Help! My babies!

[Tkeen5594]

I’m not sure what had happened but my ducks free range. They were swimming in their pool and all of a sudden I hear one cry and I run to see what happened and they are on their bellies trying to run but can’t use their legs. I have them in a pin with heat on them but their limp and twitching. I tried flushing them with water but I don’t want them to aspirate as they can’t even hold their heads up. They look poisoned in my opinion but I didn’t see exactly what happened. Their still breathing but it’s labored. All of my animals are my family and I just want them to make it. Help!
they are not laying on their backs in the picture. As of this moment, one is on his side and one is on her stomach.

 

[azygous]

That description is compatible with petroleum distillate poisoning. How tragic.

It's happened before here that another member of the family has cleaned tools or paint brushes or flushed a radiator with solvents and they went onto the soil where poultry free ranged and killed them. Perhaps someone poured such a substance in the pond to kill mosquitoes. Ducks being water fowl, would likely consume a good dose of the toxin.

You need to ask the people who live with you or who use the land along with you what their actions have been recently.

 

[Tkeen5594]

Thank you for replying. No one has done any of that in my yard at all. I don’t have a pond either. The only thing I found was a mushroom with nibble marks on it. I was thinking this was the issue? It was a white mushroom.

update: my drake didn’t make it but my female did! once I started giving her water through a syringe and she was drinking it, it got better and better. I started to see she was so lonely and cried out for her mate on & off for hours. I didn’t want her depressed so I called my feed store and got the number of someone who had ducks! Yesterday I picked up 1 drake and 2 females so now I have 3 females & 1 drake!

The duck who lost her drake is thriving!! The 3 newest ducks are 4 weeks older then her. I’ve noticed the older ones treat her Like their baby and they’ve been watching out for her, it’s adorable. I’m so happy she has friends now and her own little family.

thank you tons for reading and responding to my problem.

 

[Eggcessive]

Ducks are frequently exposed to botulism from dead fish in ponds and streams, while chickens tend to get it from eating dead animal remains or worms from those remains, such as in a compost bed. Botulism symptoms are paralysis starting at the feet, then progressing to the wings neck, eyelids, and eventually death. Mold poisoning from eating moldy feed can look similar. Glad that one has survived. Sorry for your loss.