Help! Sick duckling! What do I do?!!

[shadofox]

Hi all,

I have a muscovy duckling that has hatched within the past 24 hours out with mumma hen and its siblings, but it appears to have curly toe paralysis. It is struggling to walk and is not very mobile because of the curled toes. I am worried about leaving it out overnight (all babies and mumma are in a safe little coop) and it dying overnight because it can't move with mumma. In addition to the toes, it seems a bit lethargic, less energetic than its siblings, and its eyes are not wide open like the rest (still open, but half-open/'squinting'). No other babies are experiencing these symptoms, and I don't think there's been any incident outside of the egg to have caused this. Aside from being lethargic and the toes, there's no other symptoms that I can see so far.

I don't know what treatments to do, and stores are closed tomorrow and are closed right now. Is there anything that's an 'everyday' item that could help for the moment? What should I buy to help it when shops open up? And would it be a good idea bringing it in the house and hand-raising it for a bit to help with the feet? I don't have any photos right now, but will upload some when I get the chance.

Thank you for the help

 

[shadofox]

Hi all,

Quick update: brought little baby plus a friend up to the house in a lightly sawdusted cat-cage.

I’ve taped up his little feet, but he is still quite lethargic and seems ‘sick’. He seems to be ‘panting’ a bit, I’m not sure how to help him at all

I don’t have much for them, I have put a soft toy in there for them to snuggle up to so they’re not alone in an empty crate.

Is there anything else I should add?

Any other advice is greatly appreciated! Thank you

 

[Debbie292d]

Hi all,

Quick update: brought little baby plus a friend up to the house in a lightly sawdusted cat-cage.

I’ve taped up his little feet, but he is still quite lethargic and seems ‘sick’. He seems to be ‘panting’ a bit, I’m not sure how to help him at all

I don’t have much for them, I have put a soft toy in there for them to snuggle up to so they’re not alone in an empty crate.

Is there anything else I should add?

Any other advice is greatly appreciated! Thank you

Hi, sorry nobody got back to you.

How are your ducklings doing? It looks like you did a great job on fixing the feet, and I hope that worked.

The other thing that helps with curly toes/feet is B-complex. Baby ducks could have a quarter of one if you have some. I'd mash that up and put it in some crumble mash or mash some frozen peas so they eat it. Niacin is also crucial to baby ducks.

I buy nutritional yeast and when mine were younger gave about two teaspoons a day sprinkled in their feed per day (two ducks at the time). Now we put it in about once a week, especially in the winter, as they're not free-ranging to get any extra niacin.