Hurt leg and watery eyes?

[Welshandwhatnot]

So my female welsh harlequin duck (Marie) has some how hurt herself. She has always walked poorly because she has rubbed off the toe on one of her feet ( we have tried to prevent this, but to no avail). Unfortunately yesterday she started limping horribly and stopped walking, I thought it was her bad foot but it turned out it was the other one instead. I felt along both her legs and they seem perfectly fine, no cuts, bruising, swelling, nothing. I let her sit overnight in hopes it would get better but instead today she is worse. Not only is she no longer walking but she has a clear discharge from hes eyes and nostrils and looks sleepy and lethargic. It has been cold recently so I brought her inside in hopes she would feel better. She is drinking fine, but I have not seen her eat recently and am not sure how to force feed a duck. I breed rabbits so if she were a rabbit i could fix her up with my rabbit know how, unfortunately im not sure if she would have the same reaction to the medicine or plants I give rabbits and dont want to accidentally poison her.

If you have a guess at what might be wrong with her or what plants/ medicine I might be able to administer to relieve the pain that would be great. I am hesitant to take her to the vet because it is not only expensive but they often do not treat ducks and would not be able to figure out the problem.

thanks for your help
-Kylie

 

[Amiga]

Kylie, she may have an infection. Bringing her in is good. Let her swim in a lukewarm tub or large sink for a while - maybe half an hour.

So there are no bumbles (swollen infected spots) on her feet?

Ducks will hide illness till they are very gravely ill.

If it were my duck, I would keep her indoors where it is warm for a few days, I would give her Tylan Powder in her water, there's a Twin City Poultry document that shows 1 or 2 teaspoons Tylan powder per gallon of water for 5 days. I would use the 1 teaspoon, this list is for poultry in general, and I have read that with the amount ducks drink, to use half.

I am not a vet, I am just sharing how I would approach this if I could not get to a vet, which I understand doesn't always work.

For tonight, if you cannot get the antibiotic, I would put a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar (preferably unpasteurized) in a quart of water for her drinking water tonight.

If you have poultry vitamins, or poly-vi-sol without iron, I would put that in her water in the morning.

If you can get a photo of her feet and legs that might help us. Definitely the discharge sounds like an upper respiratory infection.

I would try to get her to eat - if she did not show interest in her regular food, I would pull out the treats. There is a sticky for duck treats at the top of the list of topics in the Duck Forum. Not really big letters, but it is there.

Here

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/242460/the-ultimate-list-of-duck-treats-and-supplements

Please keep us posted. Feed stores sell antibiotics, you probably know about that with your rabbits.

Something else I would try is I might put just a drop of oil of oregano in a cup of warm water and see if she will sip that - it's supposed to have antibiotic properties, but the reason I would try it is that when I have a sinus infection I put some of that in hot water and inhale the steam.

These are just ideas - I hope you can get her fixed up, and perhaps others will bring in some ideas here, too.

 

[Welshandwhatnot]

unfortunately although I tried some of the methods you suggested she passed away
i hope my future posts on the site will be a bit more up beat

thank you for your help, she was a lovely duck.

 

[Amiga]

These things can really sneak up on us. So sad. I do hope we hear from you soon, with happier news.

 

[Miss Lydia]

So sorry