Help please! My duck has been showing abnormal behaviour

[Shion]

hi,

Its been a while since ive posted on this forum but thats only because i have absolutely no other clue or idea. If someone could help me or try to explain some things to me itll help me dearly

For context, i have a male pekin duck whose about 6.5 years old. For the past month hes been showing abnormal feather growth. It started off a bit light behind the neck and now his entire head is covered in so many feathers to the point where its no longer smooth. He molted not so long ago too.. underneath the feathers you can see the growth of what looks like new ones however they look more like thick strands of hair. The hardness is similar to that of their wing feathers. Does anybody know the cause or reason for this? Has anybody's elses ducks shown such abnormal growth?

Another issue noted today is that he suddenly wont extend his neck. Hes usually my duck with the biggest appetite and despite me hand feeding him cooked peas and corn (his favourite) he can barely nibble some before spitting it out. Hes also just barely drinking water and from my small observation, im also noticing that he wont sit down and is struggling to keep balance at times

 

[Miss Lydia]

I’m sorry about your duck. Any way you can post a video and pictures of your drake.

 

[Shion]

I’m sorry about your duck. Any way you can post a video and pictures of your drake.

Unfortunately i cant take any new photos at the moment as its now half past 3am and i dont want to shake him up with the flash but i do have 2 photos taken earlier in the week and one sent to me by my brother so please excuse the quality. I can try to take better and more photos once morning comes to show close ups of whats going on on top of his head

 

[Shion]

To add on, the last two photos were taken earlier in the week. If you zoom in you can see a large amount of feathers sticking out. From up close it looks almost as if there were 2 feathers connected.

Ive also just placed him inside a warm tub of water as i was worried about his bowel movement and hoped that itd help ease some pressure off his legs from standing for too long. Unfortunately it seems hes still in favour of standing and stays by the more shallow instead of deep end and after about 5 minutes we finally got him to poop though barely anything came out, i assume its because he hasnt been eating well for most of the day :/

 

[Miss Lydia]

What do you feed your ducks? I’ve never seen anything like that with feather growing back in from molt and then his other problems. Any chance he can be looked at by a vet? @Isaac 0 have you any ideas. Sounds like he’s pretty sick though. I’m sorry I haven’t been help at all.

 

[Shion]

I feed my ducks with mixed grain and pellets from a bag bought from one of the distributors in sydney. Their diet has remained mostly the same over the past few years in addition to extra veggies every now and then to mix it up. (Mostly peas, corn and tomatoes as those are their favourite along with bean sprouts as a snack). So i dont believe it has anything to do with their diets.

Unfortunately im not sure if we can take him to see a vet as we live in the middle of suburban sydney with no local vets able to tend to ducks the closest one would be about an hour drive out and im afraid of putting him through the stress of travel.

Thats alright though! I also havent found any information on the sudden growth spurt of feathers and assumed he was going through another molt but thank you for trying to help

 

[Isaac 0]

Yeah, not sure I'd be too worried about the feathers, really more about his current state of health at the moment. Neck retraction, puffed up stance, not eating, not drinking, are all very good signs that he's sick, if you can take him to a vet, I would highly suggest that you do, if not, and he continues to show signs of anorexia and disinterest in water, he'll need to be tube-fed.

Can you bring him inside and set him in a towel-lined dog kennel, located in a warm, stressful free area, with feed and water provided. Before I set them in there (if you have one) I would get a quick weight check on a food scale.

 

[Shion]

Is there anything that you would recommend for me to try and feed him? Perhaps something light but nutritional to coax him into regaining his appetite?

Ill have a greater look into tube feeding and grabbing the materials needed as well as how to go along with the process.

Ill also try to do all the recommended above once morning comes and hope that he'll be alright until then

 

[Isaac 0]

Is there anything that you would recommend for me to try and feed him? Perhaps something light but nutritional to coax him into regaining his appetite?

Ill have a greater look into tube feeding and grabbing the materials needed as well as how to go along with the process.

Ill also try to do all the recommended above once morning comes and hope that he'll be alright until then

I feed my ducks with mixed grain and pellets from a bag bought from one of the distributors in sydney. Their diet has remained mostly the same over the past few years in addition to extra veggies every now and then to mix it up. (Mostly peas, corn and tomatoes as those are their favourite along with bean sprouts as a snack). So i dont believe it has anything to do with their diets.

Unfortunately im not sure if we can take him to see a vet as we live in the middle of suburban sydney with no local vets able to tend to ducks the closest one would be about an hour drive out and im afraid of putting him through the stress of travel.

Thats alright though! I also havent found any information on the sudden growth spurt of feathers and assumed he was going through another molt but thank you for trying to help

Could you call the vet, explain how he's acting, then ask if it'd be a good idea to drive an hour, or not?

Some people have good luck mixing some feed with water.

Here is some info on tube feeding,

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ng-guide-pictures-under-construction.1064392/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/tube-feeding-ducks-updated-5-7-2020.1211994/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/tube-feeding-q-and-a.1215032/


Do you have any fluids bags (lactated ringers, or 0.9% sodium chloride), if so you could give him fluids sub q.

 

[Shion]

Thats a good idea, ill definitely try calling up in the morning prior as he really doesnt respond well to foreign items and especially not trips anywhere.

Thank you for the information thread, ill be sure to check that out and talk to the vet for further guidance and recommendations if they have any.

Unfortunately i dont have any of those supplies or fluid bags as i have been fortunate enough to never have any of these serious issues with my ducks over the past 6 years. Rather with this drake in general hes always been healthy and energetic with an insatiable appetite in comparison to my other whose had mild injuries and bumblefoot in the past.