HELP!!!!! YOUNG MUSOVY DUCK IS ILL!!

[2Gerootheducky]

My 9 month old Muscovy duck has not been walking since yesterday. She has trouble walking, I do not know why but I suspect boutilism? She can eat, see hear and talk fine. She was also eating some grass when we set her down and still has some mobility in her legs. She has been like this since yesterday. Could it be boutilism if she has been like this for 24 hours but sitll hasn't developed any worse smpytoms? I mean she is bad but she could be worse and if she's been like this for 24 hours when maybe its not boutilism? And if it is, are there any antibiotics we can give her? Her eyes are also a bit sore. However it could be something else. She moved in with our Pekin ducl (male) recently and he is very territorial and we have noticed he often doesn't let her eat. However we them a lot of food so I don;t know. Could he have mated with her at some point making her like this? please help

 

[Miss Lydia]

Very life-threatening so you need to get the cal glu in her asap,cal glu and warm soaks are the best way to help her besides a vet who would admin the cal glu via shot or IV. and I am not saying for sure this is her issue but here on BYC we have to eliminate instead of diagnose. Her symptoms could be other things too, Infection etc.

 

[DuckyDonna]

I just finished reading this thread and it seems to me that if it were botulism she wouldn't be living by now or eating, drinking, and communicating. How is her poop looking?

Do you only have 2 ducks? 1 drake and her? If that is so I'm leaning toward over-mating. Which could explain the eye problem too. Sometimes the drakes will go for the eyes. He also could have hurt her back or legs if he was too rambunctious.

Whatever you find with her vent I would still get some calcium Gluconate at TSC and give her 1ml orally making sure that you get it down the DUCK'S RIGHT side of her mouth otherwise it goes down her trachea. It's only about $8 I think and you need to have it on hand anyway.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Place her away from your drake. One female to one drake is disastrous. If her eyes are sore this could very well be what’s going on. As for botulism we have info on treating. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/flushes-for-aiding-in-toxin-removal.700526/ follow these instruction to the T. As for her eyes. Terramycin eye ointment is good to have on hand.

 

[Miss Lydia]

If egg bound she needs a dose of calcium gluconate [TSC carries it in the cattle section,] 1 ml by mouth it helps to get contractions going to move the egg. And will not hurt her even if it isn't an egg problem.
Not all birds die from botulism from what I have read. So the fact that she is still alive but not showing much improvement makes me wonder if not something else. An egg stuck can cause a nerve to be pinched and cause a bird to be unable to walk. So lets try the cal gluconate and warm soaks in the tub.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...bound-ducks-preliminary.959537/#post-14940303
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/obturator-paralysis.1438777/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...dications-to-all-poultry-and-waterfowl.73335/

Question: did you treat for botulism? if so what?

 

[2Gerootheducky]

Have you been treating her eyes? a nice saline wash may help but if there is an infection Terramycin eye ointment is best.

Your asking me to be a vet. I cannot say what all outward signs your going to see with an egg bound duck, there are some walking like a penguin tail down. Pulsing vent, staying in the coop or nest box long periods of time, lethargy, not eating or drinking. Possibly other symptoms. An egg stuck and pressing on nerves can cause your duck to be lame. Once the egg passes then they are able to walk again.
If she is just been abused by your drake then keeping her from him but where they can see each other is best, Making sure she is eating and drinking and treating her eyes. You should see her recover pretty good in less than a week, if this is the problem. Many of us have to keep our drakes from over using a female.

Ok, thank you so much everyone I will keep you updated on her status it is possible that she suffered from overmating since our drake has always been a very agresive duck. They had been living separately for months. But eventually we decided to let them in the same coop since it seemed like htey were getting along fine. So it is very liekly that overmating is the issue.

 

[Isaac 0]

@2Gerootheducky , I read your private message, but I did not read the whole context of the thread, so please excuse any redundancy.
The treatment I suggest and personally do for all sick birds I deal with is mentioned below.
With birds not eating adequately, we should compensate for the predicted loss of metabolic heat output by increasing the ambient temperature in their pen ( in most cases that will be near 80F).
If you have a scale on hand, I also suggest weighing the bird daily each morning to determine if there is a dramatic decrease in weight, which would require supplemental tube feeding.
To keep the bird adequately hydrated, you can offer a warm electrolyte fluid, or sports drink diluted down often. In the case the bird is not willing to drink at all, we would have to be more dramatic with our measures to correct the fluid deficits ( tube feeding for example).
In almost every case, the simple measures of keeping the bird adequately fed, warm, and hydrated is the most vital part of dealing with sick birds.
The diet you are feeding is not perfect, so there could be a nutritional-related issue. In that case, I would try to find a nutritional supplement preferably for birds, but if you find one for babies without iron that might work.

 

[TheBirdBabe]

Ok, so she's had her neck outstretched foward for a while now but she's breathing. what's happening? Someone know if we should just let her rest or do something? plz

PLEASE take her to a vet! It's starting to sound like cruelty more than just seeing if she can ride it out. ☹

 

[Aquira]

@Miss Lydia we are considering assiting her to eat since she is not eating. I once read that this can be done by opening the bird's beak and inserting food using something like a syringe? How can this be done?

This video should help with tube feeding. It's very important to not get the tube into their breathing tube.

 

[2Gerootheducky]

UPDATE:
We just tried tube-feeding her a bit with some water and it seems like it was tolerated OK.