call drakes are being overly aggressive with the hens, so it's a possibility.

 

[Lilybljm]

I'm so sorry. Does she fly? How's her breathing? Since it's been 4 days, I'd say this warrants a trip to the vet, if you have one that's experienced with ducks. Any chance she could have gotten into something harmful and ate it? What do they eat? Any chance her food got moldy before you noticed it? I'm just trying to think of any possibility. Right now, my Call drakes are being overly aggressive with the hens, so it's a possibility.

Plenty of flying with no issues and no labored breathing. None of the typical signs that point to death in birds. I have a vet, but there’s no guarantee he’ll be around in the next few days as the place is 90mins from me and he only comes in once a week. It could have gotten moldy I suppose but I didn’t see any mold when I cleaned it out today, but if some stray pieces got away it’s not out of the question. All the other ducks are doing well. They’ve got 16% dumor layer feed and just got off corn for winter and now they’re getting their own eggs and mealworms as treats. She and two other females are ~fan favorites~, which is why I separated them together as they like to escape from males in a separate area of the coop when possible to avoid getting attacked, which is why I think that’s a strong possibility.

 

[Lilybljm]

My Welshie has had this happen twice. I think my girl is just clumsy and gets sprains. It looks for all the world like she's dying. I can't say for sure that's what's going on with your girl, but it's a possibility.

I would put my duck in a smallish crate (to limit her movement) with fluffy towels, food, and water. I'd leave her in the coop with her sisters, and in a say she'd be doing much better. She'd limp for a while - maybe a few hours thr next day - and then be right as rain.

Of course, I'd check for areas of tenderness and lack of movement, and do an overall assessment (crop function, poop, appetite, etc). And she always checked out fine in those areas.

Are there any other symptoms or signs of illness?

I might separate her, but no signs of illness as far as I can tell. Of course, birds are good at hiding it, so I can’t say for sure, but it’s clear she’s in pain with no outward signs of labored breathing, flying trouble, appetite or poop problems, or lethargy.

 

[Aunt Angus]

I might separate her, but no signs of illness as far as I can tell. Of course, birds are good at hiding it, so I can’t say for sure, but it’s clear she’s in pain with no outward signs of labored breathing, flying trouble, appetite or poop problems, or lethargy.

Really wish we could ask them.

Maybe see how she is tomorrow??? I hate the helplessness of the "wait and see" approach, though.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

Any chance she could have flown into something or crash landed after flying? I hope she's doing better today

 

[Lilybljm]

Any chance she could have flown into something or crash landed after flying? I hope she's doing better today

She’s not collapsing today, just sorta limping. She’s taking shorter steps on one side than the other to keep the weight off. One of the girls did have a runny yellowish poop but since it’s the first one I’ve seen so I’m guessing it’s a fluke and I can’t say whose it is. Definitely could’ve crashed running from a male, she does that a lot. Im gonna keep the three of them separated until the males calm down a little and she heals. Hopefully there’s no other issues going on.

 

[Lilybljm]

Really wish we could ask them.

Maybe see how she is tomorrow??? I hate the helplessness of the "wait and see" approach, though.

She’s only limping today, not collapsing. I’m hoping without the males exacerbating the issue she’ll improve. Fingers crossed.