HELP!! My ducks are dying unexpectedly... .

JonnaMomma

In the Brooder
7 Years
Nov 28, 2012
11
0
22
In the past two weeks I've lost 6 ducks! All of my ducks are 6 month old give or take. All have been very happy and healthy up until recently. I wormed them, treated for external parasites, and disinfected their barn. The sudden deaths stopped until yesterday when one was dead at morning chores. Now this morning my sweet goose is going downhill! He's salivating and gasping for air, wont eat or drink and very lethargic. I've had a Guinea show these symptoms but she is fine now. It seems only my ducks are dying. My chickens haven't gotten sick at all either. I love my birds and I cant stand not knowing how to help them! Can anyone help?!?!
 
How many ducks do you have left?

Breed?

What are you feeding them?

My gut is this is toxicity, but that is just a guess.

Any chance they have gotten into rat poison, a dead carcass, nasty standing water?

Did all the worming and other poisons happen before the deaths or after as a result of you trying to figure out what is wrong?

Do you have a vet?

What is their watering regimen? Access to clean drinking water?

Other animals aside from the geese?
 
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I have 6 ducks left. My goose is still hanging on and has started to drink water. His head was shaking really bad and he has awful diarrhea. Hes still foaming through his beak and sounds like hes really backed up on flem. My ducks and goose get fresh water daily and their kiddy pool gets rinsed out and new water every three days or so. They are housed with chickens and guineas. I also have a sick Guinea too but the only ones not pulling through are the ducks and now maybe the goose. I feed Purina flock raiser, layers, and scratch grains mixed with scratch grains being the majority. I do let my birds roam the farm during the day but I haven't found any poisons, dead animals, or toxic plants. Also my chickens forage along side of my ducks and they are all fine. Unfortunately I didnt treat any of the birds until I noticed there was a problem. Thanks for the response!!
 
Didnt get all the questions answered. I have blue and black swedish, white crested, and a runner. My goose is an african grey. I called the vet and they recommended an autopsy which means I have to wait for another to die :(
 
I wormed with Wazine, the recommended dose on the bottle. The parasite treatment was given to my premixed from a local feed store and I cant seem to remember what the names was. Also used a coop disinfectant too. Everyone did good for a few days then bam they are back to thr same problem. My ducks all died when i wasn't there. Most didn't show any distress or signs of sickness. One was fine at morning chores and gone by lunch. My goose is about the only one ive found in time to report symptoms. (Btw he is now standing again! :)) I had one duck that multiple times now has gotten very lethargic and couldn't walk but always gets better. And she is one surviving still. It seems my healthiest ducks are the ones dying.
 
sounds like bad food, if the feed got damp it can go bad quickly and will take out the ducks and geese the quickest. At the top of the page is a sticky note on flushes to remove toxins. Sooner than later to get the ducks and goose isolated and flush dosed. Then dump and scrub all feed containers and check every bagged feed you have for an off (not normal) sour smell.
 
sounds like bad food, if the feed got damp it can go bad quickly and will take out the ducks and geese the quickest. At the top of the page is a sticky note on flushes to remove toxins. Sooner than later to get the ducks and goose isolated and flush dosed. Then dump and scrub all feed containers and check every bagged feed you have for an off (not normal) sour smell.


X2. I would do the same thing.
 
We cannot be sure, but from what we read, there could be toxins in the feed. Something to consider is getting a fecal sample from the goose to a vet or lab. Perhaps there is a clue in there.

Ducks are much, much more sensitive to aflatoxins than are chickens or other fowl, so a load that the chickens could cope with might have awful effects on the ducks.

We don't know if it was something viral or bacterial, though. With so few symptoms ahead of time, I would put the likelihood of botulism lower on the list.

It is awful that you lost them, I do not mean to sound brusque, but it is an urgent situation.

I would change the feed - just stop giving them what you have been giving them, get a new bag of something like flock raiser and not mix in scratch grains for several days.

I would also ask around and see if someone would test the feed for aflatoxins or other likely toxin.

Looking around, the goose's symptoms (and there could be another cause) match up to aflatoxin poisoning.http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/aflatoxins.aspx
 
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