Help - Sick duckling - Hunched neck and won't drink or eat

[TracyLovesDucks]

Hi, I hope someone can help me out. My 8-week old runner is acting sick. I just put them in for the night a few hours ago, and went back to give them fresh water which is when I noticed her posture is weird. She's the littlest one and has her neck completely hunched into her shoulders. She can stand, but does not drink or eat (even when I'm holding the waterer right in front of her). She will not straighten her neck upward like she normally does and like the other ones always do when they are moving about. Her tail is pointed downward a bit, and her neck is completely hunched into her shoulders, so that her chin is resting on her crop/chest.

She was acting perfectly normal when I put them away, then all of a sudden it seems she's got something going on. Although she can stand, she prefers not to walk around and will not follow the others to get food and water.

Before I put them away for the night, I gave them some fresh feed and 1 gallon of water with 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in it.

Her poop is a bit whiter than usual. I don't know if this has anything to do with it, but I'm providing as much detail as possible.

 

[TracyLovesDucks]

Anyone?

 

[jenniemig]

How is she this morning? Can you post a picture of her? Sometimes seeing makes it easier to diagnose.

 

[TracyLovesDucks]

Hi jenniemig, thanks for your reply. This morning she seems to be back to normal, standing upright and walking around. Eating and drinking water.

It's a total mystery, but boy do I worry about her. If she begins acting sick again I'll make sure to take a picture and share it with you, but hopefully it has passed. Do you know of any extra steps I should be taking to keep her in tip top shape?

 

[jenniemig]

Glad to hear whatever it was has passed and hopefully it will not come back. I think that chickens and ducks are like people and sometimes just don't feel well. Maybe she just ate a bug that didn't agree with her;-)

I can totally relate to worry, I have one of my 3 duck kids that I have been doctoring all of her short life so far. She will be 10 weeks old on Thursday. I am new to ducks, these 3 are my first and have been very different from my chickens. I started them on non-medicated chick starter, then when one of them had wry neck I switched them to waterfowl starter and vitamins. My wry neck duck has recovered and now they're on Purina Flock Raiser with Poultry Nutri-Drench in the water a couple of times a week. I have read that they don't need the additional vitamins after 10 weeks, so I'll wean them off of them soon. Now I have one with a crazy wing feather so I am wondering if it is angel wing, OY VEY!!!

 

[Amiga]

Crazy wing feathers happen with some regularity when they are young. Just watch - if not angel wing it ought to fix itself in a few days.

 

[TracyLovesDucks]

Thanks for understanding. These are also my first ducks (four of them). I've heard folks say on here that ducks and chickens are not for the faint of heart... but my heart definitely feels faint sometimes. Especially when it comes to Li'l Baby. She got sick when they were younger. I gave her time and her own space to heal, and she did a nice job taking care of herself with a little extra help from me. Because of those two days of illness, she was half the size of the others when we put her back. She is finally almost the same size as the other female. But even though she is the smallest, she has the most fearless attitude, is the strongest swimmer and is so darn sweet.

I followed along with your story about Qwackers. You are very dedicated and did a nice job healing her

I was so happy to see that she is still doing well, of course with a few hitches here and there but I guess that's to be expected... well now I know it is for sure to be expected when you have a little one with a history of health problems.

I hope the other is ok. I've seen a lot about angel wing on this forum. I read somewhere that it's caused by too much protein (? not sure about that because I only heard it from one person). But I've also seen a lot of success cases where people were able to wrap the duck in panty hose or the like to get the feathers positioned correctly. If it isn't one thing it's another!

I'm just glad I get to experience all of this before I have real human babies! Ha!!!

 

[jenniemig]

Thanks Amiga! I am hoping that it is just a crazy feather and not angel wing. I am a worry wort for sure

 

[jenniemig]

Thanks for understanding. These are also my first ducks (four of them). I've heard folks say on here that ducks and chickens are not for the faint of heart... but my heart definitely feels faint sometimes. Especially when it comes to Li'l Baby. She got sick when they were younger. I gave her time and her own space to heal, and she did a nice job taking care of herself with a little extra help from me. Because of those two days of illness, she was half the size of the others when we put her back. She is finally almost the same size as the other female. But even though she is the smallest, she has the most fearless attitude, is the strongest swimmer and is so darn sweet.

I followed along with your story about Qwackers. You are very dedicated and did a nice job healing her

I was so happy to see that she is still doing well, of course with a few hitches here and there but I guess that's to be expected... well now I know it is for sure to be expected when you have a little one with a history of health problems.

I hope the other is ok. I've seen a lot about angel wing on this forum. I read somewhere that it's caused by too much protein (? not sure about that because I only heard it from one person). But I've also seen a lot of success cases where people were able to wrap the duck in panty hose or the like to get the feathers positioned correctly. If it isn't one thing it's another!

I'm just glad I get to experience all of this before I have real human babies! Ha!!!

She sounds like she is a special duck and has a great duck parent

People have thought that I was crazy for going the lengths that I did for Qwackers. If I wrap Indie in pantyhose people are going to think I really have gone off the deep end

But, if that's what it is I'll do whatever is necessary.

 

[Amiga]

Thanks Amiga! I am hoping that it is just a crazy feather and not angel wing. I am a worry wort for sure

I am a worry wort, too, and I have had just enough experiences when we headed off serious trouble that it has reinforced the worry wortness.